the rose 2025

LINK: the rose 2025

Currently listening to: Back To Me – The Rose

I remember thinking, I don’t need you
But then time passed by and it’s so untrue
Now I’m the rain over your parade, reason you’re over me
Yeah, I always keep making the same mistakes
Maybe I never deserved you anyway

It’s day two of the monthly woman disease and I’m not sure if I can make it but I’m going to give it a damn good try.

I worked half day at my primary job. Afterward, I went over to Maggie’s house and got ready for the concert. I went full maximalist—put an obnoxious amount of bows on my head, put on makeup, and got dressed. Both Maggie and Maria had made shirts for tonight, but Maggie’s were professionally printed and cost a small fortune because she had put a rush on the order, so we decided to wear hers. Something must have gotten lost in translation between the two of them but whatever, I got two cool shirts.

Breakfast was a handful of nuts, just enough to take my ibuprofen/acetaminophen cocktail and by the time lunch rolled around, i was starving. We hit up Ghost for sandos and I destroyed a B.L.A.S.T (bacon, lettuce, avo spread, BLAST spread, and tomatoes) on Dutch Crunch bread. I inhaled it with salt and vinegar chips and a giant raspberry iced tea. Normally, I’m a water-only person, but I’d already had 32 oz and Maggie had more stashed for me.

Hydration was critical because I was bleeding like a Victorian heroine in her final chapter. That meant changing an ultra tampon and maxi pad at the same time every two hours otherwise… disaster.

We swung by Maria’s next. She had taken the day of and the day after off. Smart. Unfortunately I’m not able to take full days right now. Le sigh. I swapped shirts, we exchanged our freebies, and although we talked about going to eat a snack, I was still too full from lunch.

We arrived at the YouTube Theater at 1700, three hours before the concert, so we could browse the merch and hand out freebies. Our stash was gone 30 minutes before the show started.

The Rose, a Korean indie band that’s been around since 2017—isn’t backed by a Korean mega-label like HYBE, JYP, or YG. They opened for Halsey in 2020, competed in music shows, and from 2020–2022, three of the four members were doing their mandatory military service. Woosung, the lead singer, is an American citizen from SoCal, so he spent that time touring solo. In 2022, they signed with Transparent Arts (Far East Movement’s label), and in 2023, Woosung collaborated with Suga from BTS and the late Ryuichi Sakamoto on “Snooze,” one of my all-time favorites.

The lineup:
Woosung (Sammy) – vocals, guitar
Hajoon (Dylan) – drums
Jaehyeong (Jeff) – bass
Dojoon (Leo) – vocals, keyboard, guitar

The concert was intimate, about 7,000 fans (Black Rose is the name of their fandom). The stage was set like Woosung’s bedroom, and let’s just say, when Woosung invites you into his bedroom, you don’t say no. LOL.

We had great seats, and I even ran into an old friend I hadn’t seen in years.

I wore gray contacts (can’t really tell in this pic), Maggie made the glasses I had on and Maria had custom shirts made for the three of us.

Two songs before the end, I had to run to the bathroom (uterus still staging its rebellion). When I came back, there was only one song left. A security guard told me that I could either go back to my seat or leave the stairway. I didn’t have the energy for more stairs, I already had over 10,000 steps, so I opted for waiting in the hall. While texting Maggie, a concession worker asked if I wanted a free pepperoni pretzel since they were closing. Absolutely! The thing was a brick, so I saved it to share with my friends.

After the show, I wanted coffee but also wanted to get home. We spent half an hour looking for Maria’s husband, our personal Uber, and then hit the road. The 405 closure forced a detour that dragged the ride out. When I finally dropped Maggie off, I blasted the AC, cranked up my K-pop music, and chugged water to stay awake while driving home.

Unexpected freebies from the concert (the shirt and the glasses were made by Maggie).

Once home, I showered to force myself to stay awake even longer because I had to log into my work laptop for my second job. I ended up working a few hours until sleep won. A couple of hours later, I was up again—bright-eyed, weirdly cheerful, and ready for work like I’d slept 14 hours. I didn’t recognize myself being so damn chipper.

But that’s what concerts do for me… even when I’m hemorrhaging.