Guerilla Concert at Han River

On one cold day, my friend and I went to see one of our favorite artists: IZ*ONE! The group was formed through Mnet's idol program called Produce 48. IZ*ONE had just released their second mini album called "HEART*IZ" so they were holding a free guerilla concert. The concert started at 7pm and we headed to the river around 2:50. We were afraid that we weren't going to make it since IZ*ONE is very popular. On the way to the river, we saw a rainbow! So, we took that as a good sign and headed out in good spirits. Once we got to the river, we got our tickets and to our surprise we were only 512 and 513, which is really close! While waiting for the concert we ate some overpriced chicken and met this cute little bird. <3 The concert started an hour late so we were waiting for about 4 hours in 32° F weather (0 Celsius). It was FREEZING! However, once the group started performing, all the coldness left our bodies. We were finally getting to see the group we’ve been waiting to see for months!

IZ*ONE was filming for their reality show IZ*ONE CHU Season 2, so there were a lot of staff on site. There were 3 MCs for the event and huge cameras everywhere! An event was going on for the reality show, where us fans had to be quiet and pretend like we weren’t there so that we can surprise IZ*ONE with how many fans showed up. So, with eye patches on, the members arrived on stage and seemed very disappointed at the lack of reply they were getting from the audience. After some time though they finally took off their masks and were able to see the 2,000 people that were standing outside waiting for them! The girls were moved to tears by the amount of support they were receiving. After a quick interview and makeup check they were ready to perform.

IZ*ONE performed 3 songs in total since it was a free guerilla concert they couldn’t perform too many songs. Violeta, their new song, came out the day before the event; so, we were the first people to see the song being performed live! They also performed La Vie en Rose and UP, which are their debut song and a side track from their new album respectfully. When seeing these boy groups and girl groups in person I am always reminded about how hard they work and how much time goes into making the performance perfect. It gives me a sense of strength and a hunger to try harder and work intensely on my own craft. After the concert, they had to leave right away to head to another schedule so there wasn’t time for any pictures or anything.  I really enjoyed the experience of standing in the cold for hours to see a group. It was pretty fun. If you’re a fan of kpop I definitely recommend checking the idols schedules daily because you never know, you might be able to see your favorite groups for free!