Day 54: Infinite That Summer 2 Day 5 Concert Experience

Today, Thursday, August 14th, I went to Infinite's concert! This was my first concert in Seoul, so I was so nervous about what to expect in pit. But I shall endure it; anything to see Infinite perform again.

Here's the schedule for the day. Today's concert began at 8PM, lining up began at 6:30 and entering the venue began at 7.

I arrived on sight at around 5PM. Concert merchandise still had another hour until closing, with about half the items sold out.

The fansites all seemed to be on the opposite end of the block, under a freeway. Laziness led me to stay by the venue.

There are staff members with signs in Korean, Chinese and Japanese to assist people.

At 5:55PM the staff members put out the signs for each standing zone. Next to the merchandise tents were Standing 1 and Standing 2, 400-600, and the other sections are close by. 6:30 is the official line up time, but many people started lining up before that. I found my spot in line and waited, watching other groups slowly leave the area and trickle into the pit. While mostly the people around me were Koreans my age, I also saw several guys (one even with a lightstick!) and some older women and other foreigners. While waiting, a group of girls already started to line up for tomorrow's merchandise.

At 7:17, Standing 2, 400-600 finally got to go into the venue! The staff member led us through the back hallways. They told us to rip our tickets ourselves (which is good, so I can preserve it) and they checked our number once while entering the building and again entering Standing 2. Inside the pit, some people lined the back area while most people congregated the middle and then a bit on the right. I went for the middle right, around row 11, which is oddly where I was seeing Infinite in LA and at the motor festival. Looking around, the venue truly is super small! I was about 10 feet from the edge of the stage, and from the stage to the back of the venue seemed to be less than 100 feet. Also all the seated tickets seemed very clear. It makes me happy that Infinite can still perform at such small and intimate venues despite their fame. Also the workers are very strict about photos. There's a guard in front of my section checking and another staff member occasionally came into our section, maybe to call someone out? And before the show started a worker stood on a platform in the middle of the floor, peering over at people. The guard also gave people cups of water throughout the show.

Being in the pit wasn't as bad as I had thought, except the girl next to me and I headbutted twice -.- And the audience was like a stormy sea, where we all shifted in every direction about three feet or so every so often. Eventually I moved from row 11 to 7! Also a lot of times I was taller than the people in front of me, so I could see all seven members and their entire bodies (not just bobbing heads), especially during their ending comments.

Now I'll just be giving my random anecdotes~

The screen was playing Infinite's music videos in chronological order I think. Then they played an audio clip of Infinite telling us what we can and can't do played. Myungsoo said we should just enjoy the concert with our eyes and not use our phones, so I listened to him well! Then they played the "Last Romeo" and "Back" music videos, then they played the intro VCR for the concert! Then the curtains disappeared (I think they went up?) and Infinite was sitting so casually and comfortably on their chairs! Dongwoo was closest to me, and he was just slouching and looking so relaxed. It seemed like the bottom half of his head was shaved then the top was braided and tied. To follow the casual atmosphere, they never changed their hairstyles throughout the concert; it was always just natural looking.

The first song was "That Year's Summer," and after Myungsoo's long note, Sunggyu's voice cracked or something, because he was just silent for one line then sang the rest! He laughed it off though (and this shows that they don't have a backtrack playing!)

They performed "Cover Girl" early on and during Sungyeol's rap, Dongwoo was messing with him and then vis versa.

While sitting down in these round platforms (like in Second Invasion) they sang "Julia" and the audience sang along with the vowels. Then they sang "Memories."

During the members' introductions, they went from left to right. Sungjong went in the middle and said "sexy boy 성종입니다" and Hoya went next and said "Inspirit tree 호야입니다 (maybe I heard 'tree' wrong...)." From right to left it was Dongwoo then Myungsoo, and Dongwoo made Myungsoo laugh so he just squatted and started laughing while other members introduced themselves. I love how much fun they're having on stage!

Later on the were back in the chairs, this time Dongwoo on the tambourine and Sungyeol on those mini double Congo drums(?). Then they performed an acoustic version of "Man in Love." During Hoya's rap, Sungyeol pointed his mic to us and we shouted "HOYA!" Then the song right away transitioned to "Amazing!" Then Dongwoo or Sunggyu asked us to sing the chorus of "Be Mine" and then they did the acoustic version of that.

Dongwoo brought up the lightstick name conversation again! In the end they decided on 여봉 (yeobong) and Woohyun kept saying 여봉 to us, it was so cute!

I saw Woohyun's prominent arm veins so clearly! And there was a skin color bandage two inches thick around his upper middle left arm...I hope he'll heal quickly!

There was one song Woohyun was singing and twirled twice, it was so cute! He sang so well live, and all of his long notes were to die for.

When Sunggyu and Woohyun harmonized together in "Voice of My Heart," it was so breathtaking!

Dongwoo also sang really well live, I can't get over it. Myungsoo's voice seemed more dry or raw or something, so it didn't sound as nice as usual when he sang some non main track songs. But in "Last Romeo," "Back," and "A Person Like Me," his voice was amazing.

For the first half of the show, Hoya sat in a chair on the left side. Then for the next half he sat on the right, about 15 feet in front of me! And during his raps he would stand up and do his thing. He still showed his energy and he was getting into it during his raps.

Sungjong said in English, "I say Sung, you say Jong! Sung!" And we said "Jong!"

During the middle of the concert there was a message board called "To. Infinite" of post-it notes from Inspirits. Members each chose one. Sungjong got one that asked him to sing an American song, "Listen," and he sang so well! Then Woohyun ruined the moment by continuing the song. Hoya's message was from some girl, so Hoya responded by calling her name to the audience! Someone also asked Dongwoo about marriage.

