On a blissful evening on January 20th 2019, 3/4 of ALAM attended the Blackpink: In Your Area Tour. It was undoubtedly an unforgettable night, but each of us had very different experiences...
Photographed by Michelle Setiawan.
Leaena
I listened to their debut song “BOOMBAYAH” in seventh grade, but I really starting “stanning” them in the beginning of ninth grade. Literally the best decision of my life. I can’t tell you how many times I would break my back trying to dance to “AS IF IT’S YOUR LAST”. Currently, the inside of my closet is plastered with BLACKPINK stickers. And it’s only going to grow.
You can probably guess my overwhelming excitement when I read that they were going to perform in my area on January 20th. It was my birthday present, January 16th, same as Jennie Kim.
In the concert day itself
I cried before the performance even started. It hit me when we were in the crowd that these girls that I idolized for so long were going to perform in front of me. I was anxious, restless and nervous that this concert was going to be a let down.
Oh how wrong I was.
When the bass boosted and 4 goddesses appeared on the ascending ramp, I nearly fainted. I was also crying so hysterically that people around me were uncomfortable. Since everyone around me had their phones held high, I couldn’t see them clearly, and it’s also the fact that I am short. I found myself watching 80% of the performances through strangers’ phone. Not complaining though.
Despite only going to three concerts in my life, I think the BLACKPINK crowd might be the roughest and chaotic one to exist. But I haven’t been to a BTS concert so I can't really say much.
Definitely the most memorable moment was when I had an interaction with one of the backup dancers.
Everyone’s attention was focused in the front of the stage because that’s where BLACKPINK was performing “Boombayah” (a bop). The crowd was parted and there was a clear visual line between me and this one backup dancer. At this very moment, I thought to myself, “this is my chance”. So I started to make a bunch of slapstick movements trying to get her attention. After 3 seconds, she turned her head towards my direction and saw me making heart shapes with my hands, she smiled brightly. When BLACKPINK and the rest of the performers were going to the back of the stage and her body shifted towards my direction and she flipped her hair and waved...
My heart STOPPED. I got noticed by a BLACKPINK backup dancer! My face hurt from smiling so much. I love backup dancers so much.
I screamed in Alex’s face, “DID YOU SEE THAT? DID YOU SEEEEEEEE THAT?” I think he might be deaf now. Worth it.
Alex
Now I started being a fan of BLACKPINK since the start of 2018, and I became a fan really fast. I instantly watched BLACKPINK House, their reality TV-esque show starring them doing exciting stuff. I really just fell in love with their charm and their personalities along with their personalities on stage. So when I found out they were coming to Jakarta for their tour you can believe I was ever so excited. But then our first problem arose. How do we get these tickets and when are they going to be available? We were immediately stressed and started to panic. And then it happened. Tiket.com. The tickets were finally announced to be sold by Tiket.com.
I was shocked at first to hear this. Most of the major Kpop concerts I’ve heard of were sold by Indotix, and until this point I had thought that all Tiket.com sold were airplane tickets to the hottest vacation destinations. As shocking as it may sound, after hearing this I felt even more stressed out. Buying tickets online, especially ones for concerts like these are gimmicky. The WiFi can just be generally slow in most locations, there’s a possibility servers may shut down, and there are people who buy these already expensive 2.5 mil tickets and sell them for a price up to 30 mil. So at this point I am even more stressed, how was I to get these tickets for me, my friends, and my aunts who were there to accompany us. Oh, and did I mention these tickets went on sale at 2pm on a Tuesday. But, my aunt assured me that she would be able to get tickets for the five of us, and I just had to trust her.
On that Tuesday, 2 pm came. We had just finished one of our high school’s biggest events, and the time was coming. I waited, every second feeling more and more intense. Then, my aunt called me. She had just one question. Which area did we want to stand in. This meant she got in and was buying the tickets. She told me that the closest area to the stage was Diamond B, the area to the very right of the stage. I just said yes. She bought four tickets, one for me, Leaena, Michelle, and my other aunt. Now her mission was to get one for herself. She told me that she was able to nab a platinum seated ticket for herself, but that she was on the look for another diamond B ticket just so we could all be together. And with some luck she called me an hour later telling me the great news. She got it! She got a diamond B ticket with sound check in fact! This was such great news as now so wouldn’t be separated at the concert. Or was it?
