I booked my flight to Seoul soon after I saw the 2nd Astroad concert announcement that they would be playing at the KBS Arena on 22 & 23 December 2018. It’s been more than 1.5 years since I last saw the Astro boys.
However, because there was something wrong with my Interpark account, I didn’t manage to get tickets to both concert days. Needless to say, I was sad and disappoint but I thought, at least there is Psy’s “All Night Stand” concert and I didn’t book my flight for nothing.
However, when my Aroha friends found out that I didn’t managed to get any tickets, they were like, “No! You have to go!”. And somehow, they and did managed to find me a ticket to both concert days. Needless to say, I’m really grateful. So THANK YOU GUYS AGAIN.
The 2nd Astroad To Seoul – Starlight Day 1
I only slept at 6.30 am KST on 22 December 2018 because of the Psy “All Night Stand” concert. Since Astroad was scheduled to start at 6.00 pm KST, I could reach the venue at around 4.15 pm KST. However, just as I was about to go back to sleep, I found out that the Aroha booth would close at 1.00 pm KST so I jumped out of bed to get dressed to head down to KBS Arena.
Unfortunately, in my half awake state, I took the train in the wrong direction and missed the Aroha booth. Boo.
Anyway, I was seated for the first day. I was in the last row of the section and the staff were patrolling behind me so this was pretty much the only photo I managed to take on Day 1. LOL.
I’m usually in the standing pits for most concerts but I was super tired so I was really glad I was seated. I was also having a sore throat from PSY’s concert and could have fainted in the standing pits or something.
I don’t know if it’s because I was seated, surrounded by parents, was super tired and/or if it was because I was watching Astro (a relative newbie) the day after PSY (legend!); I must admit that I did feel a little “meh” during Day 1 of Astroad. Don’t get me wrong, Astro are every bit of awesome but there was certainly an element of anti-climax of watching the Astro concert after PSY’s for me.
On top of that, I couldn’t scream or anything because of my sore throat so my fan participation in the concert was zero. And it really did matter for the whole concert experience.
Anyway, the stand out performance of Day 1 was Bin’s solo. You guys can watch that performance when the concert DVD is out. 😃
Also, Astro started the concert appearing from behind the audience and I was lucky enough to have Cha Eun Woo appear within a few feet from me. I have forgotten how tall and ridiculously handsome he is in person. And I am very thankful that he appeared near me to remind me of those facts.
That said, towards the end of the concert, I saw a bunch of people leaving behind me and thought why do people leave before the concert is totally over?? I found out later on Twitter that those bunch of people are a subset members of another Kpop group called Seventeen!!
The 2nd Astroad To Seoul – Starlight Day 2
I ended up in the standing pit on Day 2. I was still tired and having a sore throat but I definitely did get into the concert more on Day 2. Maybe it’s also because I got to see the Astro boys much closer because I was in the standing pits.
And when I say closer, this is what I mean:
I have mentioned many times by now that I have a sore throat over the 2 days at Astroad and I couldn’t fan chant along or scream or anything. BUT, at the end of Jin Jin’s solo, this happened:
So like a movie/drama, the girl beside me and I started screaming. Oh yeah, I started screaming for real; sore throat was irrelevant at that point. Then the both of us looked at each other and screamed again. And we both laughed and walked away. It was quite a nice and powerful moment coz both of us didn’t have to say a word and yet both of us know what each other are trying to say. Hahaha.
Post Concert Thoughts
It absolutely broke my heart to see all the Astro boys cry so badly during the final ment on both days. 💔My non-Aroha friend was judging me when I recapped that I was crying at the concert when all the Astro boys were crying.
2018 was an absolutely shit year for them. They had so much going for them and suddenly, they were shut into a dungeon with seemingly no light at the end of the tunnel. I can totally understand how they feel to work so hard and can’t do anything about it. It is very depressing.
Anyway, I really hope that 2019 would be a lot better for the Astro boys and they will be able to make up for lost time. They are really brilliant and deserve a lot more. And I’m not saying this because I’m a fan. Because they really are! And that’s why I became a fan.
얘들아, 2019년에는 화이팅 합시다! 앞으로 꽃길만 걷기를 보증하지 못 하지만 곁에 있게 같이 걸을 거라고 약속할게.