As many of you know, KBS held a free concert at Overpeck Park NJ. You might also have heard stories of the anger that came with this event. This is going to be my side of the story and what went down.
I was ready to go; decked out in my 2PM shirt, Khun Spris hoodie and 2PM Spris tote bag. Me a fan of 2PM? How did you know? xD My friend Melissa picked me up around 3:50 in the morning to go to the park; it was said that people were going to be there around 5am. We got there after listening to a good chunk of SHINee in the car. There were people already lined up on the sidewalk. Many had bags full of food, blankets on the ground and around themselves. Some were even curled up on the ground trying to get as much sleep as possible. Melissa dropped Kizer and I off so we could wait in line while she and Amanda went to park. The person there asked us for our names as to make sure no one cuts us in line; however as we get further into the story, that had no effect. So we picked a spot and waited. We could see the stage a little bit from where we were. I tried to get pics of the lighted area to the best of my ability. After a good while Melissa and Amanda come back and that's when the long hours of waiting started. The two of them tried to sleep with the chilled night air but didn't really have any success; not to mention the two of them were wearing skirts. It was supposed to be like 80 degrees out that day. As the sun rose we were told we would be relocating to a different area. It seemed that someone ran over a pipe to the fountain in the park so we had to wait until that was repaired? I don't know but you could see water gushing into the air.
Around 9ish people started moving into the park; at that time the pipe had been repaired. At this point, the confusion started to build in masses. Not knowing what was going on, people tried to seek answers. Apparently the park was open and people fled to get seats. We were told, however, that the people who left the line had to come back afterwards for they were going to be kicked out of their seats anyway. 4PM was when they would be checking tickets, or so we were told. Amanda and Melissa went into the park to see what was up, leaving me and Kizer to hold the fort. The same person who took the names went to see if she could get answers. This person did not work for the event, but actually did a pretty damn good job seeing that things went along well to the best of her ability. Kudos for her. She came back a couple of minutes later saying that we could enter the park but for us to walk there nicely. That didn't work because a bunch of people from the back, mostly teenie bobbers, came running up front and to the entrance. For us who were waiting in line for 4 hours started yelling and cursing at these poor excuses for human beings. Please note that I do not like teenagers at all. You have to be pretty cool in order for me to like you. Kizer and I got to the area where the white folded chairs where. Hoards of people were pushing and shoving, trying to secure a seat. Lucky for us, Melissa and Amanda found seats three rows from where the gate was.
Going to try to make some sort of visual. There were grey folded chairs that were V.I.P seats from the stage. Behind the V.I.P. section was a makeshift gate and behind that were the white folded chairs. We got our seats and sat down. Going to fast forward a bit. My person wasn't at the park yet and I wasn't sure what was going to happen. People were saying that if security comes we were to stand ground and not move. However, if KBS comes, then we have to evacuate the area. That didn't happen and they were going to check tickets at 1pm. We were safe. Lots of teenagers annoyed Kizer and me for the first half. I was tired and didn't want to deal with them. One of Melissa's friends showed up and sat with us. I forgot her name however so I'm just going to call Missy's friend for now. A common occurrence that happened was that the speaker spoke in Korean. I was amazed at all the Koreans in the park, only a handful knew the language. Some even spoke it and said they didn't know what he was saying, but I knew they were being smart asses. We did find out later that he did speak English which angered us more. Way to go assholes.
My person finally showed up and said that she was waiting at the All Kpop booth. I walked across the field to where the three large red and white balloons were. We met and she gave me my ticket. I am still grateful for her. Being that I was at the AKP booth, I wanted to see what it was all about. It was cool, nothing totally special though. People did dance covers which I did get on my phone and will be posting them on Youtube at some point. That was cool. They did Roly Poly, Abracadabra, Lucifer and Breathe. None of the dances I knew all the way through. XD Kinda sad. After that experience I headed back to my seat where I told Kizer that she should come with me to the bathroom and to roam the festival that was taken place. There were cds there but as I looked at the covers I could tell they were printed out. Basically they were burned copies. Something I wouldn't pay money for because I can just to the same thing. There were socks so I got a 2PM and AM bunch. ^^ That was the only thing I got from the festival. I got some ddeokbboki because I was craving it. It was sooo good. I wanted some kimchi but I didn't get any. :( People were carrying around cartons of it though.
As Kizer and I got back to our seats the announcer... guy came back on and spoke Korean. Of course everyone was like "What did say?" He told us that because it was 8o degrees out, the health services told us to get out of our seats and walk around so we won't get heat exhaustion. That didn't quite work out. It was a massive field with no shade unless you were under the booths. I think at the same time they said that they would be checking in tickets at 3PM. So people started lining up where the fence was in the back. The announcer kept repeating for us to move around. We weren't moving. Okay, there were like three stampedes during that thing. The first was getting to the seated area. Out of nowhere, people started running up front. Missy's friend was with me at the time so we both followed suit because we wanted our seats back. A lot of people were going into the V.I.P section. Confused as to why, I asked someone. It appeared that the announcer said that whoever was in line early in the morning, could have a seat in that section. Or something like that. I was questioning on how they would know who was there and who wasn't at that time. You don't. 2nd stampede. People lost their seats during this event.
