This year’s KCON was bigger and better than ever, stretched out over three days and dozens of stages. It’s my eighth year attending so I feel like a veteran at this point, but each year’s a bit different. 2023 was a stressful experience in several ways so I wasn’t sure what to expect in 2024. However, I think this year may have just been the best yet. Read on to discover the highlights, the lowlights and a few videos to give you a sense of the overall atmosphere.
And if you’re interested in previous recaps, click here: 2016 // 2017 // 2018 // 2019 // 2022 Pt.1 // 2022 Pt.2 // 2023
THE GOOD
1. A Festival Feel
KCON rebranded itself as a music “festival” this year, which is something I hoped they’d do for years now. In addition to the big MCountdown stage each evening, the festival grounds saw a revolving door of showcase and meet and greet stages throughout the day. This made the convention even more exciting than the concert. You could fill your whole day with mini-concerts and fan-meets from a variety of artists, and that’s exactly what we did. This was my eighth KCON, but the first time I spent the entire three days inside the convention – from opening until close. There was just so much to do!
2. Organized Check-in
Waiting in lines has always been the bane of my existence at KCON, and the worst of all was usually the check-in line. This year, they smartly broke the process into three distinct stages: security, check-in and venue entry. This made the whole process go extremely smooth and fast, and when we did have to wait they staged us all in an underground (air-conditioned) parking garage rather than the hot LA sun like in years past.
3. Convention Layout
KCON booked the bigger half of the convention center this year, which I hope they continue to do every year. Things never felt cramped and there was plenty of room for big audiences to gather around the individual stages. The meet-and-greet stage was part of the convention floor, but given ample room and wide screens so that even those far away could see the onstage action. The larger “KCON stage” had its own separate entry and felt more like a proper concert venue. Panels and workshops were far from the hustle and bustle of the convention floor and there was plenty of room to sit and eat or relax.
4. Artist Line-Up
I know some people complained about how “nugu” the line-up felt this year, but it was my favorite in quite some time. I love how KCON diversified its choices, bringing in artists from all sorts of sub-genres. They even had rookie acts from smaller companies. It was an interesting, varied line-up that had something for everyone. As popular as they may be, there’s more to K-pop than Stray Kids and ATEEZ!
5. Artist Visits at Panels
If you really wanted a chance to see your idol up close and personal, KCON’s panels offered an unexpected way to do so. I was shocked at how intimate these were. They were basically the kind of fan meet some pay big bucks to see. I got to sit in on DRIPPIN’s game panel, which was really fun.
6. A Nationwide Broadcast
Though the KCON concerts lasted three days, Sunday’s show was broadcast live on The CW. It was a bit weird having the concert start at five o’clock and be over by seven thirty, but the demands of the broadcast made for a tighter show with tons of guest stars. It really felt like an event.
THE BAD
1. Pre-KCON Experience
To be honest, pretty much all my gripes about this year’s KCON occurred before the actual event. Communication was spotty and ticket sales were a nightmare. Some of this blame must be put on vendor AXS, but KCON’s own policies didn’t help. Essentially, the ticket buying process attempts to show you the “best available” seats at the moment. But often, the website appears as if it’s sold out and you end up panic-buying seats you didn’t want because anything is better than being shut out completely. This happened to me this year, purchasing nosebleeds when I wanted to be much closer.
There’s nothing more frustrating that being saddled with bad seats and then seeing much better ones become available (and stay available for weeks after). The thing that made this especially frustrating was KCON’s “no exchange, no upgrade” policy. AXS allows upgrades but KCON does not. I would have happily paid more for better seats but was not allowed to. This really needs to change in the future. I mean, why wouldn’t they want the extra money?
Of course, this all became a moot point because our seats were upgraded for free a few weeks before the event due to logistics (and, I assume lower-than-expected sales). Still, it shouldn’t be this difficult and customers certainly shouldn’t wait a whole two weeks to hear back from customer service (if they hear back at all). KCON’s on-site organization was so great this year. I hope they also invest in their customer experience before and after the event.
2. The Food
This isn’t KCON’s fault, and I expect convention food to be ridiculously overpriced. But, why was it also so universally awful? Seriously, the food options at the convention center are really bad. Like… really bad.
3. Outdoor Festival Grounds
I love the idea of expanding the festival grounds to outdoors, but I’m not sure how well it worked this year. I didn’t spend much time out there, but it never seem too crowded when I did. Having the “dance all day” booth outside in the blazing sun felt like a strange idea. Maybe this whole area should just be converted into a food hall next year?
THE RANDOM
1. Artist Spillover
KCON has become an event that spreads beyond the convention center and arena, attracting other artists to the area. Bias List favorites from20 and Hello Gloom milled about the convention center for a few days and I got to meet and talk with them. They also appeared at a nearby club in Koreatown on Friday night to perform a set, meaning I got to experience Mamacita in its natural habitat: a packed, sweaty club.
