I’ve heard a lot of anecdotes lately about how many foreigners attend concerts in Korea, but having experienced it myself very recently, that’s really not an exaggeration. I was at aespa’s new tour at Gocheok recently and oh my gosh, I legitimately thought I was in a different country.
I got there pretty early, and there were already so many people around the venue which makes sense since it’s a big concert. I wanted to buy some merch, but everything was way more expensive than I expected so I ended up saving my wallet LOL. The sweatpants were really cute but I couldn’t bring myself to pay over 90k won…
Anyway, back to the main point. I know aespa is one of the most popular K-pop groups in China, but I didn’t expect to feel their Chinese fanbase’s presence to that extent at a Korean concert. Chinese fans were easily the largest demographic there. You could tell just from walking around outside, waiting in line, or even once you got to your seat. They REALLY came out to support them. I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if my entire section was made up of Chinese fans.
Needless to say, Ningning got the loudest crowd support by far. The fans didn’t react nearly as much during their Korean ments, but there was one moment when Winter greeted the Chinese fans in Mandarin and the entire crowd absolutely erupted LOL I think they were already very aware of the Chinese fans’ attendance
There were also a bunch of Japanese fans and a noticeable number of other international fans. I honestly think there may have even been more Japanese fans than Korean fans, but I could be wrong. All I know for sure is that Koreans seemed to be the minority.
I enjoyed the concert overall. The girls riding around in those giant lemonade cans was definitely one of the highlights for me haha But the weather was HOT, and I’m just gonna call out the people around me because they were STINKY!! I could genuinely tell that some people hadn’t showered or even brushed their teeth.
The crowd definitely could’ve been louder given the size of the venue though. I think that may have been partly because of the sheer number of foreign fans there, many of whom probably aren’t as accustomed to singing along in Korean or doing the Korean fan chants.
It was a really cool experience overall. I’ve also attended a DAY6 concert in Korea before, and that felt like a basically 100% Korean audience. So it was interesting to see how much the demographic of a domestic concert can vary depending on a group’s reach and the size of its fandom outside Korea.
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