SEVENTEEN @ Lollapalooza Berlin
A concert that deserves to be in the history books
I want to write down my impressions about attending my first SEVENTEEN concert while the memories are still vivid. I won’t ever forget this experience, but the feeling it left me with isn’t sustainable for long, unfortunately. It’s the nature of concert magic and the reason why we always want to attend another one, no matter how many times we’ve seen our favorites live. I imagine it like the moodlets in The Sims 4 — the concert gave me a powerful, positive emotion that’s fueled me for nearly a week, but I can feel it slowly fading as its lifetime is coming to an end.
Here’s everything I thought and felt on that magical day.
The significance of this concert
A large part of the craze surrounding this concert was that HYBE told us in no uncertain terms that Jeonghan would enlist right after it. This announcement left me reeling; for some reason, I thought we’d have more time with them before the inevitable. I’m not sure why I was shocked when SEVENTEEN is the last of the still active 3rd generation boy groups that haven’t started enlisting yet.
Also, it’s my bias who’s starting it all which has never been the case before. I know Jeonghan’s strong in a lot of ways but he’s also delicate and had all possible illnesses and injuries during his idol career so I’m naturally worried about him.
I’m not sure what the company’s plans are for the group and their enlistment schedules beyond Jeonghan’s but I can’t imagine kpop without SEVENTEEN, not even for a few years. That thought made the whole affair bittersweet and while I was excited to see them, I couldn’t stop thinking about the urgency behind it all, how I won’t have another chance for a very long time. Also, a group’s enlistment is always a precarious moment in their history: who knows what happens while they’re apart? Will everyone renew their contracts again or will some of them go their own ways, even if it’s only for solo promotions? I couldn’t shake the feeling that there was a chance, no matter how minuscule it was, that this was my last chance to see them AT ALL. And this wasn’t even OT13 since Jun had acting schedules in China.
While I was determined to not let these thoughts put a damper on my concert experience, they certainly were present in my mind and not just mine, from what I gathered. It seemed that everyone was just a little more crazed than usual. This was, of course, SEVENTEEN’s first concert ever on the European continent so that added to the unhinged mood but I think it was mostly due to the impending enlistments and the uncertainty about the future.
Seeing idols live
Some people who read this will already know about my obsession with seeing idols with my own eyes. I couldn’t afford to see them live for most of my kpop fan career and it was still Covid when I started to make more money for the first time in my life. So they became an almost mythic presence in my life, kind of like how I imagine ancient Greeks related to the many gods of their pantheon (that does not mean I think idols are gods by the way, I’m just making an analogy). They have become the most important characters in my life, just as much as my friends and family, and I probably even spent more time with them virtually than any of my irl loved ones. However, only seeing them through screens made it a bit difficult to believe that they existed somewhere, especially because their online presence is very much focused on their superhuman feats like their immense beauty and talent, and them constantly putting up a brave, bright front for our sake.
I just wanted to see them, not through a screen or binoculars — all I needed was one glance to confirm they weren’t some kind of simulation.
My first kpop concert was Stray Kids in Lollapalooza Paris last year but that one didn’t provide exactly the experience I was craving. I am happy that I was able to hear them live and be part of the crowd but I still watched them through screens, even if they were bigger than the ones at home and showed that they were supposedly there in the flesh. My second experience was attending a Billlie concert, which finally reassured me that idols exist and that it is possible to see them without barriers and be physically close to them. The experience changed me in a lot of (positive) ways and it was everything I’ve ever dreamed of. However, as much as I like Billlie, seeing one of my ult groups that I spend the most time with was still something I wanted to achieve.
And that moment finally arrived with SEVENTEEN. I knew I’d do everything I could to get close to the stage, and it was 100% worth it. To those who don’t relate to idols the same way I do, I can’t even begin to explain what it means to look at them directly and receive their love in person. To see how human they are and that they have ‘imperfections’ that are usually hidden by the beauty filters used by every single Korean show/channel/company, just makes you love them more. At the same time, they’re just as beautiful as they seem on the screens and they shine even brighter under those mundane circumstances. There’s also the realization that they’re truly that talented and skilled at performance - seeing their powerful choreography and hearing them sing live through all that made me an even bigger Carat than I was before. It is great to see idols online but seeing them with your own eyes is worth all the hype and should be experienced by all kpop fans at least once.
