A word of advice, never believe a world tour is a “world tour”.
There are a lot of international fans who have not understood that when K-Pop companies say World Tour, why do you all believe it’s going to be every city in the world with at least two or three countries in each continent? Let me take this upcoming Big Bang Alive Tour in London as an example.
I want to explain to some of you guys how to prepare for these poorly planned K-Pop concerts instead of complaining to each other.
Preparation
First things first, when you hear a rumour more than once, start saving. It may or may not be true , it could be cancelled or delayed but at least you will be ready for it. It’s just good to save up money for something that may or may not happen but at least you’ve saved it up right?
Since K-Pop companies are starting to go to specific towns and cities, you should be saving some serious money in order to get there. But that’s if you really want to go. For the ticket and the travel (if you don’t live in that country) is going to cost a lot…
Tour Dates & Tickets
The tour dates and tickets always seem to be announced 5 days – a week prior to the date. Remember that.
When Big Bang’s upcoming Alive Tour was announced, there were some people who thought £30 would be the highest price for the upcoming Big Bang concert and they kept comparing it to MBC. You need to realise that MBC’s £17.50 ticket was for a festival not a concert. Yes, there are many of us fans who do not have a job, are still in school and have to ask our parents for the money, but if you really want to go (if some of your parents won’t let go, then that’s a shame) you could save up what little pocket money you get or sell some things, the choice is yours.
Trust me from the K-Pop concerts I’ve been to, £40-£60 is not bad for the cheapest ticket. £70-£100 is really steep though, I can understand if people complain about that. I actually thought for this Big Bang concert, the ticket price would be £100.
Hotels & Travels
So your tickets are sorted? Next is the hotel and travel accommodation. The tour dates for Music Bank Paris gave people 4 months for people to sort out accommodation and travel. To be honest 2-4 months should be enough time for people living outside of the UK for this Big Bang tour, you get a good 2 months to plan. Trust me, it’s better than nothing or having way less time so pay for everything as quickly as possible because things will get pricey as the date gets closer.
I know there are some people travelling down from all parts of the UK too. Getting the cheapest option for hotels, travels or even staying with people’s families in London is best.
And for the reason companies specifically choose certain countries? Well, this quote may be able to explain you why:
Heads up: It costs MONEY to transport and put on a whole concert. There’s a reason they are aiming for 12,000 person venues. The concert needs to be PROFITABLE. YG surely did the research and realized the UK had the most profit potential. Sorry, but just because you are a fan doesn’t mean your country is a feasible stop. It’s the same reason you won’t see a US date in Colorado.
Honestly do K-pop fans really think the world exists for them? Like YG or SM or other companies are going to say, “well, gee, there are four fans in Kiev who would really love a concert… also in Skopje there is one huge BB fan. In that case, we should cut our losses and put on a concert in every city ever to appease every single fan.”
The companies are indeed wrong to do this to international fans. Not all of us can afford travel and accommodation to other countries when they spring tour dates on us unexpectedly. But like the quote says, they are not going to think of all K-Pop fans individually and give us the benefit of the doubt with ticket prices, we are going to get what K-Pop companies give us. But sometimes I believe with the right press and ideas to stick out in order to grab K-Pop companies attention, you may get idols to see your hard work and get a bit of spotlight for it.
They never give us time in advance to know about if a concert is announced but that’s why I treat rumours as a possible. Some of us should be used to this. If we have seen or gone to any of these poorly prepared concerts but nevertheless, the acts you have seen have given pretty good performances, no?
Source: NyNyOnline
