LINK: d3 los angeles
Linda was able to snag VIP soundcheck tickets and asked if I wanted to go with her.
Umm… yes, obvi.
Sometimes, I think that Beau Mec might be onto something when he says that drama follows me. I’ll explain later in this post…
We got to the venue around 1300 because soundcheck was slated at 1500. There are long lines and this is also an opportunity for people to buy merch, exchange freebies, get to connect with other ARMY, and grab a quick bite to eat.
I’m glad I wore comfortable sneakers because reaching the floor seats at SoFi stadium was a clusterfuck. Not only was it hot as balls, there was an endless succession of ramps that we had to schlep through.
I was pretty stoked to see where our seats were. It wasn’t as close as when we were in Las Vegas, but I was ecstatic. Unfortunately, the A1 sign on the left side of the picture was blocking a significant portion of my view and ruining photo and video opps.
That darn A1 signage.
I got to talking with the girl in the red jacket and her mom next to her on the right. They were obviously V biases. It was nice being around people who are just as excited as we are. The couple next to them was making everyone around them very uncomfortable. They already came to soundcheck drunk but then he started trying to flirt with us in front of his wife/girlfriend? He was slurring his words, his eyes were bloodshot, and he was invading peoples personal space (not that there was a lot at the concert, but still…).
Minutes later, BTS appeared on the scene. All was temporarily forgotten when they stepped on the stage.
Soundcheck is generally about 15 minutes long. The crowd is much smaller and the environment is super intimate. It’s when the members get informal, dressed casually, and they test the equipment and rehearse three songs. This is also when they interact with the fans, chat, wave, and comment about this or that.
Worldwide handsome, Jin.
Jimin.
I’m your hope, you’re my hope, I’m J-Hope!
Jungkook. He was particularly difficult to photograph because he is constantly moving.
V and RM spent more time on the opposite side of the stage, so I wasn’t able to get good pics of them during this moment.
After soundcheck, I was starving. I didn’t skipped breakfast and unintentionally didn’t eat lunch either. I bought an overpriced baked ziti and shared it with Linda. We scarfed that thing down like it was nothing.
We had about another hour before the actual concert started so I went to the bathroom. When I came back they (the sloshed couple in front of us) were both gone. We collectively sighed in relief and had hopeful thoughts that maybe they left on their own volition. But that was short-lived.
This was when I realized, that the dude decided in his infinite wisdom that he was going to go and buy more drinks. At any rate, he came back to his seat double fisting drinks and became even more inebriated. I was annoyed that the bartenders sold him more liquor when he was already under the influence because it’s actually illegal to sell alcohol to someone who is visibly intoxicated. I saw his eyes rolling back a few times, he held his forehead or his head bopped around like he was head surfing.
I thought to myself, “This isn’t going to end well. It won’t be long before he either vomits all over, inappropriately touches someone, or becomes argumentative with others.” I let out a loud sigh. I did NOT want to babysit a grown ass man on my day off, but if it’s gonna happen… it’s gonna happen, I guess. But he didn’t do any of that. Instead, he went to buy MORE alcohol at the concession stand.
Linda, the mother and daughter in front of us, and I agreed that we needed to alert security and ask if we could move to another section. It was bad enough that he spilled drinks on the floor and made our area sticky and we weren’t able to place our belongings in front of us. Linda definitely did NOT want to be around vomit and the mother shared with us that her teenage daughter was scared of the man cause he was making advances towards her. This was not the vibe, nobody should have to feel unsafe at a concert, especially since people spent a lot of money to see BTS and have an amazing experience.
The three of them went to security to lodge their complaints while I watched our bags and ARMY bombs/light sticks. When they returned, not only did they move that damn A1 sign, they were able to accommodate us to move away from him. In fact, it was five rows up, so we would be even closer to the stage! I couldn’t believe our luck!
As we were preparing to move, I noticed that he had two cups of beer in his hands while he started circling the area, around and around he went. That’s when I realized that he couldn’t find his seat. He was so blitzed that he had the gall to ask security to assist him. A few seconds later, his wife/girlfriend appeared and she was equally wasted. That’s when security finally told him that he had to vacate the premise because he was too drunk.
When the four of us got to our newly assigned seats, we were all screaming and laughing. WHAT. JUST. HAPPENED? This made such a fucking difference. Not only were we closer, we didn’t have to deal with the couple’s shenanigans anymore. The girl seated next to me, asked me how I ended up in her row. I told her what happened and she said she was experiencing panic attacks in her previous seat because the people were packed so close and someone was constantly brushing against her.
The girl next to me had a great sign. I didn’t bother making more signs since Vegas, since they got soaked and were completely destroyed.
During the song, Body to Body, people held up the Korean flag and sang along to the romanized lyrics of 아리랑 (Arirang). It still gets me every time, seeing non-Koreans singing in Korean loudly and perfectly.
Jin came to the side of the stage that was close to us.
Taken with my Meta glasses.
Another snap from my Meta glasses. Confetti all over. People, including myself, picked up a few pieces as a souvenirs.
I got so many freebies! People are so damn creative and generous when it comes to these little gifts.
I set some aside to send to Sammi, but I’m not sure if she ever received them. The international mail has been getting weird here in the U.S. But I wanted to share some goodies with her, so hopefully they’ll one day make their way to her.
Leave a Reply