The tracklist
Here’s the whole setlist of the Lollapalooza concert:
Super
DON QUIXOTE
Darl+ing
Ready to love
Rock with you
Left & Right
Fighting (BSS)
Cheers to youth (Vocal Unit)
Spell (Performance Unit)
Fire (Rap Unit)
CHEERS (SVT Leaders)
CLAP
MAESTRO
SOS
HOT
Headliner
Together (English Version)
God of Music
Encore: VERY NICE
I can’t believe that they performed 19 songs (+4 encores of Very Nice), it seemed so much shorter while I was in the moment! I know this is the most basic concert truth but while it lasted, I didn’t feel any of the exhaustion or frustration that are usually a part of attending a festival, it was just pure joy and time flew on x2 speed.
The biggest shock of the setlist was the fact that they chose to perform unit songs. Since it’s not a full 4-hour SEVENTEEN concert, I was sure they would only go for full group songs. Just a few days before the date I posted about how much I loved Spell and it’s possibly the song of the year for me so far so imagine my reaction when I realized I’d see it live! It was a truly blessed moment, even though Jun was sorely missed from the Performance Unit. BooSeokSoon was another unexpected highlight for me but the absolute winner ‘nobody saw this coming’ song was Cheers by the Leaders unit. My jaw was on the floor, also because that song slaps live and now I love it even more just because of this memory. As a bonus, all the members joined at the iconic bridge part.
I was also surprised that the Rap Unit chose to perform Fire instead of LALALI but I love all their tracks so I would have been happy with anything. I just wonder why they made this decision when LALALI was more recent and so incredibly popular!
My personal favorite in this list is Ready to Love, probably the most neglected of SEVENTEEN’s title tracks from their post-HYBE acquisition career. It’s beautiful, the lyrics always deeply move me, the rap parts just tickle my brain right and the powerful choreo elevates the song to heavenly heights. I know why some people don’t like it but it’s a stupid reason to dislike a song and it will always be one of my favorites. I felt incredibly lucky that I got to witness it live.
One last thing I wanted to mention was how the setlist consists of mostly high-energy songs with the only breaks being the unit songs. SEVENTEEN once again proved their godly status among idols when it comes to performance quality, precision, and stamina. It was an incredibly difficult set to pull off, especially with such perfect vocals throughout. In their choice to perform all these songs and keep the energy up nonstop, I felt loved and cherished as a fan because I knew their only motivation was to give an unforgettable concert to the European Carats who waited so long for them.
Member impressions
Here are some brief impressions I had of every member and how my perception of them may have changed after this irl encounter. They are listed in the order of how much I saw of them because unfortunately, there were members whom I’ve barely seen due to where I was standing.
Hoshi
Out of all the members, Hoshi impressed me the most live. I knew he was a powerful performer but he often shows a very cute and clumsy persona in variety shows. In contrast, he was all business during this concert! You could tell he was a real dance captain and performance leader, and he was running the whole show. SEVENTEEN giving the best possible performance is a serious matter to him. He was also the one controlling the audience, giving us instructions, communicating, and making us sing.
In addition to that, he really is a beast of a performer! I feel like he was everywhere: he was the one I saw the most with my own eyes because he came out to the wings of the stage (where I stood) every few songs, he was in the center position the most during the whole concert, and he participated in three out of five unit songs. He never seemed to tire, his dance was extremely powerful and precise, his voice always loud and perfect, and his stage presence and aura were really really intense!
I mean, he was already my second bias but this just cemented my love for him even more. He’s one of those people that are often called born idols. He was just made for this job, he seems to thrive in it and it was an honor to see him fully in his element.
Dokeyom
My first impression seeing him live was that he’s really buff 😅 For some reason, I think recordings of him don’t really convey that. He’s really hot, even more than I previously thought!
Besides that, he’s also an insane performer, especially as a main vocal. There were only minimal breaks for him during the 1.5-hour set but he hit all the high notes flawlessly while dancing with power and adding ad-libs and fun comments to each song. He was really doing the most! He also has an incredibly bright energy to him that I was familiar with from all their content, but Dokyeom just lights up the stage and everything around him.
