This was my tenth year attending KCON LA, and as usual I want to offer some thoughts on the experience.
If you’re interested in previous recaps, click here: 2016 // 2017 // 2018 // 2019 // 2022 Pt.1 // 2022 Pt.2 // 2023 // 2024 // 2025
Overall Thoughts Regarding the Event
Positives
1. I like how they had two floors for the convention this year, especially since the top floor was mostly just advertising for their main sponsor Olive Young (and thus, very skippable for me).
2. For the first time in my ten years attending KCON, I had general admission tickets for one of the main stage concerts. I was worried about this because of all the standing (after a full day of standing already), but the experience was fantastic. The stage is elevated enough that you get a great view from any spot and the admission process is so much easier than the seated tickets (and no, you don’t need to camp out or even queue early).
3. I don’t know if this is a “positive” safety-wise, but security felt more laidback and quicker than usual. This was a small mercy after the madness of the check-in lines.
Negatives
1. Every time the convention moves into the South Hall (there are two sides to the LA Convention Center), organization seems to collapse. The line situation this year was particularly bad. Depending on the time you arrived, you were looking at a two or three hour wait just to check-in. I don’t know why they have so few check-in booths for so many people and why they don’t offer early check-in anymore. These seem like simple fixes for a huge problem. From what I can tell, KCON outsources line management to local convention staff and they seem very ill-equipped to handle it. Lines were blending in with other lines, people were cutting all over the place and the staff seemed perfectly fine with making people wait for hours in the hot, direct sunshine.
2. There were several instances of false advertising on KCON’s part this year. For the first day of the convention, we bought premium tickets so that we could be in the “front” section of the “artist stage” during the convention itself. However, these turned out not to be in the front at all because KCON added another (ridiculously huge and ridiculously empty) VIP space in front of Premium. Also, each concert’s headlining acts had been specifically advertised as a “one hour set.” Depending on the day, these turned out to be closer to 35-45 minutes long, which was actually fine with me (an hour is too long after two hours of additional acts before them), but I don’t see how they can get away with blatant lying. They also listed Anderson .Paak as a performer on night two of the weekend and he never showed up. I wasn’t looking forward to him anyway, but I thought it was weird that they never even addressed his absence.
3. For some reason (ie: Sanrio’s sponsorship), KCON felt the need to force the godawful, obnoxious Kuromi character on us at every turn. This thing got to “perform” at every pre-show. These spots could have gone to an actual human artist with music that didn’t make my ears bleed.
Recommendations
1. They must figure out the line/check-in situation. It’s just untenable and actually causes people to miss events they paid for. At the very least, check-in must start earlier in the day so that by the time the convention opens people are ready to enter. They’ve managed to make it work in previous years (2024), so I’m not sure what was so difficult this time.
2. Above all else, KCON is an exercise in corporate sponsorship and branding, but I really need them to mix that in with moments that feel real and genuine. An unexpected highlight of the weekend for me was chef Edward Lee’s interview with ZEROBASEONE’s Matthew. It just felt real, somewhat spontaneous and human. KCON’s insistence on branded phrasing (“Leeeeet’s KCON!” or their new one “KCON! Nolja!”) falls flat and feels like nothing more than an excuse to create a soundbite. I refuse to participate. Also, they’ve gotta get hosts with a bit more energy and excitement. The host for this year’s pre-shows was especially bad, reading the cue cards in monotone with a weirdly admonishing energy. I hate when it feels like people are just “going through the motions”.
The Artists
This year, I thought I’d run through each of the main stage artists and offer my thoughts on their presence over the weekend. This will obviously be very subjective and not always positive, so before you send angry emails and comments please realize that this is nothing more than one person’s biased opinion.
DAY ONE
NCT 127
They headlined the first night of KCON and did a pretty good job. They had a lot of energy, but this five person version of the group is just so different (and watered down) than what NCT 127 used to be. It looks so weird to see so few performers on the stage. Their set was a mix of songs I like (I was so happy to hear Summer 127!), songs I dislike (Lemonade) and songs I never need to see performed again (Kick It). Seriously, they trot out Kick It every single year. For me, the MVP of this performance was Yuta. He just had the most energy.
KickFlip
We saw them at both the Artist Stage and the main stage. I absolutely love them, so they were one of the acts I was most looking forward to. Their fan base was definitely on the smaller side but I found them very charming in all their awkwardness. They performed most of my favorite songs on the artist stage (I’m slowly coming around to Twenty being their best song?), but I could’ve done without the Stray Kids cover. Keiju is very charming in person, btw.
