In the afternoon of July 22, a girl who looked like a student walked into Seoul Olympic Park and followed the signs to the gymnastics arena located on the east side of the park.
It was still a sunny afternoon, and in the hot summer it was the hottest time of the day, but there were already many people outside the gymnastics arena.
The large square is filled with audiences and fans who have arrived early to watch the concert. Although they are divided into countless small groups, it still feels like a sea of people, and the buzzing noise is like thunder. hovering over the square.
At first glance, most of them are girls dressed in fashionable clothes, but there are also many boys among them. Most of them are holding support items such as light sticks, banners, posters, etc., and even less than one has just been released. In August, the expensive second-generation Alisticks can be seen everywhere. There are also special stalls and storefronts selling some EXO-related peripherals. Although it is still some time before the concert starts, the whole square is already brewing. With a strong fiery atmosphere.
After the girl came here, she stood on the steps of the large square outside the venue. She was looking around in a confused but equally curious way.
She is young, with thick short student hair, eye-catching black-rimmed glasses on the bridge of her nose, light-colored shorts and short sleeves, and a slightly darker complexion that makes her look a little plain.
She didn't hold EXO's support items in her hands. She just carried a small bag on her back with water bottles and other personal belongings in it. She didn't look like a fan coming to see a concert, but rather like she was going on a trip. Students on an outing.
She first stood on the steps and glanced at the bustling crowd. She let out a heartfelt sigh because of the huge number of fans and the warm atmosphere. Then her eyes were attracted to the gymnastics arena in front of her.
Covering an area of more than 30,000 square meters, the entire exterior is covered with fiberglass. It shines in the sun and is very beautiful. The appearance of the Olympic Gymnastics Arena is really good, and it immediately attracted the girl's attention, but it made it even more confusing. What she was lingering on was a huge poster of EXO's third tour spread out in front of the venue. One poster took up a large area in the front. The area was so large that even from such a distance, everyone could still be seen clearly. Face.
The style of this poster is similar to the dark style of "Monster". The red background with black background and the signature war-damaged makeup make everyone look great. The artistic style is above the EXO LOGO, and the writing is written on a white background with black borders. With the slogan of "EXO PLANET #3 - The EXO'rDIUM" three concert tour.
On the left side of the poster are giant vertical banners of all the members. Nine vertical banners are lined up in a row, swaying gently in the breeze.
It's really pretty...
The girl stared at the posters and vertical banners carefully for a long time, and sighed in her heart... It's just that the sun was a little too strong, and she forgot to wear a hat. She was a little uncomfortable in the sun and could only cover her eyes with her hands. The friend who was waiting never came, and the girl who came to Seoul from other places seemed a little restrained at this time.
"Excuse me!"
At this moment, a familiar shout came from not far away. The girl turned around and found that it was the friend she was waiting for. The girl who had seemed a bit reserved and out of place just now suddenly relaxed.
"Oh, why are you so slow? I've been waiting for you for a long time!"
Seeing their friends coming, An Youzhen and Xiaonan immediately started complaining.
"Oh, my mother held me and talked for a long time, and they were worried. I would come over as soon as I left."
My friend is a little girl of the same age. Although she is dressed differently, she still looks like a simple student...but her skin is a little whiter.
These two don't look very much like locals from Seoul, and they look like they are from the same place.
The two of them are actually junior high school students in Daejeon, and they are classmates in the same class. They are both on summer vacation... Originally, they were living their own boring vacations, until the tickets for EXO's third tour concert were released at the end of last month. At that time, my friend, who is a die-hard fan of Ai Li, did not get a ticket. She was disappointed when SM announced that EXO would add an extra show on the 22nd, so she encouraged An Youzhen, and the two of them tried to grab a ticket when the new show was on sale. ticket.
Of course An Youzhen knows EXO. There is basically no student in the peninsula who has not heard of EXO's name.
But she is not their fan, or she has not been too exposed to Kpop...
But she was idle anyway, and she was quite interested in watching the concert. After being encouraged by her friends, she tried to grab it.
Originally just joining in the fun, she didn't expect to succeed - even if you are not a fan, you know that XO's concert tickets are very difficult to get. Once they go on sale, they are basically sold out in one second. As long as the tickets are on sale for two days, fans are angry. If you scold SM', you will definitely be on the hot search list.
