#yes I love going to concerts

[always-is-always]

Concerts in 2025..... and ticket prices...

Without revealing too much about myself, I'll just say that when I first began going to concerts, I didn't have to go into debt.... The concert ticket was about the cost of a couple of albums. Yeah.

When I started poking around online to see what astronomical amounts people are paying to go see Hoseok, I'll admit that I was thinking something around $300 USD or so. And, THAT is astronomical, in my opinion.

So when I saw that people are paying more than twice that amount, I was beyond shocked. AND, disgusted. Disgusted because many ARMYs are willing to pay that amount even though they cannot afford it. AND, management knows that. AND, management does NOT care.

Hobi does not need the income. He's already a multi-millionare who does not have to work another day in his life, if he chose not to. Just like all BTS members. None of them need to earn money to keep a roof over their heads, or to keep food on their tables. Unlike many of us who call ourselves ARMY....

So where does the line fall, when it comes to WHO is accountable for those astronomical ticket prices?

That is a big question.

I don't have an answer, but I do have an opinion. Those are two different things....

It's not just Hobi's concerts, it's actually all mega-artists world-wide. Included are the Taylors, the Gagas, the Cold Plays, and all of the performers out there who are wealthy beyond measure, who continue to sign the dotted lines on contracts for these events, without making any stipulations to keep tickets affordable for the fans.

Am I the only one who refuses to put herself into more debt, to buy a ticket to attend a 2-hour event that I would also have to fly to, and also book hotel rooms too??? AND, feed myself? Where is the line?

Maybe it is because I am a self-supporting woman who works and spends every penny supporting herself in life. Maybe. I'm well beyond that age of living at "home" with parents or such.

Maybe it is because I can see how HYBE and BIG HIT as well as any other major company in the industry know how to literally milk fans for every dollar possible, all while making it look like fans/ARMYs are helping the performers, or are somehow fans/ARMYs are able to be closer to the performer in some distorted way... Just look at how they have monetized BTS content. Look at how much they produce now and put behind a pay wall... I'm thinking about those "documentaries" that have been in theatres, on Weverse, and on Disney +, all the books and merch...

Yeah. I'm a bit over the extreme ways that those management companies impose monetary burdens on fans, and they do so in really manipulative ways that fans can't even see.

So I'm guessing that what we will see next year when BTS's comback tour is announced will be ticket prices that will be far beyond what is reasonable. I mean, we are seeing it with Hobi's tour. And, in my very opinionated opinion, it is insanity.

Of course I would jump in a heartbeat to go see them, IF the tickets were fairly priced. And, I mean fairly. I mean, literally less than $100... If they are filling a stadium multiple nights (4 nights as an example) with 80,000 fans, that is still a lot of money for the event. ($32,000,000)

Until people start to speak out about this, and to take action with their wallets, the tickets will continue to spiral up in price. Sad as it is. If ARMYs just go along with it, believing that they are somehow supporting Bangtan, nothing will change.

Unless someone like Namjoon takes a stand, we won't see anything change. If anyone in K-Pop could start to turn the tide, it is Kim Namjoon.

Anyway.... I've splattered my thoughts here in this post.... it's kind of raw, and it is definitely unfiltered (classic Aries)... lol... I'm just tired of seeing fans taken advantage of, in the name of "fandom". No matter who or what the performer/group is.

I'm done giving my hard-earned money away to companies that just want to milk every penny they can. Especially when prices are not fair.

Yeah. I'm done.

[sol-consort]

Character development at it's finest

[joongdunking]

Joong Archen: My main vocalist, my main dancer, my main visual 🥑💛

Q: Has the rating for Joong's dancing skills changed?

🌻: No, it's the same 😁 (still 10 out of 10)

🥑: Maybe.. five maybe? (He gave himself 3 the last time)

🥑: Its still five. I'm a main vocal.

[digirainebow]

hope your first canon birthday rocked, alex 🎂

[autogeneratedkahootnickname]

I feel like whatever they're trying to push with Riddy and Orpheus in Kaos has the same vibe as those Hallmark films trying to get us to dislike the spouse of 5 years who got left for a four-day Christmas fling. Or that guy from the bee movie.

[applecherry108]

Something something bickering like a couple of teen skanks ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[seaofreverie]

GUUUYYUYSSSD !!!!!

‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️

KIMONO MY HOUSE VINYL!!!!!!