Weeks past without worrying at all, we had our tickets and we were set in our path for January 20th. But what’s this? There’s two concert dates? January 19th? Thoughts of frustration and confusion ran through my head. They had two days? Why didn’t I know this? I would have just gone on the 19th, it’s a Saturday! I was confused so I asked my aunt if she knew about it. She said that they had added it last minute. So that’s why. I was still frustrated. Was this even advertised. But I pushed that thought away. I’m still going to see BLACKPINK, this date won’t change anything. Oh how wrong was I.
It was the week before BLACKPINK, so much excitement had built up. My aunts, my
Mom and I were sitting at my kitchen table talking like we usually would. The topic of BLACKPINK popped up. I “mentioned” my frustration of the lack of advertisement for the second (technically first) day, that seemingly came out of nowhere. That’s when my aunt asked me, “Do you want to go?”
I was instantly confused. I told her, “yeah of course, but we would have to get another ticket, and that’s too much.”
What she told me next shocked me and truly excited me. She replied, “Oh the ticket that I got with sound check is actually on Saturday, I didn’t see when buying so I thought it was for Sunday cause I thought it was only a one day concert.”
My jaw practically dropped. Of course I wanted to go! And so the plan was made. I was to go on both days. Plus I got to go to sound check! I was so excited I was practically counting the days down.
Saturday, January 19th. Today was the day. Today was the day I finally got to meet BLACKPINK, which was the group that got me into kpop as a whole. I was ecstatic. When I reached the venue my excitement reached a point I didn’t even think it could reach. The venue was beautiful. Even the waiting area was so well organized and neat. The tickets even had numbers to line up with! Not to mention sound check was amazing. Although it was a short 15 minutes with three songs, and light chatter, it was so mesmerizing. I was looking at the group that single handedly introduced me to kpop with my own eyes. They seemed so happy and they were just enjoying themselves on the stage. I felt myself tearing up as they performed “See U Later.” And just like it started the sound check ended. Now it was time to wait. In past concerts it was definitely more hectic; it was first come first serve. Whoever was earliest was closer to the front. But not for BLACKPINK.
Each wristband had its own unique number and that was the number you had for you’re section. Since my aunt bought my ticket basically on its release, I had number 28. Meaning on this day I was up close. I was one person away from the very front. I was so close to them, I swear to god I made eye contact with Lisa and Jisoo. Not only that, but the crowd at this concert seemed ok except for this guy who constantly shoved my aunt, who in turn shoved me, making me almost fall on these petite girls standing next to me. It was really one of the best well organized concerts I’ve been too. After spending this day at the concert I was even more excited to spend the next day here with my friends.
That excitement did not last long. The 20th was a huge contrast to what the 19th had been. For one, they moved most of the bathrooms around. Switching male and female signs. Secondly, there were a lot more people. A lot more. Thirdly they were strictly making people line up by number in every section. We were in the 780s. Fourthly, when we finally entered we were stuck in between smelly people, sick people, and pushy people. To add fuel to the fire, when they had started to play the music videos, everybody squished in so much there was barely room to move. Plus, they played 15 minutes more footage of music videos than they had done in the first day, and mind you BLACKPINK has 8 music videos in total. 45 minutes of 8 videos. I mean, you can do the math. That’s a lot of repeating. This meant that the show also started quite some time later. Lastly, the crowd. Maybe it was because I was in the front on the first day, but the crowd was horrible. We might as well have been in a wave pool with the amount of movement in that crowd. Not to mention that Michelle had gotten separated from us. I was worried sick, even though in the end it turned out that she was “even more than ok.” The crowd was so bad that I actually noticed how bad my feet were hurting the whole time.