But things happened to be unexpected. Some things seemed to be destined. They really got tickets for the additional performance this time, and the seat they got randomly was actually the first row of standing seats in the front row, which was a person away from the stage. Very good location very close.
Dafa!
An Youzhen was fine, just happy for his luck. But my friend was really excited. Under her instigation, the two junior high school students, who were only teenagers, begged their parents for a long time. Finally, they were taken to Seoul by their parents a few days ago. They walked around happily for two days. Queen, today is finally the day for the two of us to go to the concert together.
"Why didn't you prepare anything? I knew..." Seeing An Youzhen's empty hands, his friend looked like he had expected it. He took off his backpack and rummaged through it, and then took out a brand new second-generation Airli. Great.
There is also a DIY EXO cartoon logo on it, and there are two photo stickers of Chi Jingyuan next to it, which already shows the little girl's fandom.
She first held it in her hand and looked at it reluctantly, and then handed it to An Youzhen reluctantly: "Our support atmosphere for Aili is the best among all Kpop fans. If you don't bring anything with you to XO's concert, It’s meant to be despised...Here, you can take this later.”
An Youzhen took the Aili stick, gestured with it in his hand, and then saw several photo stickers on it. The friend next to me was still muttering: "Don't break it, it's very expensive, and it's not easy to buy."
Although I cherish this Ali stick very much, this is the first time I have taken it on an expedition, but... anyway, An Youzhen grabbed the ticket this time, and it is such a good seat. She is still very grateful to this little sister. Yes, I am willing to give up my precious love.
"What about you?" An Youzhen looked at the Aili stick in her hand, and saw her friend's reluctance. She didn't want to take away someone's favor, so she was ready to give it back to her.
"I still have this." The friend took out another light stick and waved it, and then took out a banner with a support slogan written on it. His hands were instantly occupied, and he raised it up as if to show off. : "I will hold up this Yuan Oppa banner when the time comes, maybe he can still see me."
"Okay, thank you."
An Youzhen nodded and waved the Ali stick, as if he wanted to feel the atmosphere of support.
Two little girls were chatting there in whispers, one was explaining EXO's deeds, and the other was listening with interest.
Although he was interested, the temperature was really hot. After a while, An Youzhen couldn't help it anymore: "It's so hot, why can't I go in?"
"It's almost four o'clock. We should be ready to enter the venue soon." My friend checked the time and before he could finish speaking, there was a burst of noise in front of him. People who had dispersed in the entire square instantly began to move towards The entrance to the venue has been crowded with people in the passage enclosed by guardrails.
"It's started. We're about to enter the venue. Let's line up first."
When the friend saw it, his eyes lit up, and he immediately grabbed An Youzhen's hand and rushed over. After a period of rabbit-like running, the two energetic little girls finally grabbed a good position in the queue and lined up to enter.
"I will help you connect to Bluetooth later, and then the central control will change colors uniformly. This is the first large-scale concert for Obamas to show the central control effect after the release of the second-generation Alistick. The atmosphere must be particularly good..."
While queuing up, my friend kept introducing me, and his words were full of expectations for the performance he was waiting for.
"Hey, look ahead."
At this time, An Youzhen seemed to have discovered something. He patted her, came over and whispered, "The girl in front is so beautiful."
She didn't seem to be devalued or jealous because of being of the same sex, and her tone was surprising and sincere, like a boy's.
"Which one?"
"It's the one in front, the one taking a selfie with her cell phone..." An Youzhen gently pointed at the girl in front of the queue, who was wearing pigtails and was pointing her cell phone at her to take a selfie at an angle. There was some surprise in her voice. .
"Oh..." The friend saw her target, observed it and curled her lips: "It's okay... I think the clothes are just better-looking and the outfit is good."
After a pause, he complained softly: "There are so many people crowded together and I still want to take selfies. It's so narcissistic... Let's not talk about her now. After we go in..."
Although her friend talked about other things, An Youzhen's attention seemed to still be on the girl in front of her. She was grinning and lingering for a while. However, the team soon surged forward and she disappeared after she entered the venue.
"Wow, it's really big."
