[월드&포토] “I’ve been driving for 6 hours”… Excited for the BTS performance

Flying from Texas to driving to Arizona… ARMYs gather in LA

Two days before the concert, fans parade at Sofai Stadium for a ‘preliminary tour’

From BTS T-shirt mom fans to BTS nail art teenagers… Neighboring commercial districts are also bubbly

(Los Angeles = Yonhap News) Correspondent Yoon-seop Jeong = Sofai Stadium in Los Angeles, USA where the group BTS concert is held.

On the 25th (local time), the reporter visited the concert hall, two days before the performance, but BTS fans continued to visit.

It was like a ‘pilgrimage to the Holy Land’, and they went to the concert hall in advance.

There were fans who came together with three or five friends or toured the concert hall with the hands of their mothers and fathers.

As if a concert rehearsal was in progress, the BTS hit ‘Permission to Dance’ and ‘Billie Jean’ by the king of pop Michael Jackson rang out at Sofa Stadium.

Fans hummed as they listened to the BTS songs that flowed out of the venue, and took pictures of themselves in various places.

Some fans were on a three-hour flight from Texas, while others drove more than six hours from Arizona to Los Angeles.

The expectation that ‘armies’ from all over the United States would gather in LA was not an empty word.

All four BTS performances, held from the 27th of this month to the 2nd of next month, have 320,000 seats, and tickets have been sold out for a long time.

The original price for the seat closest to the stage was $6,400, but the resale price soared to $51,000.

Abby, a teenage girl who visited the theater in Dallas, Texas, with her mother, smiled brightly when asked if she was a BTS fan.

Abby said, “I’m so excited to be able to listen to all of BTS’s songs for the first time in person, not online.”

Laura, the mother who was smiling next to her, suddenly turned her back and ‘confessed’ that she was also an ARMY.

Laura’s T-shirt had the BTS member’s real name in Korean engraved in English.

Lisa, 16, and Destiny, 17, were driving from Arizona to Los Angeles.

Lisa said, “I am very excited to think that I will be able to see BTS in two days. I really love BTS,” said Lisa.

L.A.’s 14-year-old fan, Lily, visited the concert hall with her mom and dad.

Lily, who had been a fan for 5 years, couldn’t hide her excitement as she was able to see the BTS performance for the first time after a long wait.

Lily then held out her hands with a shy expression.

Lily’s ten-finger nails had nail art depicting BTS as doll characters and more.

Lily’s mother smiled that the child had specially decorated her nails before the BTS concert.

In front of the concert hall, I was able to meet two Korean fans.

It was Moon Hyun-ah (36) and Kim Dong-jun (29), who had difficulty purchasing tickets for a BTS concert that had been canceled while visiting LA for business.

The two laughed and said that they could feel the local interest in K-pop and Hallyu in the United States, saying that they had postponed their return schedule to next week because of the concert.

The staff of Sofai Stadium, who inspected every nook and cranny of the venue before the BTS concert, also stood out.

When asked if there was anything wrong with the preparations for the performance, Raphael Gabriel (21) said, “We have a great plan and are proceeding well. I am confident that it will be a successful concert that will satisfy both BTS and the audience.”

A notice on the prevention of novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) and security checkpoints have been placed all over the venue, and a notice announcing the BTS performance has appeared on a large billboard outside.

The commercial area near Sofai Stadium was also full of excitement thanks to BTS. This is because at least 80,000 spectators flock to a single performance.

The front desk staff at the ‘LA Adventurer All Suite’ hotel, which is a 6-minute drive from the venue, said, “The room reservations are already over.” “It’s definitely a BTS effect.”

Leonard, the owner of a Chinese restaurant near Sofai Stadium, said, “Because of the BTS performance, the surrounding accommodations were full, and the number of customers visiting our store and orders for delivery also increased compared to before.”

jamin74@yna.co.kr

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2021/11/26 15:55 Send