Other singers were doing sound checks at the time of the festival. In Sooni did a sound check for Goose's Dream. It was absolutely amazing. Things were quiet until a bunch of girls started singing Single Ladies; later on we found out that it was all the girl groups and G.NA who were singing it. 4Minute came on and that's when it got crazy. People were rushing up to the gate and standing on chairs. I was too, not going to lie. I tried getting pics but with distance, and soon lighting, it wasn't good. There were decent shots but they weren't great. There was this tall guy and his annoying girlfriend who were in front of us. They were like whispering and everything and I was about to throw something at them. I did yell at them at one point though. So after 4Minute's sound check, it was G.NA. I did write the order down but I lost it. According to my camera the third stampede happened. The announcer said the name B2ST and people broke through the gate and ran toward the stage. B2ST started to sing Fiction but then stopped. I was so embarrassed at that moment. They didn't even finish a song unlike the past two groups did. The idiots who started the commotion came back to our section and the announcer told us that he will cancel the event if we didn't behave ourselves. We had about three threats that day. IDEK. The other artists did their sound checks; 2PM was still not there. The guards made a second fence behind the first one after the sound check. It was a mess. From ajummas (middle aged ladies) trying to get what they want by arguing; some telling people they couldn't pass them. People stealing chairs from the V.I.P section and sitting in the aisle, or just people sneaking into the V.I.P section. I think an ajumma did that at one point.
After that chaotic mess with Beast, I met up with a Twitter buddy, Tammy. I was lucky to find her to be honest. She was so nice. I wanted to hang out more but alas, she lives in a different state. I went back to my seat and waited for the concert to commence. At this point people were blocking the aisles so the ones in the back couldn't come up front. People up front moved their row of chairs close to the gate so people wouldn't come up and stand in front of them. More police forces came and guarded the fence as the concert drew near.
At this point I don't want to spend anymore time describing things. Before the concert could start there were presidents and higher ups making speeches. We even stood up while they did Korea's national anthem along with our Star Spangled Banner. That was actually cool. The Village People did Macho Man and Go West. They were going to do Y.M.C.A but something happened. -____- Our MCs for the concert were none other than Choi Minho (^^) and someone else who I do not know the name of. Apparently on the program it says that Taec was supposed to MC but because he wasn't there they had Minho do it? They didn't go in order because of 2PM I think. The program didn't do just. to us. During the concert people actually stayed in their seats... until the end. There were a lot of solo artists including opera singers. Those seemed to take forever. SiSTAR, 4Minute and G.NA did Single Ladies. SHINee came on (did Lucifer and Ring Ding Dong) and then 4Minute (Hot Issue and Mirror Mirror). Maya came on and I really enjoyed her. I didn't really know who she was but I would listen to her songs more. Unlike before, everyone was tamed when B2ST came back on stage. They performed Fiction and Beautiful Girl. They sounded awesome when they did Fiction. In Sooni sounds way better in concert. Of course when she did Goose's Dream EVERYONE applauded and screamed. I think the funny part was when she was looking and talking. None of us knew what she was doing and then everyone looked that the moon. Even the camera guy captured the moon on the big screen. Kim TaeWoo of G.O.D came on and everyone cheered. He sang Sarangbi and New York State of Mind. I just melted. After a long performance of solo opera singers, SiSTAR came on the stage to perform So Cool and Ma Boy. I don't follow them really so I was surprised to see the erotic dance moves for Ma Boy. O.o G.NA only did one song which was Top Girl. It was good to see her though. KBS' Tae Jinah came on and did a duet with some other guy. It was awkward because this black chick came on wearing short shorts while revealing her midsection. I was confused. Actually there was a white chick there too. I was like "What's going on?!" LOL! It was awesome though. We needed trot. All the boy bands came on and sang New York New York and among them was 2PM! At this point I was spazzing too much to care if I looked stupid. All the HOTTESTs in the area screamed like wild animals. After that one song, 2PM stayed on stage and sang Hands Up! People lost it and stood up and moved around. At this point though, a lot of people left so there were empty chairs. I tried to take pics but I was dancing and singing along with them. The only downside is is that some of their mics weren't working. Taec's, Woo's and Junsu's I think. They did 10 Points out of 10 after that. I think I pulled muscles in my shoulders at that time. DBSK/TVXQ came on and the screaming didn't stop there. I don't know these two guys but I have heard some songs. I also do not ignore the sexiness that is on stage. They did Before U Go, Keep Your Head Down and the famous Rising Sun. Rising Sun was awesome.
People started to clear after that. The guards were gone so people, including my friends and I, went up to the V.I.P section. After Patti Kim, all the bands and solo artists came on stage to sing the Republic of Korea song while holding American and Korean flags. I was able to see 2PM and tried to get in some shots. The bands did a group shot and then bowed at the audience. I missed 2PM because they were first and I was trying to get up front. I did get SHINee in some way.
After that I started to head back but I realized that I lost my friends. I searched everywhere and started to panic. The park was closing and I was stuck in a different state that I didn't know. I asked guards and the police and let me tell you, they weren't nice. Fuck you NJ police. Actually I hate police all together. I was told to go to the police station that was near by. So I went over there and at this point I was having a panic attack. There was a nurse's tent and I went there. The nurses were very friendly and were trying to help. My phone died and before the concert Amanda took our bags back to the car. I told them that all I knew was that the car was parked in a parking lot by a playground. They told me where to go. I literally ran all over. It was far to get to the playground and I didn't see anyone. Because I was panicking I wasn't looking for the right car. Melissa had things hanging from her mirror; I wasn't thinking clearly. I went back and the nurses were packing up. They had to go home. There was a trailer and some other police figure was there. I told him my situation. He said that I had to call someone to get me. I couldn't call my parents because my mom was sick and there was no way they were driving up to NJ to get me. I was scared and alone at that moment. Just when I was giving up hope, I heard someone call for me and I looked over and saw them walking toward the trailer.
This entire trip had been a nightmare. Getting lost was the icing to the cake with the cherry. Free concerts aren't managed right and I don't think I will be going to one again. It's not worth it.
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