At 7:07PM, MC Danny came out on stage. I'm so happy he's a staple MC at KCON. He hyped us up with the line-up; KCON had already previously announced special guests Crush, Dynamic Duo, Golden Child, Momoland, and In2it (as well as DJ Friz and Esna). He then announced additional guests Heesun Lee, Ellen and Brian, and another DJ. With so many guests (especially the ones just announced) I was worried if the actual KCON artists would have sufficient time to perform...Danny explained that the night would be split up into three parts, starting with the K-Hip Hop lineup with Crush, Dynamic Duo, Heesun Lee, Esna, and DJ Friz, then the K-Performance lineup with Golden Child, Momoland, and Ellen and Brian, and lastly the K-EDM lineup with In2it and another dJ (I'm so sorry I forgot his name). It's always artist(s) from the lineup from the first concert day that performs at Klub KCON, and this time it's literally every artist except for Ailee, Twice, and Wanna One (and Davichi and Mia). That being said, when KCON first announced the concert daily lineup it was more uplifting seeing Golden Child on the Saturday lineup because there was a high chance they'd be at Klub versus when they were on the Sunday lineup in NY and therefore had a very slim chance of being a guest at Klub.
DJ Friz was up on the stage first. Now that majority of the klubbers had entered the venue, I'll talk about the atmosphere. On my side there were only two rows of people, while in the center there were a lot of people packed together. Then further out some people were sitting on the floor and much more spaced out. It really didn't seem like anyone was dancing, and honestly with such a packed lineup crammed into 4 hours, there was no time to dance if you wanted to see all the performances.
Crush came onto the stage at 7:22PM. He was very laid back and his performance seemed so natural for him. It seemed like he had a lot of fun on stage too; several times he opened a bottle of water and sprayed the crowd. In between songs he spoke in both Korean and English. The most memorable moment was Crush singing his song from the "Goblin" OST. As a soloist he mainly stayed at the very front of the stage, so we mostly saw his side and back. But I figured when groups like Golden Child would perform, they'd be closer to the center/back of the stage to accommodate all the members and their choreography. Speaking of Golden Child...I should've gotten into Crush's set more, especially when Seungmin really likes Crush! Crush finished his stage at 8:04PM, literally 42 minutes long. That is a great chunk of time considering there are still so many more guests and only 3 hours left...
Dynamic Duo performed right after Crush, and they both mainly stayed at the very front of the stage though they did come to our side of the stage at times. They finished at 8:39PM. Honestly I've had a very long day without food and as much as I wanted to enjoy all of the performers at Klub, I had no more energy and was only waiting for Golden Child. Hence my lack of description for Dynamic Duo and almost all the other artists coming up.
MC Danny came back on the stage and called back up both Crush and Dynamic Duo for an encore. They performed two songs together, ending their joint set at 8:49PM. K-Hip Hop fans were in for such a nice treat tonight, being able to see Crush and Dynamic Duo perform for almost one and a half hours.
Next on stage was Heesun Lee, a hip hop artist from NY. She told her story of how she is of Korean descent but was adopted and doesn't know how to speak Korean. She was on stage from 8:51PM to 9:08PM. This was the last performance for the K-Hip Hop section.
Dance cover couple Ellen and Brian kicked off the K-Performance section at 9:09PM. They performed a few duet dance covers, and both had an individual dance cover. At 9:18PM, MC Danny called the couple back up for an encore performance and talk time which lasted until 9:23PM. Both artists who weren't previously announced had 17 minutes and 14 minutes respectively. With the remaining time and only Esna, the three idol groups, and the other DJ left, I still had high hopes that the remaining artists would have more time than the unannounced artists.
Esna was up next. I had seen her on stage a few times at KCON NY, and had always liked her confidence and exuding stage presence. I absolutely love the song "Some" that she had written, and was happy she sung a line from that. She performed a mashup of two very unsuspecting songs, which blended surprisingly well together. Her set was from 9:24PM to 9:46PM, a good 22 minutes. At this point, only the three idol groups were left (and that other DJ); the time was almost here to see Golden Child perform!
Momoland came on stage next. They greeted the audience, performed one song, and walked off the stage. Momoland was literally only on stage from 9:47PM to 9:52PM, for 5 minutes. I can't imagine how devastated Momoland stans felt; I was very disappointed at how KCON could only give 5 minutes to one of the official KCON performers. At this rate, would Golden Child also only perform one song? On the one positive side, I was able to see the performance very well since the group performed in our line of sight, at the very center of the stage.
Right after Momoland left the stage, Golden Child came on! All of my frustration and fatigue vanished and my fangirl mode was activated. The members hurried up onto the stage and went into position for "Let Me"! I had practiced and almost perfected the beginning fanchant, but actually shouting in the presence of Golden Child, I had completely failed. Regardless, we still shouted out the rest of the fanchant, so hopefully Golden Child could hear American Goldenness' cheers!
The view was absolutely perfect. Even though the members are performing for the center, we got such a great side view of the songs that aren't usually captured on camera. ♫
Superhero Yeah! ♪
This was the first time a member looked in our direction! It seems like Bomin is looking at another Goldenness to the right of us...
Shortly after Bomin looked in our direction again (but to that same Goldenness on the right?) while the other members continued looking straight forward.
