June 26, 2022 marks Golden Child's second leg of their Meet & Live Tour in USA! I blogged about logistics of the tour here and about the San Jose leg here.
The LA venue was Teragram Ballroom, and the check-in took place directly on the sidewalk. There was a makeshift line for VVIP and VIP check-in, and a separate makeshift line to pick up Snapshot tickets (this time the tickets were in a crate rather than laid out on a table).
While checking in for VVIP, the volunteer wrote my queue number while I asked if I could write my name in Hangul instead of them, and they happily let me do so.
For LA, I purposely chose the Wish album to be signed and to wear my "Genie" worker outfit. It felt most fitting since the photoshoots for Wish took place in LA the day after Golden Child's KCON LA appearance in 2018. I really like how the members tried to sign close to where they are in the photo.
The fansign order was Bomin, Joochan, Donghyun, Jibeom, Jaehyun, Seungmin, Jangjun, and then Y. As a note, now you can no longer hand deliver letters to the members. Before reaching the fansign table, there is a table with a box for each member where you can drop off your letter. The fansign is always such a blur but below are some moments I remember:
- While Jangjun was waiting for the next fan, I waved at him and he waved back at me.
- Bomin first said "hi" as I said it in Korean, then he said "hi" back in Korean.
- Joochan at first used a silver pen then felt apologetic and redid his sign in black.
- Jaehyun was talking to Jibeom when it was my turn with Jibeom, so I didn't get to talk while Jibeom was signing. Jibeom then said something along the lines of "thank you for coming" in English and then to follow up with him in San Jose expressing his lack of confidence in speaking English, I said "지범이 영어 잘 해요 (Jibeom speaks English well)" (which I now realize isn't the best Korean but he got the gist).
- Seungmin and Jangjun both said my name.
- Y asked how am I then at the end subtly said "I love you" and I was taken aback but said it back.
After the fansign, we went back outside in queue order. For soundcheck, we entered back into the venue in an orderly fashion. This was an all standing venue with no barricades by tier. When I got inside, I saw that the left side of the front row was occupied by ADA accessible ticket holders, along with a sign language interpreter. Seeing that the front row was already filled despite being #17, I would prefer being right being ADA for a better view, however knowing that phones would be grabbed during "Bottom Of The Ocean", I opted for second row on the right side. Above was my view. There was no barricade between front row and the stage, only tape on the floor and a security guard.
To my surprise, the setlist for soundcheck was slightly different today! Golcha sang "I Know" and the first half of "Milky Way".
And now onto the concert! Below is the setlist and I'll add any highlights. I'll only post a handful of pictures of the concert on my blog (I recorded the whole thing so screenshots of videos aren't great quality, and you can view some of my pictures on my Twitter thread here, and surely lots of others' fancams on SNS as well).
Setlist:
- Intro VCR - same intro VCR as Play concert
- Ra Pam Pam
- Burn It
- Ment - Almost all members had to tie their shoes. Jangjun commented, "Everybody, what happened to your shoes?!"
- I Know
- That Guy
- Ment - They were saying how Jibeom has been working out at the gym so Jaehyun jokingly (or not) said, "Show them. Show them. Show them right now. Show them." but to no avail.
- What Happened?
- Pump It Up
- VCR - condensed TV shows / commercials VCR from Play
- Wannabe - Without You - One
- Ment - Jangjun said in English how while he was backstage he heard a woman ghost singing to Golcha songs in his in-ear so it was creepy, and it turned out that it's us. Jaehyun said that since they're in the US, they want to sing some pop songs and asked who will sing a pop song. Then Jangjun pointed to Jaehyun and said, "It's your time." In the meantime, Y and other members started singing "Despacito" (or more like singing the word "Despacito" because they didn't know the lyrics^^), then Joochan said, "My favorite song, 'Versace On The Floor'. Let's go? Yah let's go." Jaehyun went backstage and came back with a phone and lyrics he searched up. Then he kept cutely stalling by saying, "I'll go in a lower key...this song was really popular in America when I was here...nevermind..." then he sang Justin Bieber's "Baby" and the crowd sang along. Then the members wanted Jibeom to sing next so Jaehyun was like, "Let's go Jibeom. Jibeom let's go." Jibeom sang "Lost Stars". Then Jangjun talked about going to Santa Monica yesterday and riding the rollercoaster but Donghyun skipped out.
- Oasis
- Bottom Of The Ocean - I genuinely tried but failed to have my phone taken. I was so close with Bomin! Joochan was jumping around with a bottle of water and was a bit shocked when the water spilled onto the stage.
- Ment - Jaehyun asked the members on their thoughts of the tour. After Jibeom spoke, Jangjun directed it to Donghyun in English with, "How about you, my son?" Jaehyun said he invited his homestay brother Robin to the show, then paused, saying that he thinks he will cry but not now. He said that this brother taught him football and basketball and after school they'd play Xbox 360. Jangjun mentioned that he also invited Tag's friend who they, along with Seungmin, hung out with in Korea, and that he is very handsome.
- Sea
- Breathe
- Ment - Jaehyun asked who is going to Denver. Jangjun followed up by asking us to call out friends and cousins in Denver to come to their show.
- Crush
- Ending VCR - same ending VCR as Play
- - Encore - DamDaDi
- Ending Ment - Jangjun mentioned that he can hear us screaming "Encore! Golden Child!" so he said the members should shout "Goldenness!" and they did.
- Milky Way
Bomin pointing at me during the chorus of "What Happened?"?!? Or me being delusional hehe
After the concert, the staff had those with Snapshot tickets to wait towards the back of the venue while they set up the session towards the stage.
Here is my second set of Snapshots! Unfortunately with the super dark lighting plus our navy outfits, we all generally got lost in the background, but Bomin's really pulled through with his blonde hair hehe. (Me talking about Bomin yet again 🙄).
Here are some of my recollections from Snapshots (in the order I took them):
- Bomin: He pointed out my Genie outfit, called me Genie (not dying thinking about "Shadow Beauty"?!), asked if he could get closer for our Snapshot, and I got such a reaction from telling him that I'll be in Denver. This entire conversation has made me so happy because he is seriously so personable and attentive.
- Joochan: He recognized that my outfit is Genie and said that it's good. In the middle of our pose, the staff noted that someone is behind us so we both turned toward each other then behind and chuckled. Afterwards he complimented my outfit again.
- Jangjun: After our Snapshot, he asked if I live in LA, then the staff hinted me to leave. Then Jangjun asked me again so I got to talk to him for just a little bit longer^^
- Y: After our Snapshot, he tried to initiate his usual double high five, but I stopped him and asked what was on his hand. Then he replied "G. N. C. D.", then showed me and said it again slowly, "G...N...C...D." really cutely. Then we double high fived.
- Jaehyun: He asked about my outfit so I turned around to show him the back, then he said that I slayed.
- Jibeom: I told him that he danced really well today, then he said in English, "Oh yah~ Thank you. *chuckles* Very happy day...to me."
Overall, I have mixed feelings about my experience in LA. I was really spoiled with the setup in San Jose (for both the concert and Snapshot location). Honestly being in pit was tough with rowdy people pushing their way and continuously walking all over me (figuratively and a bit literally). But going through my recordings from that day, I am especially happy with my Snapshot with Bomin^^
I genuinely always try to show as many members as possible in my posts and try to be for the most part unbiased, but Bomin has been making it quite difficult since the beginning of the tour! I'll continue blogging about the remaining stops...stay tuned to see if Bomin continues to wreck me hehe.
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