Also funny story which is that when my brother took these to the cashier he said something like "oh... Sparks... they were here one year ago"

[hide-your-bugs-away]

[doux-amer]

One thing that has deeply annoyed me about the response from Americans/Westerners about this week's events in Korea is that a lot of them, including people I like and respect, are like, "The protesting civilians and lawmakers who barged into the National Assembly would've been shot if this were the U.S./this would've never happened in the U.S. because people are too afraid of being shot." There's some truth to that, at least with regard to state violence, but I'm fed up because it doesn't account for how frightening this could have turned out to be had it not been for how much of an inept flop dunce Yoon Sukyeol is. It minimizes the courage of those who showed up.

Sure, it was likely that the military and riot police wouldn't have done much (again, YSY's self-coup wasn't thought out well, and there's more evidence of that as military officials and soldiers are speaking up about the lack of information they received, but I'll refrain from talking about that to avoid making this even longer than it inevitably will be, knowing myself), but let's not pretend there haven't been issues with them in recent years. They pepper sprayed and used water cannons during an anniversary rally for the Sewol ferry victims (x) (x) (if you don't understand how unbelievably cruel that is, look into the horrific Sewol ferry sinking). They tear gassed crowds (Korea has a gruesome history of this) and sprayed water cannons, and citizens have been injured and killed during the 2015 protests and 2016-17 Park Geunhye impeachment protests, notably Baek Namgi, an elderly activist whose death caused global outrage (x) (x). Park Geunhye was going to enforce martial law during those protests according to a leaked document, with hundreds of tanks, thousands of soldiers and special force troops! (x)

Not to mention, there are decades of extreme state violence that have scarred an entire country and are still super fresh for a huge percentage of the population. Again, check out that tear gas history piece. Look up the April Revolution, Gwangju massacre, and June uprising and see just how bloody they were. Thousands of civilians were tortured and killed. Look at how many protests were going on year after year during the 1980s. That isn't that long ago! All those older people who ran to the National Assembly to stop the coup? You bet a lot of them were college students who protested during that time or knew people who did. All the younger people? They may not have experienced what it was like living under martial law, but as I said, state violence still occurs, however much it's dwindled over the years, and you have to account for generational trauma. I don't think I'll ever forget the way I felt when I saw the breaking news alert about the martial law declaration on December 3. I've never experienced that, at least to that degree.

Instead of viewing the response from civilians and elected officials through the framework of police brutality in the U.S., it should be contextualized using Korea's own history. Thankfully most of the serious discussions are doing this, but like I said, even people who are smart about reading up on things have reflected on how this wouldn't fly in the U.S., not because of the difference in protest history, civil movements, and public engagement with both in the two countries but because of the military/police response. There's an insinuation there that Koreans would be more reluctant to do what they did if they knew what it's like to live in fear of violence instead of living in such a safe country like Korea...and I want to yell.

It was monumentally brave of everyone to do what they did to stop the coup. We're all laughing at how stupid the coup was and there's a reason why people were more furious than scared because of the political history of Korea and the laws set in place to protect the democracy and neutralize coup attempts, but this could have easily become a disaster. It's not alarmist of me to say so because there was no way for anyone to be 100% sure of how the military would react—especially when no one knew what the hell was going on.

[vorbarrsultana]

Don't close the doors, take me, While I still know you, Truth! Having fulfilled His Design, not knowing it's price, I thank you for opening up to me!

Maxim Rakovsky as Finrod Felagund | Finrod Rock Opera

[faaun]

ok let's catch up quickly

[lyknest]

no because when i was watching the clips of my school president prom night on stage day 1 without subs, the group performance that was most fun to watch was Stand By Lor right? such great dance moves, very groovy, very traditional vibes in places (aka satang & ford's vocals).

BUT THEN I SAW THE SUBTITLED VERSION OF THAT PERFORMANCE I AM LOOSING MY MIND OMG do yourself a favor and watch this

[glitteredbubbles]

Okay guys so crazy development but… I think I’m going to see Lucy Dacus in concert with my crush??

[sluttyten]

yall I want TDS3 tickets so badly 😭 but I don't know who to even go with and I'm not going by myself.... but I'm also seriously thinking I'm just gonna go ahead and try to get tickets on friday anyway

[kkatastrophic]

"You're an alien your touch so foreign!" AUGHHH I LOVE THAT LINE

[unproduciblesmackdown]

maybe bsol is that time jen tepper mentions when she was so upset about a review of a show of joe's that she broke a glass (&/or threw it out a window)