Santos Bravos
I LOVE this group. Seriously, they’ve got one of the year’s best EPs and they’re all so talented and fit so well together. I was happy to see that they seemed to have a lot of support during both the artist stage and main stage. Their vocals and dancing are both so strong. They did a collaboration with &TEAM as well, which was fantastic (even though I would have much preferred the Kawasaki remix over a weird BTS medley).
Treasure
I’ve never been a huge fan of Treasure but their energy was very good. Some of the members lean on cringy affectations, but it mostly works. They were one of the best acts when it came to hyping up and engaging with the crowd in a natural way.
&TEAM
Honestly, I wasn’t expecting them to have such big fan support at KCON. It felt like everyone during the first day was there for &TEAM. I’ve been a big fan for awhile now so unsurprisingly I loved them (even if they didn’t perform the songs I’d hope for). We were also very lucky to have Nicholas come right up to our spot at the artist stage.
H//PE Princess
It was weird that they were the only girl group on day one. Unfortunately, their set did absolutely nothing for me. They didn’t even perform their title track. Completely forgettable.
K01KEYZ
Yeah… they didn’t do much for me either. Despite enjoying bright boy group fare, their debut single is a bit too cloying for me and they all seemed soooo young.
Wanna One
I was looking forward to this reunion but sadly found it underwhelming. It just seemed kind of low-energy compared to other acts of the night.
Wing
I don’t understand why he was there. The show is already so long. I didn’t feel like we needed long stretches of beat-boxing as well.
DAY TWO
ZEROBASEONE
When it comes to the main stage concerts, this was the standout performance for me. They blitzed through almost all the songs on their fantastic new mini album (even Zero To Hundred! Yes!!) and also left room for solo and sub-unit stages. Apart from the very out-of-place Slam Dunk, the sound felt cohesive and tight. The debut stage of Exotic was definitely a highlight.
ILLIT
They definitely won me over. We saw them on the convention’s Music Den stage as well as the main stage. It’s Me works very well in an arena. Unfortunately, we were sat right in front of a rabid fan who screamed bloody murder like a possessed demon every time ILLIT appeared so much of their set was drowned out.
izna
It was… fine. Metronome was fun. I didn’t need the BLACKPINK cover, though.
P1Harmony
They’ve been at KCON so many years now and just do nothing for me. Their fans seem kind of intense, too. This was an easy bathroom break.
Taeyong
Great stage presence, but apart from WYLD the material is just not good.
Yeonjun
Same thing as Taeyong. The material is just bad. I also found his presence somewhat off-putting. Very few superstar-level performers can get away with aggressively asking “What’s my name?” over and over again and I fear he is just not on that level yet so it feels very posturing to me.
MODYSSEY
They were very charming. Hook was good, but their cover of One Direction’s What Makes You Beautiful was the true standout. I don’t know why they chose to add voguing to a song that definitely does not call for it, but the miss-match was very entertaining. They desperately need more material, though.
DAY THREE
TXT
Their headlining set directly mirrored my feelings about the group overall: a great beginning followed by a more middling hit-or-miss follow-through. 0X1=LOVESONG (I Know I Love You) was an epic opener and Back For More a great follow-up, but things kind of fizzled from here. And even though I knew they probably wouldn’t perform Crown, I’m still sad they didn’t.
ALLDAY PROJECT
Like it or not, they had some of the strongest songs of an overall weak night. One More Time is an absolute tune. Unfortunately, the crowd was preoccupied with their “black ocean” protest, which I always find super awkward and a little immature. I mean, I don’t support every choice made by the artists, but it’s not like they’ve killed someone.
ALPHA DRIVE ONE
Literally did nothing for me. I just don’t feel the spark of MNET’s past Produce/Planet groups. The material just isn’t there and my god we didn’t need yet ANOTHER BTS cover.
JO1
This is another skip. They’re good performers, but I didn’t like any of their songs.
MEOVV
Okay, this was definitely the weakest night of the weekend. The girls are great but the material is just so lackluster. And in a very unoriginal turn, they gave us yet another BLACKPINK cover.
Evan
There was definitely a lot of hype for him but I was very unconvinced. I found his stage presence very awkward. He’s probably just figuring it out without the rest of his group around him. His cover of Harry Styles’ As It Was was… strange.
NEXZ
They were the easy MVPs of the night and probably of my weekend. We saw them the most, from a random play dance at UCLA to the Music Den stage and MNET booth at the convention. Mmchk and Beat-Boxer are such massive bops. The jury’s still out on upcoming single Saucin’ (which they premiered on the main stage), but I really love this group and they are amazing performers/dancers with so much personality. Judging by all their social media, they were SO busy this weekend.
RESCENE
I was definitely won over by them. Part of this was because they were everywhere at the convention, making interactions very easy and plentiful. They were also the only girl group offering a lighter, more melodic sound, which helped them stand out.