[K-pop Stan 101] Welcome! Guide to Live Music Show Participation (2)

Last week’s article was about an introduction to participating in live music shows, something like what kind of materials are needed and how the attendance check is held. I believe I gave the answers to your questions. Since you’re all set, let me explain what happens when you go into the broadcasting stations and meet your bias! I’ll also share some information about the events that are held during fans’ participation in live music shows, so make it yours.

▶ ‘Special events’ make live music shows even better

To thank the fans for participating in live music shows, sometimes the agency holds an event during the attendance check, such as 'One-day fan manager' and 'Lucky draw.'

'One-day fan manager' event is when a member of the band works as the fan manager of the day. He or she will do some of the things that a real fan manager does for their fans, such as stamping on the attendance cards during the attendance check or handing out photo cards or slogans as a participation benefit. Many fans love this event since it is an opportunity to see their bias up close.

'Lucky draw event’ is literally setting the number of people and randomly picking the lucky numbers according to the total amount of people. It is considered lucky since they will get signed photo cards or polaroids as a prize. Information about the lucky draw event is usually written on the announcement of the live music show participation so keep your eyes on the notice!  

The purpose of these events is to increase the number of attendance at the live music shows. Since most of them are held either early in the morning or late in the evening, there are many people who apply and get accepted but don't come. However, your bias will cheer up and nail the performance when there are as many people as possible, so let's do our best to go as much as possible. Besides, we all know that "No Show" is rude, don’t we?

▶ Heart skips a beat… Time to meet your bias!

After a long wait, it’s now time to go into the broadcasting station. What’s the same with the concert or the fan meeting is that they will perform on stage. However, for live music shows, there are some things that you should be careful!

First, you should never take a picture or a video of the performance. I understand that you will be desperate to take a picture of it since your bias will be performing at a closer distance compared with other performances, but it is strictly prohibited. If you get caught, you will be asked to leave the venue immediately and the entire fandom can be disadvantaged, too. The number of fans who can go into the actual on-live music show can decrease and/or pre-recordings might not be scheduled for your bias, which is a critical disadvantage to both the fans and the artist. So I recommend you not to take out your cell phone at all as soon as you enter the broadcasting station. Some of the people are asked to leave even if they only checked the time by taking out their phones, so be careful.  

The second is about the way you cheer! Since the distance is close, I know that you probably want to hold up a slogan that is filled with the name of your bias. You also would like to yell out the name of your bias so that he or she can recognize and wave hands at you. But let's put that mind aside for now. Personal cheering kit or saying personal things that are irrelevant to the fan chant is prohibited during the pre-recordings. Since the performance will be video filmed and on-aired, it’s different from other usual performances. If your love is so great that you can't control it, wave the official cheering stick hard and shout out the fan chant you memorized! One more thing. If you hold the light stick too high, you can get caught on the camera and cover your bias, and block the view of the person behind you, so make sure to show your sense by holding it up to the level of your eyes.

 ▶ Participating in the Mini Fan Meeting is a 'MUST'

The event that many fans are waiting for is the ‘Mini Fan Meeting. Mini Fan Meetings are usually announced as a part of the participation notice. Mini Fan Meeting is literally a small version of a fan meeting, and it is usually held in the first week of the group’s comeback or the last week of the promotion. Fans sit in a large place, like a large square, and your bias will be talking with a mini loudspeaker or microphone in front of them. It's also a day when many people bring filming equipment such as cameras and video recorders. Your bias standing under the natural sunlight will look the prettiest.

Now, I will tell you where the mini fan meeting is usually held!

For Sangam when pre-recordings such as ‘THE SHOW,’ ‘M COUNTDOWN,’ and ‘SHOW! MUSIC CORE’ are finished, it is held most frequently in the Mulbit Culture Park. Sometimes when there are many artists who are trying to have a mini fan meeting on the same day, it is held in Sangam Culture Plaza in front of MBC or vacant space in front of CJ ENM. For ‘SHOW! CHAMPION,’ it is mainly held at the Lake Park that is nearby Ilsan, or on the second floor inside MBC, where the actual recording takes place.

For ‘Music Bank,’ it is held often in the space between the main building and the new building of KBS, and for ‘Inkigayo,’ it is mainly held in Gayang-dong Culture Park and Seonangdang Neighborhood Park. Sangam is confusing because there are so many fan meetings of various artists at once, and the place for ‘Inkigayo’ is a little far from the broadcasting station, so I hope you can find them without difficulty by looking at the image that I posted. As I told you last time, the location of the mini fan meeting is often guided through the official staff accounts, so don't forget to check it out!

▶ Yes, my bias does pay for my meal

Have you ever heard about 'reverse tribute'? Literally, it's like a gift that an artist prepared for his or her fans. Tributes are usually made when the Mini Fan Meetings are held, and of course, when there is no mini-fan meeting, only the reverse tribute is given sometimes!

The reverse tribute is made up of a variety of things. Usually, they give food through coffee trucks, snack trucks, etc. In the hot summer, sometimes portable fans, cool mist, and things that fans can cool down the heat are given. 

In particular, ‘A-Yuk-Dae (Abbreviation of 'Idol Star Athletics Championships' in Korean)’ is the most popular place where reverse tributes are given. Since many of the fans and the artists spend almost the entire day in the gym, unlike in live music shows, most of the agencies prepare reverse tributes to the fans by giving them breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Next time when I get a chance to talk about Idol Star Athletics Championships, I'll briefly introduce to you what the popular reverse tributes were. Hope you look forward to it!

Today, we learned about the things to be careful about in the broadcasting station and the events that take place when you participate in live music shows. I hope this was helpful to the people who were curious about the atmosphere of the live music shows. Next time, I will give you the information you need and small tips related to participation in the recording. I will tell you some helpful information, such as how to apply for a live broadcast, when you need to print in a hurry, or where you can go and spend time before the re-gathering time. Please feel free to ask if you have any other questions about becoming a true K-pop stan!