Vernon
He was also among those that surprised me a bit. I know Vernon is probably the best dancer in the group besides the performance team members so it’s not like I thought he’d be low energy or something but I was shocked by how lively and interactive he was! He ran around throughout the show and frequently came out to the wings so I got to see him with my eyes a decent amount too. He smiled and interacted with fans frequently, even pointing out funny texts people were holding up.
He looks a lot skinnier than through the screen but this is just a neutral observation, not a positive or negative one. He’s shockingly handsome though, as expected!
Jeonghan
He’s my bias so I was looking forward to seeing him the most. Especially because I found it hard to believe that such ethereal beauty really does exist. Well, I can confirm that it does and he’s even more unreal than I thought. To be honest, even when I looked at him with my own eyes, my brain couldn’t really process that it was him standing there because he looked almost too perfect, like a computer graphic.
I probably just projected this onto him because of the implications of this concert but he seemed a bit sad—or maybe he was, but didn't fully show it. He smiled at us gracefully and I felt like literal light was emanating from him. He totally lives up to his angel image!
Seungkwan
Everything I said about Dokyeom’s main vocal shenanigans also applies to Seungkwan! His singing was out of this world and he literally sounds like the recordings, even while dancing.
What I noticed the most about him though was how emotional and thoughtful he was, he just exuded this vibe. He seemed visibly touched on several occasions, almost to the tears, by our singing and the love we showed. He very enthusiastically interacted with everyone from fans to security personnel. This showed, once again, how humble he is, as he took time to appreciate the people working behind the scenes to keep us safe and he made sure the concert was fun for them too.
Mingyu
They don’t call Mingyu the fan service king for nothing! He probably interacted with fans the most out of all the members. He made sure to run to and spend time in every little corner of the stage and he even came down to the barricades a few times (besides him, only Seungkwan and S.Coups did). He sprayed water on us, tried on Carats’ sunglasses and even graciously let people touch him a bit.
He gives off the vibe of someone fully aware of how good-looking he is and how much people go insane for him. This is not a negative assessment by the way, it’s great that he’s confident and aware of how much love fans have for him. He gave back in droves and made sure to feel everyone special that he came close to. Luckily, he spent quite some time near my side of the stage and I got a great video of him enjoying Together. He absolutely is as handsome in real life as he looks on the screen!
S. COUPS
Our leader has a great presence irl, too, as expected! His quiet power was evident on stage, and he had an undeniable authority to him when he said “Caratdeul” and everyone fell silent to listen to what he had to say to us. He didn’t do anything flashy on stage, he mostly stayed in the background and watched over his beloved members’ wellbeing but I just felt that he was there, keeping an eye on everything.
He’s also very attractive and built, just like I imagined seeing him on screen for all these years. Maybe he looks a little bit less buff in person but not that much!
Edit: I can’t believe I forgot to add when I first published this that one year ago S.COUPS attended a SEVENTEEN concert in a wheelchair after a devastating injury that usually ends the careers of dancers and athletes. The fact that he was able to perform the full set just as well as the other members is nothing short of miraculous. But more than a miracle, it’s proof of his hard work and dedication and I was extremely proud of him.
Dino
From here, unfortunately, we have the members that I barely saw with my own eyes, mostly just through the big screen and I couldn’t observe them more closely or get a definite vibe from them.
What I noticed the most about Dino was his unmatched energy! He was just as powerful in his dance as Hoshi and kept up the high tension of the performances throughout the concert. He came close just once and he looked very sweet and I noticed he really was a short king! Definitely a positive in my book though 😄
Minghao
Minghao seemed to be in really high spirits which I was grateful for! He played around with the members a bit on stage and came close to us a few times with an angelic smile. I noticed that he tried to look at as many fans as possible. He has a very calming energy to him which is, again, not a surprise to those who know SEVENTEEN but it was really interesting how their individual vibes came through so well even from the stage.
Joshua
I only saw Joshua once with my eyes but he was really really pretty! Definitely among the top visuals of the group. He, along with Vernon, hard carried the ment parts, speaking mostly in English to us.
Wonwoo
I also saw Wonwoo just once. He seemed to be in more of a subdued mood but I know he’s not among the high-energy members and he’s an introvert so that’s totally fine. He also may have been feeling melancholic due to the concert’s implications but that’s just a guess on my part.
