The story of this concert which impacted me so deeply was one that started three months before I stepped foot through the arena doors, December 25th, 2022. It was a fairly warm Christmas, nothing less was expected since I am from Florida, and I had just received a box of Puffins cereal as a gift. I was honestly content with the fact that what filled the box was food I could consume each morning but upon receiving the heavy stares of my family expecting me to take some sort of further action, I looked inside the cereal box.

Inside the bag were two tickets priced together at more than $1,200 to a Stray Kids concert in Atlanta, Georgia. I could not believe my eyes; in front of me was a faded black-and-white picture of the eight members and seating numbers. Through many tears I profusely said thank you almost a thousand times and declared that Christmas was the best one yet. I don’t think I can thank my parents enough for this opportunity they gave me. After relishing the high of realizing that the concert I only saw through small clips on TikTok would be mine to experience in a few months, I got down to business.

One of the things that make K-pop concerts so unique is their culture of giving gifts or “freebies” as one calls them. Before attending these concerts, people spend hours working on artwork, bracelets, pins, and other crafts to give to their fellow concertgoers. After witnessing this firsthand when I received a cup sleeve and mini poster at the very first K-pop concert I ever went to, I knew I had to do the same.

Now, much older than seven, the feeling remains and with every stroke I made on my Huion drawing tablet, I hoped to encapsulate the members in a painting that would bring joy to the person who receives it and remind them of going to the concert. It was only a day before the date my family set to drive up to Atlanta when I finished the painting. Weeks of thought and work were poured onto the canvas and the realization of the fact that I’d be at the concert I dreamed about took over my mind.

While listening to “Slump” by Stray Kids in the car on my way towards Atlanta, all I could think about was the fact that I was going to be seeing the group I admired so much in concert. Sitting in the car with my headphones on, I truly could not believe that I was going to experience this, and every thought I had was centered on that shock. After finally reaching Atlanta and meeting for the first time my long-distance best friend whom I introduced to Stray Kids, I arrived at my mother’s best friend’s home and went to sleep. I am forever incredibly grateful to her as she kindly let us freely stay there for the event.

Just this small moment added to the emotions that I had for the concert and I later walked out of the store filled with joy and excitement for the event to come. When I came back to the place I was staying, my mother gave me the idea to write “Stray Kids” on the green top I found in order to elegantly personalize my outfit, and on the morning of the concert, I did just that. Also on that morning, I put together images that I printed of the paintings I made and stickers of the members into small clear bags in order to give them away to the concertgoers. The images included one decently sized painting of the eight members of Stray Kids and then multiple small singular paintings of each member. 

That day was filled with the accumulation of every emotion I had leading up to it. While my mother helped me cut each image of the paintings I made and I packaged each gift, I listened to a few of Stray Kids’ older albums and sat in expectation. Expectation for the experience of a lifetime, all built up by months of waiting and preparation. The Uber ride to the concert was absolutely exhilerating however nothing beat seeing hundreds of fellow Stays lined up to go inside the arena. They all were dressed up beautifully, some imitating the member’s outfits in their music videos, and I was extremely excited to give each of them the gifts I made. The feeling of walking up and down the line giving my gifts to each Stay I met was incredible.

Soon though, it was time to go inside and it was then I met my now best friend in the line to buy the group’s lightstick (an item fans usually use to support the group in concert). I still find it so very cool that we were able to meet there, in such an unexpected place. Even after the concert was over our friendship grew to the point where we met again when I came back to Atlanta a few months afterwards. 

After waiting on line and buying the group’s lightstick, not before giving one of the staff members my painting, my father ( who attended the concert with me) and I walked towards the doors to the arena. Nothing could have prepared me for seeing the thousands of seats lined up almost higher than I could see. The green light coming from the screens on the stage and the thousands of people who poured into the venue put into perspective the fact that this was all real. After sitting down in my seat with my father, the song “Question” by Stray Kids started to play; the song they usually play before their concerts start.  This is when it finally hit me that this was actually happening; I was going to see Stray Kids, the group that inspired me and the group that I love.

Soon, the lights dimmed and the screams were earpiercing. The group’s anthem started playing and every person inside, including me, started loudly chanting, “Stray Kids!” Then, a circular contraption built into the top of the stage set up started descending while smoke and green light scattered across the stage and into the crowd. Finally, after the excitement of the concert beginning made every person get out of the seat and stand with anticipation, the circular contraption lifted. Standing there, on the stage a few hundred feet away from me, was eight men from South Korea who begun to bring each audience member on the adventure of their lives through music.

When I heard the opening notes of Maniac I yelled lounder than I ever did before and truly lost myself in the moment. The members passionately danced in each song, never loosing pace and always giving it their all. They expressed the skill level of a group that has trained for years, never stopping their run towards perfection, and they sung the songs I only danced to in my bed room, blasting it from my cd player.

 

In between the incredibly detailed VCRs that connected the concert to an elaborate storyline and their performances, the members would finish their heavy choreography and talk with the crowd. It felt like a mixture of seeing trained professionals in their craft and best friends who you’ll support till the end. Just being able to enjoy their professionalism with their performances and also chat and have fun like friends was an amazing experience. Sometimes during these small chat sessions, they’d break off into groups and there would be four members performing a few solo covers and then a unit song (this is a song with specific members that form a smaller unit within the group).

Through this experience, I personally witnessed the fact that Stray Kids is a group that inspires, one that has walked their own path and encourages others to walk along with them. Through chasing their dreams from fairly humble beginnings, they move the person who watches them towards their own. It is this aspect of their essence, expressed through their concert, that stayed with me even when I was in my Uber ride going back to where I was staying.

While watching the Atlanta Night sky light up with sky-scrapers through that car window, I continuously pondered on the incredible feeling I felt from their concert; a feeling to run after what I am passionate about in a way that is unapologetically and uniquely me. Due to the fact that this concert impacted me so deeply and had a message so beautiful, I truly knew that from then on I wanted to attend their next concert as a photographer. They inspired me to dream of a time where I could support and inspire alongside them, something that I rarely dared to dream before.

Their concert was an experience that brought me joy and left me invigorated towards life and pursuing my passions. It was a place that I could forget the worries of the world and be myself, loud and incredibly passionate about an eight member band from South Korea. I enjoyed every moment from meeting so many new people, giving away gifts I worked on for days, receiving gifts for myself, dancing along with the members, singing loudly every lyric of the songs I loved, and walking out the arena doors inspired to fulfill my dreams. Attending this Stray Kids concert in Atlanta, Georgia was one of my best memories ever and I can’t wait to be able to experience whatever they have in store, hopefully through my camera lens, chasing my dream alongside them.