Now, don’t get me wrong, the second day was still good. I got to see BLACKPINK again and I had got to do it with my friends (not really with Michelle but you get the idea). I’m just trying to say that in comparison to the first day, the second day was basically horrible. On its own though, it was still a pretty good day. I wouldn’t change it for a thing. Well… maybe the crowd?
Michelle
At first, they didn’t catch my eye. Here’s another one of the hundreds of girl groups who are rising to fame right now. Alex and I sat in the backseat of his car on our way to Daniel Caesar’s 2018 concert. His phone was propped on the arch of the seat, the only light source in the dark of the nighttime.
Seconds before, he had told me enthusiastically of a girl-group that he was obsessed with at the moment. Their name was BLACKPINK.
The girls I got to know as Lisa, Jisoo, Rosé, and Jennie made dancing look easy, made singing look easy, and perhaps that was the reason I didn’t appreciate their talent at the first encounter.
Months later, I rediscovered them on my YouTube feed. I clicked through tens of videos and listened to their hits, such as “Really” and “WHISTLE.” The world-famous girl group emanated a different vibe than what I was usually drawn to, but boy, was I drawn to them.
A year later, here we were, sat in the backseat of Alex’s car, heading to a concert once again. This time, the eager anticipation we felt wasn’t for Daniel Caesar, but for BLACKPINK. The car ride was a jolly one– it was filled with singing and dancing.
When we entered the venue, though, disappointment was apparent in both my companions’ and my face. A crowd had formed, and they had taken the spaces nearest to the stage. I could almost hear the sound of hope tumbling out of our bodies.
The girl beside us coughed. Again. And again. In our direction.
The man beside us sniffed, as if to reaffirm that the sour odour filling the precious gaps of air came from him. I wanted to tell him that it did.
I sighed. So this was where I would stand for all three hours of the concert. Lovely.
When the lights finally dimmed after what felt like hours of the constant replaying of BLACKPINK’s music videos, screams erupted, teardrops rained down faces, and posters were erected.
My arm, linked into a tight bond with Leaena’s, drooped with a tiredness that caused me to let go, for just a second, for just a moment of rest. But the crowd had a different idea.
Someone pulled on my arm, someone who was neither Leaena or Alex, while another pushed me aside to reclaim the space I had occupied for herself. Total and complete pandemonium. All for them.
Them. The girls that stood onstage like the world belonged in their palms. Maybe it did.
I decided it was worth it. The clawing, the screeching, the highly priced ticket.
I also decided that I would make my way to the front.
When the ocean of people surged forward, so did I. It was like a puzzle, fitting whatever part of my body into whatever space was available, I moved slowly but surely toward the front. My bag that usually hung by my side was stuck to my chest, the pressure of the figure in front of me pressing on it. I moved again.
Three girls materialized, attempting to push past me like they had pushed past the people behind me. Hell no!
I stood there unbudging. Am I a wall? I laughed to myself, thanking God for the first time that I swam, that the training had given me more strength than I needed to fend them off. The whole ordeal was humorous. It never occurred to me that the relentless hours of swimming would be used as an advantage in a situation like this.
We were two and a half songs into the concert before I inhaled what seemed like fresh, clean air. Fresh, clean air that came with being at the front. The only thing that stood between me and the stage was one other person and the gleaming metal divider. Oh my gosh. I did it!
Silently, I did a celebratory dance that ended with another girl screaming at me to stop moving. I apologized.
Unbelievable. They were real. The four members of BLACKPINK were real. And throughout the concert, I interacted with them.
I grinned at Jisoo as she wiggled her finger and smiled back at me. I waved at Rosé and Lisa. They waved back. Jennie pointed at me and beamed, as if to say, I see you.
My phone dinged, its yellow light contrasting the pink ones that flashed in a sea of dark. It was a message from Alex.
Are you ok? Where are you? It read.
I grinned once more. I’m more than ok, I replied.
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