Movie Monday – No, Just How I Survived My First (and Last) GOT7 Fan Meet

GOT7 Turbulence in D.C
January 22, 2017

So, as you can see there is no Movie Monday post. Why you ask? Because I’m still recovering from my first and (mostly likely) last fan meet! No, it wasn’t because I had a bad time, I had a wonderful time. No, it wasn’t because it isn’t memorable, it was. No, it’s not because we stood in line, in the rain for 5 1/2 hours BEFORE we were even close enough to get in the building. The major problem is when you’re not of teenage age and you have to be in a venue with standing room only with aggressive and quite rude U.S teenagers, patience and politeness simply don’t exist.

I would be the first to admit that the 5 1/2 hours, in the rain, in line were very entertaining! I was lucky to find 2 portable seats in the car that my wonderful Aunt (God Rest Her Soul) had willed to me in the trunk. So, I sat more than I stood in line. Another blessing was the fact that even though it was raining, it wasn’t snowing and it really wasn’t that cold unless you got wet! I have to applaud the management of SubKulture Entertainment and Echostage for handing out clear plastic ponchos for free to everyone in line. I found the entertainment of the wannabe dancers in line great entertainment. I found the conversations of the high school girls behind be scary, frightening and entertaining. I found the fan meet staff courteous, friendly and always willing to answer your questions no matter how stupid and unreasonable they were (there’s always one in the crowd).

Upper Level of Echostage Before P3/4 Entrance

Considering the massive volume of people that were attending the fan meet, I really have no complaints! Sure, to some it seemed that the organization of the event could have been better; I learned that the way to go was definitely P1 tickets!! Pure and simply! However, the largest failure to me is standing room only venues! The curse of being an old and gray KPop fan!

During the Q & A Session

When we first got to the top level of Echostage, we situated ourselves close to a pole so that no one would really want to stand behind us. The view really was unobstructed for quite a long time. During the Q&A portion, the fellows came out and introduced themselves; most speaking English and some trying really hard to. Loved that of my boys! Now, I don’t mind crowds, believe me. I don’t even mind the deafening screaming! Hey, I survived both ‘Nsync and Backstreet Boys concerts way back when. However, when the younger girls started pushing and shoving me out of the way because I wasn’t the one with their back to the pole, my daughter was. I had enough! So, I vacated the railing and left my daughter with the one available spot left to be my cameraperson.

I enjoyed the performances immensely!! Even though I had abandoned the railing, when they were projecting to the big screen, I was happily dancing at the top where no one was there except for a few others that had reached their frustration level with the teenie boppers! I was also lucky to spend some time with a fellow twitter pal, Jaeswoon! It’s always wonderful to meet people that you practically talk to every day online. But back to the show…

I really did have a great time! The boys didn’t sing all of the songs I wanted to hear but they did sing 4 that I was dying to hear. As you can imagine, Hard Carry brought the house down! Wait. That was probably when the most embarrasing pictures of me dancing to KPop could have been taken. My daughter swears she didn’t. We shall see.

The official fan meet portion was over around 9:45pm. So, they were 15 minutes later as they came out and did 2 more songs. Now, here is where I can complain. As I had P2 tickets for the Hi-touch, this was so disorganized and by the time there was some semblance of order, it was going on 11pm. You realize that it is Sunday, tomorrow is a weekday and I live almost an hour away? Well, we didn’t stay. I was too exhausted at this point. At the rate they were going with all of the P1 taking pictures and the incredibly long, haphazard line of P2s for the Hi-touch, I didn’t foresee that I would get home before 1am! Me stay? HELL to the NO! So, sadly I missed what I paid for.

But that’s alright. For me, it was a once in a lifetime thing. I wanted to support my boys because KPop coming to this area is rare! Without supporting them, it doesn’t encourage them to return again. But if we believe what they said of the tour this far, they are very happy to see the turnout and the fact that they are truly international. I really hope they come again for a full concert! I really do! I will definitely support them but NOT at the sake of fighting for space with rude and obnoxious teenage girls! Nope, I didn’t let them ruin my moment but read my cyber lips: Never again a standing room only fan meet!! Not me!!

Some of the pictures from GOT7 In D.C can be seen here on Pinterest.