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Yungi onstage ◇

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A 44 year old man goes to a K-Pop Concert

I promised you a report on the K-pop concert that I, a 44-year-old accountant, went to a couple of weeks ago with my wife and daughter in Toronto. So here it is.

The band we saw were Ateez. They're my daughter's favourite band and my wife's second favourite. I know most of my mutuals are similarly aged like me and may not be familiar with them so let me give you a brief primer on Ateez.

Imagine the most attractive eight men you can think of, just unfathomably beautiful specimens of aesthetic perfection, and make them sing songs that somehow combine the subjects of 'dancing like nobody is watching' with 'we live in a dystopian hellscape that we must all work together to overthrow'. Give them an ongoing music video story lore that literally nobody - not even the band themselves - understand, so that online discussion of their visual motifs looks more like the fevered rantings of a conspiracy theorist, complete with speculation about alternate realities and time being a Moebius strip. There is also a giant sand timer, for some reason.

That's Ateez. That's what you need to know.

Now, K-pop concerts are very different to the gigs I've been going to for the last 28 (!) years. There's no support act, for a start. Also the band perform for like, three hours, with breaks for costume changes and interpretive dance. Furthermore, hanging above everything is the constant looming threat of mandatory military service.

So this being my first such concert, I wasn't sure what to expect. What happened was difficult to explain, but I will try as I am already six paragraphs into this write-up and I'm too invested to stop now. Here goes:

In his Wicked + Divine comics series, Kieron Gillen places modern pop icons as deities, feeding upon and gaining strength from the worship of their fans at the altar of musical performance. I thought I understood that metaphor. I thought I understood it AS a metaphor. I was wrong, because that night Ateez WERE Gods with a capital G and we were their worshippers, a crowd emanating adoration (in the religious and non-religious senses), bestowing strength upon them and gaining their strength in return.

If that sounds weird, it probably is. But as pointed out above, I have lived over four decades and never yet experienced anything like the overwhelming passion of that crowd, the utter abandon with which they conveyed their love for the band.

"But Fuiru, what of the actual music?" you ask. Thinking back, there was a moment in one of their songs - I can't remember which - where I watched the stage, and the people around me, taking it in, and I thought, "Man, I just love Music". But that doesn't answer your question, sorry.

Ateez's music is bloody great. As a tiresome indie/rock/metal kid I'm resisting the urge to add the usual tiresome indie/rock/metal caveat of "...for pop music" because honestly that does it a disservice. They have some genuinely amazing songs. Halazia is an absolute fucking masterpiece that descends into furious hardcore breakbeat. Bouncy is a big, brash racket that somehow is also a perfect pop song. Utopia, Wonderland, and Guerrilla are similarly superb. The obligatory boy band slow number is represented by Dancing Like Butterfly Wings which will make you cry because you will forever associate it with your twelve year old daughter being pointed to and waved at by her favourite Ateez member (Seonghwa) because of her Seonghwa-branded lightstick.

That might just be me, though.

So in summary: being a 44 year old dad at his first K-pop concert rules and you should endeavour to partake in the experience if the opportunity arises.

Finally, for any Atiny reading this: my bias would be San or Seonghwa but my wife and daughter said they were taken so it’s Mingi. My concert outfit (designed and created by my offspring) reflects this.

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blonde yeosang. Am I right?

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240601 🧸😽 what jjongbear thinks sannie's charms are

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Glennon Doyle, Untamed

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BE THE LIGHT, HALAZIA 🪶 ⤷ DECEMBER 30 2022

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240821 Kun comforts Yangyang at WayV concert ON THE Way in Beijing (x/x/x/x/x/x/x)

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° this is a yeosang appreciation post ° 🫧

Our little sunshine deserves all the world. As once Sannie said "I can promise with everything in me that you’re gonna shine."

We all fight with thoughts like these and try to find our own way. While doing this it's admirable to be able to draw strength from those closest to you, especially your band mates and ofc atiny, and continue to appreciate them under all circumstances.

Thank you for always working hard, doing your best, living your life the fullest.

Luv you so much my beautiful yeosangie! 🤍

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I'm so exhausted but my gorgeous prince boi makes my day.. 🩷

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he did it again

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(🦀🌊💨) Aniteez x summer 7/8: Wooyoyang

Woo is getting chased by the crabs haha! This drawing was fun to draw lol.

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Also I might have changed the appearance cuz I lowkey didn't vibe with the cat features oop- but it's more of a hybrid of a fox and cat lol

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Source: thesofastrays

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY ATEEZ'S PRINCESS | 240809

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[🎬] 240809 | ATEEZ TIKTOK UPDATE

Toronto🌙

Yowwww Yunho!! 🥹🔥