On August 26, the inaugural Krazy K-Pop Super Concert was held at the UBS Arena in Long Island, New York.
The roster of acts consisted of:
- Cravity
- AB6IX
- Kwon Eunbi
- IVE
- Monsta X Shonwu and Hyungwon
This event was anticipated by those who were aware of it. It was not the most widely advertised, and maybe a few people were scared to attend a brand-new thing. However, the lineup was attractive enough to pique the interest of K-Pop fans who did know about this event and entice them to give Krazy K-Pop Super Concert a chance.
Adding VIP packages with perks such as early entry, stage check, and photo ops also helped push the FOMO buttons of potential attendees.
Krazy K-Pop Super Concert was not on my list of concerts to attend this year. But seeing Kwon Eunbi and IVE in person was too much to pass up. Plus, the photo ops, but more on that later.
My time at the Krazy K-Pop Super Concert started late, and I arrived at UBS Arena just before 1 p.m. I ended up navigating through a long line to get to the back. According to the schedule, VIP benefits were to start at 1:30 p.m. With ever-expanding lines and the slowness of processing everyone, it felt like a delay.
Eventually, I got registered, met up with friends and proceeded inside the building. To say it was chaos would be an understatement.
There was no actual definition of lines for each artist’s photo ops. You had to hope the back of the line was where you were. With that in mind, we entered the line, hoping we made the right decision.
Around two hours passed before any movement in the sea of Dives we were in started. Eventually, the line did start to move, and we were all herded into another part of the arena. However, at the door, a change was announced. They would be doing ten instead of the advertised five per photo session.
While that wasn’t ideal, it looked like a time crunch was in effect, and as many people as possible needed to be processed. Because of that, the photo op experience was not as personable as expected. There was insufficient time to process everything, and it went by in a blur of hazy memories.
At least the organizers sent the photos right away. I’ll give them some minor points for that. But still, it was not as advertised.
After the rushed photo session, the following VIP event was the Stage Check. The assumption was this would consist of watching each artist wander around the stage looking for the tape that indicated their marks, or it would be a quick wave at the crowd and bounce.
It ended up being a light rehearsal for each act. It was also an opportunity for the fans to warm up their throats for the evening’s future screaming.
The highlights for me were mainly the female acts. Kwon Eunbi is very structurally gifted. If this event were held in Japan, some wota in heat would have screamed, “Nice body!” at her.
IVE came out and performed low-key versions of their songs. Like the 2% – 50% efforts you see on Instagram or TikTok. There was no need to go all out at this point. Save the energy for the actual show.
As for the male groups? I like AB6IX, but all I can remember of the male groups is hearing all the high-pitched screaming around me. A reminder that earplugs are a must at these concerts.
This perk ended up being much better than expected.
There was much waiting around the UBS Arena for a few more hours after the Stage Check until doors opened for general admission.
A look at the merch booth showed nothing of interest. It consisted of an event-specific t-shirt with the artist’s names in either black or white. That was it. No artist-specific merch at all.
Shortly before 7 p.m., we all broke out into our sections. I barely caught the opening act. It seemed he was okay; no one booed him out of the building or anything.
Looking around the arena, I saw the floor was mostly sold out. Everywhere else was wide open gaps between sparsely populated groups of people.
While it was not a great turnout, the crowd showed their appreciation loudly to the roster of performers. Each act had five songs (the equivalent of 30 minutes), and they all made the most of their time.
As I said earlier, I was there for the ladies but gave the men a fair shot. I was there; it’s not like I would be completely disinterested and play on my phone while they were on stage. That would be impolite.
Of the roster, Cravity was the only act on the card whose discography I was not familiar with in some manner. I was impressed by their set and will give their music a deeper dive, as their performance was pretty damn good.
AB6IX is a group I am a fan of. Yes, it might be a bit of a surprise that there are male K-Pop groups I like. It was good seeing them again and hearing some of their newer tracks in a live setting.
The members of MONSTA X had the ladies around my area all hot and bothered.
I could barely hear their songs over the multitude of screams around me. When I could hear something, that “I remember this song” feeling kicked in. The only thing I found strange about their set was that it ended abruptly. There was no waving or saying goodbye, only their music ending and them walking off stage.
When it came to Kwon Eunbi and IVE, I was all in and very glad to see both acts live. Although both were a pleasure to see, I leaned a little more toward IVE regarding whose set I enjoyed more. Many of their songs gave off that hype energy, so that resonated a bit more with me.
The only negative I can give to the concert portion was that the MC interviews were awkward and broke the show’s flow. It was nothing cringe-worthy, but didn’t feel as seamless as a transition between songs and talking.
The concert was fantastic and made up for many disappointing VIP experiences earlier in the day. I can say that it was a satisfying ending for those who were in the VIP B group.
VIP A, on the other hand, had one more kick in the balls to take before their time at the event ended. From what my friends in that grouping told me, the send-off of artists did not go as planned, and the only artist who stuck around was Kwon Eunbi. Other acts had already returned to their hotels or the airport to go home to Korea.
I would consider that a big downer after the goodwill generated from the concert. But I’m sure Kwon Eunbi made many new fans just for being there and giving fans someone to send off.
So, was this worth flying from Canada to see? Seeing how I get nothing that matters to me regarding K-Pop in my part of the country, the expectation is that I would have to say “Yes,” right?
I give a hesitant “Yes” to Krazy K-Pop Super Concert. The lack of organization, lateness and the botching of a rare opportunity for a photo op was not a great thing to go through.
I am fortunate since I heard many fans didn’t even get the photo op(s) they paid for. If that is you, you have my condolences, and I hope you ask for a refund or a chargeback on your credit card for services not rendered.
If there is another Krazy K-Pop Super Concert next year, I hope the organizers learn from the many complaints from attendees and find a way to keep things together and on time regarding this portion of the event.
Looking at the concert itself? Probably cut the MCs or at least make them less stiff. Otherwise, it went as smoothly as one could expect.
Should this event return, I’ll consider going again to see if they have improved upon the issues I pointed out. It also depends on the lineup. I can’t say if I’ll go back until I see if there’s anyone worth investing in.