After "Let Me", the members started chanting "Golden Child" and Bomin looked in our direction again! Whoever Bomin kept looking at is very lucky, but I'm just happy Bomin kept looking our way. MC Danny came up on stage to moderate. Daeyeol began the introduction with "Hello everyone, we are..." and the members finished "Golden Child!" The members then gave individual introductions, however the audio system was really bad so we couldn't hear the MC nor the members clearly.
MC Danny then told Golden Child how he was their MC at KCON NY. Instantly the boys bowed to Danny in a wave formation (like from left to right). Danny then asked how the members felt being in LA at Klub KCON. Jangjun gave his thoughts in English, and again it was really hard to hear. But he did say that "This is the second time after New York KCON...the fans are very awesome. So every time I have goosebumps, you know. Love you~" Danny then said there'd be a couple more songs. Jaehyun spoke briefly, but the only thing I heard was "Crush."
The members quickly got into formation of their next song. We had thought the next song was "Crush" but this definitely wasn't the opening choreography for "Crush." This was none other than "Sea"! I had never imagined that they'd perform "Sea" at KCON, but I'm so happy they did especially when this is their pre-debut song! Since this song has no fanchant, the next best thing was to continue cheering and sing along (though I was too timid to sing along!).
Again, the view was amazing. Especially for part of the chorus their bodies are facing our way so we could see them very well.
And here is Jangjun smiling in our direction! Up until the first chorus the members had been directing their focus to the center audience.
Then during the rap, more members looked our way! Joochan and Y waved in our direction.
Then Joochan cutely waved with both hands to the rhythm of the song!
Then Y did one last little wave before jumping back into the choreography. I didn't notice this in person but after seeing my fancam on how he could sweetly give fan service one moment then instantly with the music be able to snap into it and dance again, this action is definitely making Y become a bias wrecker. And while Y and Joochan were waving to us, Jaehyun continued his cold city man ways.
Suddenly a security guard came right in front of us, enjoying Golden Child's beautiful performance while blocking our view. We had asked him to move despite it being hard to get his attention, and he moved a few inches to the left which blocked my friend's view more. I was so distracted by the staff but suddenly Seungmin, Y, and Jangjun were looking our way again! Jangjun was the first to wave at us. Then Seungmin joined in and waved to us, and eventually Y joined in and waved to us too.
That security guard had really made me upset, since no staff had gotten in our line of sight for any of the other performances. But I'm glad he briefly got out of my way for Jibeom's iconic moment here.
After "Sea" the members got right into the formation for "Crush" with no break.
When we thought the first security guard was a bit annoying, his tall friend joined in. The only way to have made this situation better (besides if the guards had moved) is if they became Goldenness by watching Golden Child's performance with the perfect view. Trying to not let the blocked view get the best of me, my friends and I had a shouting battle singing the chorus.
The boys were really focused on their performance for majority of "Crush" but then during Jangjun's rap Joochan looked our way again when he came to our side! He did the fighting pose to the beat of Jaehyun's lines.
And soon after, Bomin had to walk on our side to get to the back, and he cutely and rapidly nodded in our direction then moved his arms like Rapper BAG!
As "Crush" ended, the members began to head off the stage. Only Bomin looked our way with his Rapper BAG swag, then he waved and joined the rest of the members as they faced the center one more time for a final goodbye. The members all bowed 90
° in unison and waved to the front.
Bomin turned our way and waved to our side again. The other member continued only looking straight ahead. As the members were walking off the stage, Bomin looked at our side one more time and waved.
Golden Child was on stage from 9:52PM to 10:06PM, for about 13.5 minutes. While this is shorter than all the other artists (except for Momoland), I'm really happy with the outcome of their performance (except for the security guard which I wish didn't affect me as much as it had). It feels much more personable seeing them perform in such an intimate setting.
Sometime during the K-Performance time frame, MC Danny had said that In2it and then the other DJ would be performing during the last hour of Klub. I feel bad for that other DJ because surely everyone was really tired and wanted to leave after their artist had performed.
I feel bad for leaving Klub before In2it (and the other DJ) performed, however we had such a long day and tomorrow would be even more tiring. The three of us finally had a real meal while we watched our Klub fancams and reminisced over our ridiculously loud fanchants and cheers and over the moments the members noticed us. I couldn't wait for the weekend to continue and to make more memories with Golden Child and my Goldenness friends!
There was already at least 50 people ahead in line. By 5:15PM, the line practically doubled behind me. The girl behind me was a Goldenness who also had the Golden Day tote and pins^^ Later on, my Goldenness friend I met at KCON NY who made the black Golden Child jersey joined me in line; I'm so happy that the two Goldenness friends I made in NY are here with me in LA for Golden Child. Even though we had just met less than 2 months ago, I already feel so close with them and am so grateful that this time we can see and fangirl over Golden Child together.
Later on in line, I met two other Goldenness! They had entered in the same "Let Me" dance cover contest that my Goldenness friend (the one with the black jersey) participated in, so they recognized each other. It turns out, they're the ones that made the "National Jibeomgraphic" banner for KCON NY, and this time they made a "Sprite Man" banner! I was so surprised that they recognized me as the girl with the blog; this is the first time someone came up to me in person because of my blog! I had to take a picture to commemorate this magical moment! And when I ran into them the next day while waiting in line for red carpet, we found out that we're all from the same city!
At around 6:35PM they let us into the venue, first going through security check. There was a concession stand at the entrance of the venue, then a huge dance floor. There were already a lot of people surrounding the stage, but my two Goldenness friends and I were able to get front row on the far right side of the stage.
Shortly after 7PM, they introduced the special guests on the screen.
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