Woozi
Woozi is the one I saw the least of, he didn’t come out fully to the wings, just came close only once but he was still quite a distance away. Because of this, I didn’t get a gauge of his mood or his energy but I did hear his flawless high notes and how he carried a lot of songs vocally from the background. I was sad to not see more of him because he’s pretty high up on my bias list.
Jun
While Jun wasn’t there, his absence was really palpable. SEVENTEEN is not SEVENTEEN when they’re not 13 😔
The festival, the crowd, braving the front-of-stage area
Most of my negative experiences were related to the festival itself and the fact that it was an event not actually related to kpop. I have to talk about these, too, to give a complete picture.
First, the festival frustrated me to no end even before it started. I spent days tirelessly creating the Jeonghan banner of my dreams. I’m not a DIY person at all and it was my first time making something like this. It turned out beautifully and I was very satisfied; I also felt closer to one of my favorite idols just by putting in the work to make something to support him with. And it would have been really important to show support as he’s enlisting at the end of the month and I wanted him to see the banner and feel the love. I wrote an email to the festival just to make sure they would let me bring the banner but I didn’t actually imagine that their response would be a rejection, which it was. Apparently, they made this rule just days before the festival, which explains why it wasn’t in the official guide on permitted and banned items. I don’t even have to say that I was devastated. Creating a banner and bringing it to the concert is a core part of the K-pop fan experience. The fact that the organizers were not familiar with this practice and banned it made me livid. Even more so because my guess is that they made the rule so no one would be waving around Palestinian flags and banners with ‘free Palestine’ on them (it’s Germany, after all).
The second anger-inducing event happened when I arrived at the stadium. I was pretty early, one hour before the festival even opened. There were a lot of people before me in the line but the situation was not tragic. However, even finding that line required me to ask six different festival employees who all had zero idea where I should stand and the last one just gestured vaguely in the direction of the line I ended up standing in. When the festival opened and the line finally started moving (quite quickly), suddenly a man with a megaphone appeared who announced that everyone who was standing in that line and had a regular ticket was standing in the wrong line and had to move to a different one. So when I was almost at the entrance, I had to go to the very back of a different, extremely long line, thus forfeiting all my dreams of standing at the barricade. I probably would have cried if I was having a weaker moment and wasn’t drunk on determination. Later I heard that they actually let in people with regular tickets in the line where I originally stood so that made me even more enraged. The incompetence of the festival organizers crushed the dreams of many Carats who only had this one chance to properly see their favorite group.
One more thing I hated was that the organizers couldn’t seem to wrap their heads around how many of us there were and they constantly struggled to control such a huge crowd. I mean, if they did their research properly, they could have easily guessed how many people they could expect. When we took over the stage where the SEVENTEEN concert was happening later, both the organizers and the non-kpop fans went crazy. Everyone who was there to see a different group was hating on us for taking up the space in front of the stage, which is fair but we didn’t stand in place for 10 hours to lose our places, so that’s that. Plus, I feel like it wasn’t Carats’ responsibility but that of the festival organizers who could have chosen a different stage for SEVENTEEN, for example, the one that only had DJ sets all day or the big one in the stadium. Then a man came on stage between every single act and begged us with thinly veiled annoyance to leave the front-of-stage area and ‘take care of ourselves’, meaning go to the restrooms and buy food and drink. When nobody moved, he started to say things like “Wow, you’re all crazy” which was supposed to be funny but it sounded more like the typical ‘kpop fans are all insane’ type of shit. We were all (mostly) adults who came prepared to stand there for a very long time and had our own methods of dealing with biological needs. I guess the festival didn’t like that we were not spending money on overpriced food and drinks. Oh, and the front-of-stage area was also locked completely at random times so even those who wanted to leave couldn’t.
