• Area: Humanities
• Program: Composition
• Type of Writing: Fiction/Creative Non-Fiction
• Course Level: 1000
• Year: 2021
• Paper ID: H.C.F.N.1.2.2.2275

Alone at a Concert in LA

Alone at a concert in LA

Stray Kids

The Kia Forum a massive performance venue filled with thousands of fans. I was first drawn to the crowd; the number of people was astronomical. Almost all seats had been filled, and more were still entering the venue. Upon the entrance of the floor seats, you are greeted with stiff concrete. Looking around, the lack of lighting made it hard to see. While making my way to my seat, I could smell perfume in the air and a scent that was not my favorite. I thought, “what is this smell??” I secretly looked around, not to gain any attention, and I found the person who would now be sitting in front of me, eating garlic knots; with garlic not being my favorite smell in the world, I felt a little disgusted. When I finally got to my seat, I patiently waited for the performance to start. The venue was loud, filled with thousands of voices. I started watching a K-drama, “Tomorrow,” to calm my excitement. While watching the show on my phone, I was constantly met with chatter from others.

Moments before the start of the show. The previously dimmed lights began to flash green, the primary color of their new album. A circular platform located at the top of the stage started to lower. Intense body buzzing beats began to play, paired with smoke engulfing the floor from the bottom of the stage. While the circular platform was lowering, the voices got louder with screams from the crowd with anticipation. The side chatter had stopped. My hearing was already starting to go out due to the immense volume of the fans. I remember thinking to myself, “god, I’m not going to be able to hear anything after this concert is over.” (Which is not a bad thing since that meant the concert was amazing)

Along with all the screaming, everyone in the floor seats started jumping, amping up the already high energy. With the jumping, the previously solid feel of the concrete felt like it was going to crumble at my feet. My seat, which was able to be lifted, so I had more room to jump, left me already feeling the bruises forming on my calves from the back bars attached to the seat. After all my distraction from the crowd subdued, I looked back onto the stage where the circular platform had finally stopped. The loud beats that had once rumbled the venue ended. Everyone’s already loud screaming amplified. The smoke started to clear. All the lights turned off except for the backlights on the stage. The circular platform began to rise. With the backlights, we could see the members’ silhouettes spaced evenly on the first stage. The members started slowly lifting their heads while the white lights slowly turned on. We were finally able to see them in real life. Everyone was in awe. The music began, and I thought, “This will be an amazing performance,” and they surely did not disappoint.