Saturday. D-Day. The BTS concert in Newark. The whole reason we planned a trip to NYC to begin with. We got to Prudential Center around 8:30 AM by Uber. The line-up for merch, which opened at 9:00 AM, was already all the way down Edison Place and past the venue, at least 700 people long, so we walked the other way to find the GA wristband line-up. It was not only all the way down Mulberry, but around and all the way down Lafayette, and then wrapped around the entire venue before looping back around. Wristbanding started at 10:00 AM, and the people that were in the middle of the line-up told me they had been there from 6:00 AM. They mentioned that the people who were at the front of the line had been camping out there for a couple nights. That is insanity. I don't think I've ever seen this kind of devotion over a music group in my life. There have been a few news outlets that have called this obsession with BTS the "Beatle-mania of the 21st century." They were not exaggerating.
Chelsea walked to McDonald's to use the bathroom and get us some breakfast so at least we didn't get hangry in line, but the next few hours were brutally long. I did end up meeting and chatting with a bunch of other ARMYs so it wasn't as tedious as it could've been, but still, we didn't get our wristbands until noon. I was #1125, which meant that 1,124 people arrived before 8:30 AM to line-up. (I thought waiting over three hours in a line-up was brutal, but kudos to those who are that much more patient and determined than I am.) If you're wondering why the wristband number matters, it's because those in general admission enter the venue in chronological order by wristband. So those people who camp out at the venue to get the first wristbands essentially get spots closest to the stage. Now, maybe because I already saw them at soundcheck in Hamilton and was already able to see them perform less than 10 feet away from me (which I am eternally grateful for, of course, because it's a moment in my life that I will never forget), but I just didn't feel the need to be ultra-close to the stage during the actual concert. They put on such a stunning show with visuals on moving screens, intense group choreography, and beautiful stage outfits; I want to be able to see the whole thing rather than fixate on a singular member or certain view. But I get that many fans want to be as close as possible to their idols. I mean, they're literally called "idols," after all. I guess what I want to say is: ARMYs' commitment (and free time) is truly remarkable.
I gotta say, I've been to hundreds of concerts, and this is the first time I've ever seen GA wristbanding start significantly before the concert (wristbanding started at 10:00 AM, and the concert started at 6:00 PM). Maybe because I've only ever had GA for rock shows, but I would usually show my ticket for them to scan, get wristbanded, and then go directly into the pit. I've never been to a concert that required a line-up for wristbands in the morning and then a line-up again hours later in chronological wristband order to go into the venue, where they then go through bag check and metal detectors, and then finally scan your ticket. But this might just be the way of the K-pop world. Maybe the promoters know that their fans would get trampled and fights would break out if there was no chronological wristband order. I don't know. Either way, doors for GA started at 3:30 PM so we had to start lining up by 2:00. Since we had a couple hours to kill, I decided to check out the merch tents to see if they had anything left, and while mostly everything was sold out by the time I got there, I ended up getting the towel and the iPhone case, which were my secondary choices. We made our way to the nearby 7-11 for bottles of lemonade and water, and sat on a bench just hydrating for an hour because we knew there would be no more sitting or drinking until after the concert. So after lining up for another couple hours (yes, the whole day was literally spent waiting in lines), we finally got into the GA pit for 5:00 PM.
As expected, they put on another phenomenal show. (Honestly, has BTS ever put on a bad show? Something has to be said for K-pop idol work ethic.) There are some moments specific to this show, like Jikook holding hands during "Boyz with Fun" and Tae shedding a tear during "The Truth Untold," that will always remain totally surreal and ingrained in my memory. The set list was the same as the one in Hamilton which was a little disappointing because they did a different medley the night before (that included "Go Go," "Blood Sweat & Tears," and "Boy in Luv," all of which I really, really wanted to see live at least once in my life), but at least I was able to capture the performances that I didn't last time. I will do separate photo and video posts for BTS in Newark, but here's a select few photos that I took from GA with my iPhone.
The banner for Newark, Day 2: "ARMYs are the flowers that grew in your magic shop."
We took an Uber back into Manhattan and decided to have dinner at Veselka, a 24-hour Ukrainian diner and New York institution. (Convenient for those 3:00 AM borscht and pierogi cravings.) I've been wanting to eat there for years because it always has such consistently high ratings and rave reviews, but was never able to make time to go to the East Village on any of my trips in like, the last decade. And now I totally regret not having eaten there before because their food is just so fucking good. I feel like I've eaten some sort of Ukrainian food before, but I doubt it's ever been authentic (it's just not that common in Toronto, I guess), and it's really a whole other world of comfort food. We decided to get an order of eight fried varenyky pierogies — potato, truffle mushroom, goat cheese and arugula, and sauerkraut and mushroom — and a plate of the fried potato pancakes to start (both served with sour cream and housemade apple sauce, and both must-orders), and then shared had the Ukrainian meatballs with mushroom gravy, mashed potatoes, and beet and horseradish salad as our main. It was honestly the perfect late night, post-concert meal.