2. An Accidental Upgrade?
As I mentioned before, our tickets for the concert were upgraded to a much closer seat, and our convention wristbands also got upgraded to premium – though this was an error on the staff’s part. I assumed it was all part of the original upgrade, but our wristbands were eventually taken and replaced with normal ones halfway through the weekend.
Still, we got to experience premium benefits for a day and a half and – if you can afford them – I highly recommend going for premium. It’s what I originally wanted, but they were sold out so quickly I couldn’t get them. Basically, this tier lets you into the front section of every showcase, KCON stage and meet-and-greet. You get to be incredibly close to the artists, which is by far the best way of experiencing their stages. And from what I observed, KCON either needs to sell a lot more premium passes or make the premium area much smaller because it was always sparsely populated and more people deserve to have a chance at this experience.
ARTIST HIGHLIGHTS
1. TWS
If you’ve read this blog at all in 2024, you probably know how I feel about TWS and their music. I’m a huge fan and was so happy they’d be attending KCON this year. I especially love seeing new artists in their first few months since debut because the energy is just different and can’t be recaptured later.
So, even though our premium wristbands had been snatched by this point, I was intent on making Sunday’s convention TWS-focused. This meant a long 90-minute wait at the Samsung booth to score a special ticket getting us into the front section of their KCON Stage. We managed to get right up front next to the stage – maybe the closest I’ve ever been for a concert. The guys performed a five song set and were absolutely incredible. I’m not over-exaggerating when I say that being right in the thick of the Hey! Hey! energy felt like heaven.
The guys also performed on the main stage Saturday and Sunday, meaning we got to hear three separate performances of Plot Twist – a song that everyone seemed to know and love, by the way. It truly is one of the year’s most popular tracks among K-pop fans. Shinyu, Dohoon and Jihoon also did a killer cover of Jungkook’s 3D.
240728 KCON DAY 2 #투어스 #TWS #신유 #도훈 #지훈
3D pic.twitter.com/GrCsoHe44B
— 계란 (@myboyismeerkat_) July 28, 2024
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2. g.o.d.
I love love love when KCON invites older acts to the show. It was such a treat to witness first-gen legends. g.o.d. took over the concert stage on Saturday night, getting everyone on their feet. There were definitely established fans in attendance, but it was so nice to see them win over so much of the audience who may not have been familiar with them or their music. Joon was as entertaining as he always is, happy to be performing in his home town of LA.
3. Somi
I was completely won over by Somi. We got to see her meet-and-greet on Saturday morning and I couldn’t get over her natural charisma and charming sense of humor. She’s really grown into her own, and that confidence came across in her job as both a concert host and performing artist.
4. BOYNEXTDOOR
Apart from TWS, BND were the other group I was most excited for at this year’s KCON. I’ve slowly and steadily become a mega-fan over the past year and they didn’t disappoint. Unfortunately, we were further from the stage for all their performances, but their colorful energy definitely reached the entire venue. The members were as quirky and entertaining as I’d hoped. Jaehyun is a charisma machine and practically a living meme, while youngest Woonhak had one of my favorite moments at their meet-and-greet, trying to be silly with the stupid picture frame prop KCON made all the artists use but instead breaking it into pieces and almost taking out the cameraman at the same time.
WHY DOES WOONHAK BREAK EVERYTHING HE TOUCH pic.twitter.com/nAhU0vKU9n
— AND, mina (@taesanwon) July 28, 2024
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5. Taemin
Taemin will always be a sight to behold, but his rock remix of Criminal at Friday’s concert was truly a bring-down-the-house moment. I was so enthralled I forgot to take footage of the best parts, but luckily all the concerts are professionally filmed.
TAEMIN at KCON LA 2024 Criminal Performance
LEGEND TAEMIN #TAEMINxKCON #KCONLA2024 #TAEMIN @TAEMIN_BPM pic.twitter.com/3LPLyWbCvw
— SHINee World Academy PH (@shawolacademyph) July 27, 2024
6. Hyolyn
There’s something to be said about experience, and Hyolyn just has this aura of superstar around her. Her stage on Sunday night was a different level. “Fierce” doesn’t even begin to describe it. We also got to catch most of her extended KCON stage on Saturday.
7. DRIPPIN
The fact that a Woollim group attended KCON this year was a very pleasant surprise. They didn’t get a slot on the main stage, but their Friday showcase was excellent. Their cover stage of SHINee’s Love Like Oxygen was especially memorable.
8. DXMON
They performed at both a showcase and Friday’s pre-show and I was impressed by their energy. I’m always cheering on rookies from smaller agencies and DXMON show a ton of potential.
9. Bibi
Bibi’s music isn’t often something I’d seek out, but I found her performances to be very captivating. She brought a different energy than anyone else and offered a nice counterpoint to some of the concert’s more clanging, hyper-aggressive stages.