I’m fed up with Western concert organizers trying to make bank from kpop fans’ love for their idols and putting us through all kinds of horrific experiences just to take our money and give us an event that’s mediocre at best. What happened to me here wasn’t even that bad compared to what I’ve heard about other European and US kpop festivals and tours. While I was waiting for SEVENTEEN, I promised myself I’d never attend another festival and I’d go to arena/dome/stadium concerts only, organized by the company of the idol. The problem with that plan is, that if they invited some other group I’m dying to see next year (TXT, Enhypen, ATEEZ, ZEROBASEONE, and BOYNEXTDOOR are the names I can think of right now that I’d do this much for), I’d probably just go again. Seeing SEVENTEEN was so wonderful and rewarding that it immediately wiped all the negative memories from my brain when the first sound of Super started and they appeared on the stage.
Then there were the fans… I had some lovely experiences meeting fellow Carats the day before. First, I met up with someone who made a picket for me and they also gave me lots of Jeonghan freebies. Then I attended a Carat cafe event where I also met nice fans who gave me even more freebies and we had short but nice interactions. I made a joke to my friend who came to the cafe with me, saying “These are the people I will be fighting for my life tomorrow” or something along the line but I didn’t know how prophetic that would prove to be.
All that kindness I experienced the day before was nowhere to be found on the day of the concert, especially in the front-of-stage area. Nobody gave a damn about the people around them and just looked out for themselves. My worst experience was with two VERY tall girls (I’m not exaggerating when I say they were 50 cm taller than me) who I kindly asked if I could stand in front of because they were really tall and I was very short and I couldn’t even see the screen from them. They made some faces but let me stand next to them. This happened during one of the concerts before SEVENTEEN and when it ended, they told me to go back behind them. I explained my reasons to them again and how they wouldn’t even notice if I was in front of them (it’s true, I came up to their chest, approximately). Hearing this they became enraged and started saying that they thought I was just going to stand there for that one concert and they assumed I was a fan of that other band and not a SEVENTEEN fan because I didn’t look like it (whatever that means). One of them also added I should stand in the very back if I’m short because I’d probably see better from there (?). I don’t want to relay everything that was said but I felt bullied and I know people protect their spots fiercely but given the extreme height difference, I thought my request was entirely reasonable. I was luckily able to move a little bit farther from them later when the crowd moved but I heard them yell at other people as well later on.
There were a lot of other minor negative interactions that made me feel not welcome among other Carats and I was disappointed, especially since this fandom is often called one of the nicest in kpop. STAYs get a lot of shit and we were even elected as the worst fandom but my experience was vastly nicer at the Paris Lollapalooza when I attended the Stray Kids concert. I’m not trying to draw any conclusions, only the one that I think I’m more of a lone wolf kpop fan. I haven’t felt at home in any physical (or online) fandom space before and I can’t imagine I ever will.
One thing I will say about the audience though is that as a crowd, we performed magnificently and I saw people in comments who only watched the concert online praising us as a ‘deserving audience’. The Carats who were there indeed sang the WHOLE concert without any pause, not just the fanchant parts but every single lyric of every song. I was proud of us and noticed how moved SEVENTEEN were by that. I think the individual aggressions that the fans showed towards each other transferred well into an explosive energy as a crowd and I was grateful we were able to express such a devastating force of a love towards the members.
As for being in the front-of-stage area in general, I thought it would be worse. If the fans around me weren’t so rude, I think I would have fared pretty well. It might just be that I came very prepared this time and researched all kinds of methods on how to make standing in one spot for 10 hours a less excruciating ordeal. I won’t go into details but I felt pretty hardcore and proud that I was doing this much for my idols! It was also a personal victory for me because it’s still only been 4.5 years since my brain surgery and consequent nerve damage/neck injuries and even just 2 years ago I couldn’t have imagined doing this without being in tremendous pain and discomfort. Hell, I couldn’t even sit up without something supporting me for more than 30 minutes not too long ago! This time, my only discomfort was in my feet (which I’ve been having some issues with recently anyway) so that’s a huge achievement for me. I wanted to pat myself on the back after the concert just for having improved so much in terms of physical endurance.
Conclusion
This was meant to be a short, palate-cleansing article while I’m working on other things, summarizing the concert and my feelings, but it turns out I can't seem to write anything brief!
The festival itself was a huge disappointment; I felt exploited and mistreated by the organizers. I hope to stay true to my values if another festival opportunity comes up. I really hope I won’t waver and I will save up more money instead to see a proper kpop concert in the format they were originally designed to be. Still, seeing SEVENTEEN this close made all the suffering and inconveniences worth it, and I’d probably do it again a thousand times 🙈
My next goal as a fan is to see my other ult groups live, interact with an idol in person (or maybe in a fan call), and ultimately meet them in a professional capacity—perhaps interviewing an idol someday. That’s very far into the future but it’s never too early to start manifesting, haha.
