As our civil liberties dissipate in the US, music has continued to lift my spirits. On March 13, I attended BTS’ J-Hope’s concert “Hope on the Stage” in Brooklyn, New York, at the Barclays Center. He had two sold-out dates at this venue, which seats about 17,000. J-Hope was perfection personified, and I wanted to share my experience attending this concert.
As all the members have completed or are in the midst of their mandatory military service, fans have been desperate to see them live. Of course, the risk of losing fans exists for any K-pop boy group while on hiatus due to military service.
I had heard horror stories about the line for buying merchandise (the “merch line”) at BTS concerts, but when we arrived at 1 p.m., we only waited 15-20 minutes before purchasing our goods. As my light stick — Army bomb — broke just before the concert, I had to buy a new one. This cost $59. I also purchased a T-shirt ($50) and extra batteries for my light stick ($2).
By 2:30 p.m. or so, the front of the concert hall was full of people milling around. Some were in the merch line, but many were just hanging out. I had made 100 packets of J-Hope and BTS stickers in preparation for the concert, and this was a good time to begin handing them out. I realized later that only a select other Army had brought their own freebies to share, so it was ideal to trade with those who had come prepared. I received about 30 sets of freebies. Some people simply handed out a single sticker or photo card. However, what was more typical were little packets of items, such as a few photo cards or stickers. I received two handmade bracelets, two rings, pieces of candy and several keychains. One person gave me a crocheted jack-in-the-box figure, inspired by J-Hope’s album titled “Jack in the Box.” Everyone was happy to receive and give gifts, which works to strengthen communities. As sociologist James Coleman described the concept of social capital, one of the effective ways of building social ties among individuals is through reciprocal gift giving.
It was amazing to see Army of all different ages and ethnicities. I think the age range was 10 to 80, but most were probably between 18 and 50. However, it seemed about 98 percent female.
As it approached 4:30 p.m., we decided to stake our place in line. We stood next to two very nice young women who were first-years at George Washington University in DC (about three hours by train or 330 kilometers away). They had been fans of BTS for about seven years, but admitted that J-Hope was not their favorite. Still, they were thrilled to see him. This pales to the two other young women we met earlier in the afternoon — they traveled from Ecuador: about 4,800 km away! At a BTS cupsleeve event earlier this month, I met a woman in her mid-20s who was planning to drive from Maine to Chicago, Illinois. I don’t know what city she lived in, but the distance from the largest city in Maine to Chicago is about 1,800 km. This is about a 17-hour drive.
There were no negative judgements on one’s love of J-Hope and BTS. People exchanged information about their favorite songs — I heard “Dimple.” When I said that I loved “Just One Day,” “Just Dance” or “Bapsae,” everyone I met knew what I was talking about — no one assumed that one could only sing to “Butter” or “Dynamite.” In fact, J-Hope would not perform those songs that night, but I doubt anyone minded.
I felt pure excitement inside the concert hall. The woman who sat in front of us told everyone around her that it was her birthday. At the end of the concert, she shouted, “This is the best birthday of my life!” About 80 percent of people brought their light sticks. Many people dressed up as characters recognizable to other Army. Almost everyone wore a little symbol of BTS, whether it was a keychain of Mang on their handbag or a BTS scarf or a fully handmade outfit. I was lucky that one of my sisters made me a J-Hope handbag, and my husband printed me a purple phone case with the Korean words that "BTS" stands for on it.
Concerts are communal experiences where the audience and performers share a collective sense of euphoria — Emile Durkheim referred to this as “collective effervescence.” Ethnomusicologist Christopher Small describes the experience of performing and consuming music together as “musicking.” Along with the gift-giving activities in many K-pop concerts, I felt happy not only as a BTS fan but also as a witness to sociology in action. However, I really could have used a purple sweater or jacket! Maybe next time.
Grace Kao
Grace Kao is an IBM professor of sociology and professor of ethnicity, race and migration at Yale University. The views expressed here are the writer’s own. — Ed.