After lining up and following the instructions of the staff, An Youzhen walked into the gymnastics arena. When he walked down from the fourth floor bleachers, he looked around the interior of the venue and sighed in surprise,
The entire four-story grandstand of the gymnastics arena has been filled with seats. Stars surround the stage like a moon. The entire venue has a capacity of 15,000 spectators. At this time, the audience has not fully entered the stadium. When it is slightly empty, watch It looks extremely broad.
"Is this big?"
However, my friend disagreed: "The gymnastics arena is fully booked and only has a capacity of 15,000. During the 2014 tour, XO was able to open such a venue to full capacity. Now the popularity of Obamas is much higher than before. Aili The number of fans has also increased countless times, but the third tour in Seoul still uses this venue.”
"The capacity of 15,000 may be a lot for other idols, but it is not good enough for EXO now? I don't know how many people can't get tickets. Some time ago, the fan club was full of people criticizing the company.
SM is really careless and doesn’t do any statistics. Do you know how many people want to see XO’s concert? They should use Gocheok Dome this time... That’s not right. Gocheok Dome only has over 20,000 people. , the same is not enough, if you want me to say you should go directly to the main arena, 60,000 people will definitely be able to fill it up..."
The venues on the peninsula that can hold concerts, in descending order of capacity, are 60,000 people at the Olympic Main Arena, 40,000 people at the Sangam World Cup Stadium, 20,000 people at the Gocheok Dome, which was opened just last year, and Today's gymnastics arena ranks fourth, with 15,000 people.
So far, no idol group has held a solo concert in the first two large venues. Although the Gocheok Dome does not have many seats, it is also not available because it is only open for a short period of time.
The capacity of the gymnastics arena is already sufficient for the vast majority of men's and women's groups. There are not even many artists who are qualified to sing here and can still fill the seats.
But obviously, this venue is no longer enough for EXO. I don’t know how many times Ari scolded SM after announcing the venue and not getting tickets.
However, SM has also noticed this problem. They have also found that this is enough for all idols, and even venues that are not full of seats appear to be too conservative for EXO.
After the ticket sales came out some time ago, the company has already started discussing during the meeting whether to put the Seoul Encore Stadium, which will definitely be held at the end of the third tour, in the Olympic main arena... to make EXO the first to be in the main arena. A solo concert was held in this venue with a capacity of 60,000, setting a milestone in the number of Kpop idol groups mobilized...
There are quite a few people who agree with this proposal, including EXO themselves.
At this time, listening to her friend's complaints, An Youzhen nodded in agreement... But this was her first time to see such an idol's concert. She had never been to other Kpop events before. , she really felt that this place was already very big and impressive.
Soon, the two people came to their seats, or standing positions.
The stage design this time is very avant-garde. The hexagonal main stage symbolizing the EXO LOGO is in the center of the venue. Behind it are tens of meters long, one large and two small large LED displays, even on the highest four floors. You can also see very clearly from the top of the mountain.
It is surrounded by a circular sub-stage, with the edge directly adjacent to the second-floor stands. It is connected to the main stage in the middle through a cross-shaped passage, and at the same time, the front row ticket area is divided into four areas. An Youzhen and An Youzhen are in the upper left corner.
"Dafa, this is too close to the stage. I'll definitely be able to see the Oppas in the gathering. Maybe we can clap and interact. I don't know if it will be Oppa Yuan..."
After arriving, my friend seemed very excited, standing there dancing and observing the surroundings.
An Youzhen reached out and touched the side of the stage in front of her... It was indeed very close. She felt that she could flip onto the stage just by raising her legs. With her skills, it didn't take even a second.
Some of them gestured eagerly, but let it go, it would be bad if they were kicked out...
"Here, let me help you connect the Airli stick to the Bluetooth. The support starts before the concert starts." After saying that, the two people put their heads together and started operating.
As time goes by, more and more spectators enter the venue, and the sound in the venue gradually becomes noisy. There are more and more fluorescent sticks like star points in the dim light. The atmosphere is gathering and the enthusiasm is there. Brewing, the scene that everyone is looking forward to seems to be coming soon.
When the hour hand reached the right time, the lighting on the ceiling suddenly dimmed.
An Youzhen only felt a dull thunderous buzz around her, which made her brain a little blurry. However, the surrounding atmosphere and the screams next to her, as well as the Aili stick in her hand, which was silver just now but now turned pink automatically, were... Tell her clearly:
"here we go!"