So far, I’ve been ridiculously lucky—this was only my third K-pop concert. But I’m learning to credit my successes less to luck and more to my effort, so I want to note that I worked hard as a fan for these experiences. Standing in place for more than 10 hours is no small feat, and not everyone could or would do that, after all!
The true conclusion is that SEVENTEEN is a phenomenal group, and this concert only solidified their place among my ultimate favorites. I often feel that the personal connection can easily make someone a fan for a lifetime. I don’t even need a proper interaction, just seeing them and confirming how real, talented, and gorgeous they are made me feel even closer to them.
I hope this feeling carries me through the difficult years of military service ahead, and that I can look back on this moment for strength.
I didn't realise they did so many songs, that's almost like a proper concert. Glad at least that and the amazingness of the guys made up for all the frustrations.
Sigh, but can European organisers just.. like get a grip on it? At least this one wasn't full scammy, but staff (volunteers?) having no idea where people had to que is mind blowing to say the least.
My own only kpop festival experience is from Japan and the organisation there is something else. Some things seemed odd to me at the time, but looking back it probably was for good way to manage a crowd.
Shame your experience with fans at the concert was unpleasant though. I don't know if I would go to a festival without seats, both because of being short and not really having the stamina for standing so long.
I found your reason for wanting to see your idols live very interesting. I never really thought about why I wanted to see ONF live. It seemed more like a natural progression as fan to go to the concert(s), hehe.
I hope your dreams come true. For fanchats and such, if your groups tour, then some organisers have fanchats for sale too. I always thought it's a more reasonable way to buy a minute chatting with the idol, compared to buying a lot of albums and then still having to rely on luck.
First things first, I just have say that I am really glad you can't write anything brief because that means more of your words for me to devour! I continue to love love love your writing and all you manage to convey and cover in your posts.
I didn't realise you were all aware about the impending enlistment prior to this. No wonder emotions and tempers were high! And especially it starting with your bias too - that's hard. I don't blame you for thinking thoughts like "what if this is my only chance", especially with it being apparently sooo hard to get legit festivals here, let alone concerts/tours. And on a related note, HOW is this SEVENTEEN'S first concert in Europe?? I don't follow them that closely but I'm aware how popular they are and it's a little baffling they've not come here till now! A bit of a shame it was as part of a festival rather than their own tour, but tbh it sounds like they really owned the stage and it might as well have been a SVT concert! And hopefully the love they got from the massive crowd has shown the agency/organisers that there is an audience for them in Europe and they should definitely tour here in the future.
I think we've already discussed seeing idols live but, more than that, up close. When I saw ONEUS at a festival it was great but I was high up and so could only make out their features via the big screen. Whereas when I saw KARD, I was about four or five lines from the front, and seeing them with my own eyes... UNREAL. Getting snapshots with them afterwards was even more unreal (I was shy about getting too close but Somin pulled on my arm and insisted I come closer 😭❤️).
Reading your impressions of all the members was so cool! I'm not *quite* there yet on names and faces, I think, but I follow some big SVT fans on Twitter, so I've come to know them a little from that, haha. I'd say Dokyeom from what I've heard and seen is my favourite! He has such an infectious smile. I also would not have described him as buff from pics and videos I've seen, so your observation is most intriguing!
Poorly organised events are SO FRUSTRATING. I might have only been to two plus the KARD concert, but the concert was much better managed by farrr. Which I guess makes sense because it was smaller in scale and venue, but still. Event organisers completely underestimating the audience is highly annoying. I would have lost my cool had I been queuing in one place and then told I had to go somewhere else. Also, wow, 10+ hours is so hard. I was similar for KARD and very broken by the end (my back was NOT happy).
Shame your interactions with other fans on the day itself sucked too. I feel like people get so swept up in the 'me me me' of it all that consideration and being kind gets completely thrown out of the window. Hopefully if you can go to any other concerts, fans will be better there.
Thank you for writing and sharing this! 🫶