For the solo stage, a VCR played announcing "Who's today's solo stage?" And then showed the remaining members, Sungjong, Hoya and Sunggyu, and the CEO, racing and Sungjong won. Then they showed his childhood photos and an interview clip of him. Then Sungjong came out in a sleek suit and black fedora and performed a Michael Jackson song. Then he did a very cutesy "Good Morning" with maids dancing alongside him and holding a mirror while he checked himself out. Sungjong also threw something to the center in my row, and later on a bouquet of flowers to the leftside in my row.

After the solo stage there was another VCR, this one similar to the previous summer concert with instant messaging to Myungsoo. Sungyeol's ID was "성열 황" and Woohyun's was "SHIN 우현."

Another VCR showed of the hyungs having a pillow fight, then Sungjong comes down and beats everyone up! Then an interview session begins with Sungjong as MC. In the video Sungjong kept cutely asking the audience this question. Then later on, on stage, Dongwoo imitated Sungjong and then Sungjong asked the audience again!

Also at times members (Dongwoo, Sungyeol and Sungjong) would go to the very right of the stage and step down so they were halfway between the stage and floor. During the last song Woohyun even stood on the floor, so we were eye level to him! Here I'd be about 10 feet away from a member, and usually I was 15 to 20 feet away from the closest member.

The performed "소나기" and the stage shot the audience with a blast of water! It felt very refreshing. Then they performed "Paradise" next with fire shooting from the stage. This time they weren't just wearing wife beaters though. Dongwoo did take off his white jacket to only wear a white wife beater during the concert, and later on Woohyun did too.

A little later Woohyun sang the backup to "소나기" and we sang the chorus.

They also performed "숨좀 쉬자" and then "로시난테." It was cool to see these dance stages live!

They performed "Last Romeo" and then "Back" and then the encore. When they performed "Back," they began with Sungyeol and Sunggyu standing up instead of sitting.

It was so cool to be surrounded by fanchants for "Back" (and a few other songs like "Paradise") and we shouted out names during "Voice of My Heart) and for the encore we shouted "다시 들어와 들어와 들어와" for awhile until finally they came back out, in these white sailor outfits. They did "Come Back Again," followed by their ending remarks.

During the ending comments, the order of standing from left to right was Sunggyu, Sungyeol, Dongwoo, Woohyun, Sungjong, Myungsoo and Hoya. They started from oldest to youngest. During Dongwoo's turn, Woohyun asked him if he's hot then Dongwoo slid down his jacket halfway. Then Woohyun pulled down Dongwoo's left tank strap and he dramatically reacted, then Woohyun poked him above his left nipple.

During Woohyun's turn, he danced like a little kid, twirling and flailing his arms. Then Dongwoo copied, then Sungyeol, then Sunggyu (but it kept getting less dramatic with each member). At the end of his turn, Woohyun finished with "안녕! Bye bye (but really cutely)! Byuing byuing!" And lastly "사랑해!" Then Hoya asked with his sassy attitude "끝났어? (Are you finished)"

During Myungsoo's he did his usual short and boring speech. Then he paused hesitantly and did a quick "사랑해" but cutely got so embarrassed that he walked to the back of the stage, but the screen kept showing his back so he used his arms to try and divert the camera to the other members. Later he came back to the front of the stage, grabbed a water bottle and squatted on the ground to drink, but lost his balance and fell backwards! He then cooly played if off by throwing and catching the bottle twice in his right hand. He did that with his mic too; he did that throughout the show.

Myungsoo literally only spoke briefly during his introduction, read off one message from the message board, and during the ending comment.

During Sungjong's he thanked his mom. Then they showed her in the audience with a spotlight! She was sitting on the second floor, first row in the middle left (if you're looking at the audience, not the stage). Sungjong also introduced the live band, asking us isn't one of the members (I forgot which one) handsome, and the vocal backups.

In one of the last songs they released long silver confetti. For the last song, "Nothing Better Than This," they released small white tissue paper, which actually a few fell throughout the show. I'm so happy they chose a happy song rather than a sad ballad like "With." During this last song, the members went to the edge of the stage and squatted to be near fans. Dongwoo was closest to me! And of course Myungsoo was in the middle back of the stage, getting distracted and trying to catch all the confetti (which I admit I was trying to do too ㅋㅋ) and Dongwoo was doing this for a little bit but quickly stopped.

After the curtains went down, an ending VCR played and then this photo was displayed while tracks from The Origin played ("Can You Smile" and "White Confession"). People started taking photos, so I jumped in, though the staff lady kept telling us not to. So this was the general area where I stood.

And here is the remainder of the venue. And the first row of the second floor in the middle left of the photo is where Sungjong's mother sat!

The concert ended at 10:37, and people started slowly trickling out. Even during the encore stage people were leaving, probably so they can catch Infinite leaving. Staff guided us out the side door we came in, and up a set of stairs outside that led directly to the subway. I walked past the ticketing office and people were already camping out in hopes of getting a cancellation ticket for tomorrow's show. Also people were still selling fan goods. Instead of entering the subway, I went to the front exit of the parking garage next to Exit 2 and waited until around 11:10, but they've definitely left by then.

And lastly, here's a lovely banner just outside of Exit 2 of the subway, which I've somehow missed until now after all my visits here. This building isn't actually where the concert is; there are multiple buildings within Blue Square, and this photo is where the musical Cats is playing. Infinite's is in the smaller building next door.

Oddly enough I'm not getting post concert depression, maybe because I still have one more concert to go! Everything feels a bit surreal, but this time because they were so close (and because Sunggyu messed up and laughed it off) it made them seem so much more human and relatable (since I view them as idols lol).