Prudential Center
25 Lafayette Street
Newark, NJ 07102
(973) 757-6000
Veselka
144 2nd Avenue
New York, NY 10003
(212) 228-9682
Chelsea walked to McDonald's to use the bathroom and get us some breakfast so at least we didn't get hangry in line, but the next few hours were brutally long. I did end up meeting and chatting with a bunch of other ARMYs so it wasn't as tedious as it could've been, but still, we didn't get our wristbands until noon. I was #1125, which meant that 1,124 people arrived before 8:30 AM to line-up. (I thought waiting over three hours in a line-up was brutal, but kudos to those who are that much more patient and determined than I am.) If you're wondering why the wristband number matters, it's because those in general admission enter the venue in chronological order by wristband. So those people who camp out at the venue to get the first wristbands essentially get spots closest to the stage. Now, maybe because I already saw them at soundcheck in Hamilton and was already able to see them perform less than 10 feet away from me (which I am eternally grateful for, of course, because it's a moment in my life that I will never forget), but I just didn't feel the need to be ultra-close to the stage during the actual concert. They put on such a stunning show with visuals on moving screens, intense group choreography, and beautiful stage outfits; I want to be able to see the whole thing rather than fixate on a singular member or certain view. But I get that many fans want to be as close as possible to their idols. I mean, they're literally called "idols," after all. I guess what I want to say is: ARMYs' commitment (and free time) is truly remarkable.
I gotta say, I've been to hundreds of concerts, and this is the first time I've ever seen GA wristbanding start significantly before the concert (wristbanding started at 10:00 AM, and the concert started at 6:00 PM). Maybe because I've only ever had GA for rock shows, but I would usually show my ticket for them to scan, get wristbanded, and then go directly into the pit. I've never been to a concert that required a line-up for wristbands in the morning and then a line-up again hours later in chronological wristband order to go into the venue, where they then go through bag check and metal detectors, and then finally scan your ticket. But this might just be the way of the K-pop world. Maybe the promoters know that their fans would get trampled and fights would break out if there was no chronological wristband order. I don't know. Either way, doors for GA started at 3:30 PM so we had to start lining up by 2:00. Since we had a couple hours to kill, I decided to check out the merch tents to see if they had anything left, and while mostly everything was sold out by the time I got there, I ended up getting the towel and the iPhone case, which were my secondary choices. We made our way to the nearby 7-11 for bottles of lemonade and water, and sat on a bench just hydrating for an hour because we knew there would be no more sitting or drinking until after the concert. So after lining up for another couple hours (yes, the whole day was literally spent waiting in lines), we finally got into the GA pit for 5:00 PM.
As expected, they put on another phenomenal show. (Honestly, has BTS ever put on a bad show? Something has to be said for K-pop idol work ethic.) There are some moments specific to this show, like Jikook holding hands during "Boyz with Fun" and Tae shedding a tear during "The Truth Untold," that will always remain totally surreal and ingrained in my memory. The set list was the same as the one in Hamilton which was a little disappointing because they did a different medley the night before (that included "Go Go," "Blood Sweat & Tears," and "Boy in Luv," all of which I really, really wanted to see live at least once in my life), but at least I was able to capture the performances that I didn't last time. I will do separate photo and video posts for BTS in Newark, but here's a select few photos that I took from GA with my iPhone.
The banner for Newark, Day 2: "ARMYs are the flowers that grew in your magic shop."
We took an Uber back into Manhattan and decided to have dinner at Veselka, a 24-hour Ukrainian diner and New York institution. (Convenient for those 3:00 AM borscht and pierogi cravings.) I've been wanting to eat there for years because it always has such consistently high ratings and rave reviews, but was never able to make time to go to the East Village on any of my trips in like, the last decade. And now I totally regret not having eaten there before because their food is just so fucking good. I feel like I've eaten some sort of Ukrainian food before, but I doubt it's ever been authentic (it's just not that common in Toronto, I guess), and it's really a whole other world of comfort food. We decided to get an order of eight fried varenyky pierogies — potato, truffle mushroom, goat cheese and arugula, and sauerkraut and mushroom — and a plate of the fried potato pancakes to start (both served with sour cream and housemade apple sauce, and both must-orders), and then shared had the Ukrainian meatballs with mushroom gravy, mashed potatoes, and beet and horseradish salad as our main. It was honestly the perfect late night, post-concert meal.
Prudential Center
25 Lafayette Street
Newark, NJ 07102
(973) 757-6000
Veselka
144 2nd Avenue
New York, NY 10003
(212) 228-9682
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