67 Thoughts Retired K-pop Fan Had Seeing Fifth Generation Bands for the First Time

South Korean boy bands VIXX, Seventeen and Halo joined heart-throbbing forces at IME K-Wave Concert Bangkok last Friday (Mar 31). The Royal Paragon Hall was filled with fan chant-crying, glow stick-waving, mostly female younglings – nothing new there. Safe for the fact that I, a long retired second generation K-pop fangirl, unapologetically dropped by for my first K-concert since 2012.

And here’s what the evening was like in 67 thoughts.

*Note: VIXX are considered a fourth generation band (debuting between 2012-2014) but are not referred to as one in the title for the sake of brevity.

1. Shoot, I’m late.
2. To be fair, they never start a show on time here. Excuse me if I just went off to get dinner.
3. Ah, signs on my seat for a fan project. This takes me back.
4. A picture of a carrot to hold during “Mansae”? Is this some kind of an inside joke because it’s doing its job.
5. I thought Halo, whoever those guys are, were going to go first since they’re, like, the least popular?
6. Oh, they did and I’m just really that late LOL hi Seventeen.
7. There are thirteen of you? “Seventeen” is rather misleading, isn’t it?

8. The song they’re about to sing is called “Adore U”, apparently.
9. This interpreter (not on stage) sounds familiar… Jaeyoung unni?
10. A quick Google search says Seventeen’s fandom is called Carat, hence the carrot sign. Ha.
11. There are no “bad” puns in my book, bee tee dubs. Just good and aw-cute-at-least-you-tried.
12. Haha found this article about two fanboys bringing carrots to a show because they didn’t have official glow sticks.
13. No source has a logical answer to why they’re called Seventeen. I give up.
14. Oh, oh, oh paper carrot time!
15. Man, the choreography is heady.
16. The “mansae, mansae, mansae yeah” moves are definitely great for parties.
17. LOL then just wave in three different directions? I feel trolled.

18. Girl, this song is catchy as hell.
19. Is it weird that I can totally imagine CNBLUE rocking the sh-t out of it?
20. Is it weird that CNBLUE haven’t come out with anything solid since “Can’t Stop”?
21. Is it weird that I’m thinking about CNBLUE at all?

22. Seventeen’s coordinating black and gold outfits remind me of an ajusshi band otherwise known as Super Junior.
23. And the fact that there are puzzlingly thirteen of them when that’s not what they’re called.
24. Do not enter the memory lane. Do not enter the memory lane.
25. This is the part where they no longer stick to the routine, run to Stage B and be ~playful~.
26. Of course, they gave mini hearts. Why do people not cringe giving or being on the receiving end of one?
27. It’s also a super lazy ass way of saying I love you. GIRL, BYE.
28. Back in the day people held both arms up. They even did it in pairs to send shippers’ hearts aflutter.

29. I know they’re supposed to have ~fun~ here but are they getting back to dancing any time soon?
30. That’s right, back to the main stage, kids.
31. Farewell remarks already? K.
32. After a short break VIXX are now swaggering off from behind the LED screen.

33. I want me some of those black pyjama shirts!
34. They’re singing “Dynamite”, said our mild VIXX fan intern next to me. Without her I’d be so lost.
35. Now Ravi is showing off his solo track and he’s probably the only one whose name I’ll recall. I mean, the boy’s got purple hair.
36. Intern just said this kid Hongbin lands more acting gigs than the rest of the band. Yeah, I can see why. He looks like friggin’ Hyunbin!
37. Or Se7en? Let’s go with both.

38. LOL at fans always replying “nae” (“yes”) to every question the boys ask. It’s really cute and polite. Back then we just went pterodactylic.
39. As much as I love their silky wardrobe, it kinda messes up their strong accents in “Fantasy”.
40. “The Closer” has all your typical components of a K-pop song – drum, bass, synths and rapping – and so it’s more listener-friendly than the previous one.
41. Now they’re just playing a behind-the-scenes video of VIXX’s comeback performance and promo activities.
42. Three of them.
43. This costume change is taking forever.

44. Good, there’re back.
45. Seriously can I talk to someone about their clothes? Navy shirts with fancy cuffs? So minimal yet so on point.
46. I see some Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” ~homage~ going “On And On” here.

47. Another cutesy “neon nae angel” kinda song.
48. *chuckles* Of course it’s called “Heaven”.
49. That literally has to be the last time I see a mini heart today.
50. Hello mini Se7en/Hyunbin hybrid, how you doin’?
51. Do not direct your mini heart this wa–
52. Nope, too late.
53. After this other cutesy song they’re supposed to perform “Chained Up” since it’s their most famous song, intern said.
54. They’re not doing “Chained Up”. Wut.
55. Sorry, intern.
56. That’s it for VIXX? Are the three groups supposed to come up and sing together? No obscure Korean song about dream, unity, happiness or all of the above please.
57. There they are. At least I get to see Halo’s faces which I’ll completely forget in two seconds?

58. LOL they’re singing “Uptown Funk”.
59. Aaaand running to Stage B for some more ~fun~.
60. I haven’t seen this much testosterone on one stage since Saudi Arabia’s governor and his men launched the country’s first girls’ council without any girls and women, which is two weeks ago.
61. Their attempt to do an inter-group dance battle lasted about ten seconds. Bless them.
62. Out of twenty people, only four know the words to this song?

63. More running around.
64. Welp, that’s it. I know I came in late but the show itself wasn’t even two hours.
65. But the fans got what they came here for. This type of concert is a way for them to see their “bias” since the group isn’t big enough to have their own headline tour yet (most Korean labels’ rule).
66. That said, the promoter might want to go a little easy on the ticket prices next time, precisely because it’s not a full headline tour. Not to mention the demographic of their audience.
67. That’s all my 66 two cents, K-verse. Until next time!

Special thanks to Jellyfish Entertainment.