220624 AB6IX in Chicago

Because I don’t think I’m going to journal about this one. Unnecessarily detailed as always

Finally, after forever I get to go to a seated concert. I got there a little before 5 because I wanted to hand out stuff. But they let us in like right before 5 so I never actually got to, whoops. But a lot of people had freebies! I ended up with so much stuff lol. I liked the venue. Free parking!!!

For soundcheck, they did Cherry and Red Up. Woong and Donghyun kept peeking out before it started. Suddenly someone screamed and we were all like ??? Woojin had a hawaiian shirt on lol. This is the first time phones were allowed during soundcheck so I took the opportunity to take pics then. Actually I filmed way more than I usually do. I guess because I was less concerned with ~seeing them with my own eyes~ like I usually am with my faves

The venue was only about half full. I know it must suck as an artist to see that but as someone who gets overwhelmed easily I appreciated how it didn’t feel crowded.

Their outfits were really pretty! There were actually more performances than I was expecting for a “fanmeeting.” I’ve realized the value in knowing the songs beforehand... I haven’t really listened to many of their releases in the past 1-2 years. But they did do two of my favorite songs, Blind for Love and Surreal. They also had a post-it note question session. Two girls were trying to get them to pick theirs so they screamed “we wrote in glitter pen!!” and Daehwi was like “I need to repent?” lmaooo but tbh that’s what I heard too. Oh but the first one they picked was Tina who I know has done events and stuff for them, it’s nice to see a dedicated fan get this chance! One of the questions was what’s your favorite dinosaur and Daehwi said he didn’t have one, I don’t remember the other answers. Whatever questions they picked, they invited those fans on stage and let them ask questions and stuff. There were 2 kfans picked and they kept their faces covered the whole time lol. One of them asked Woong to shake hands.

In the second half they also called up 4 fans from their tweets to the stage. They let 2 people ask questions. The first one asked about places to go to in Korea. The second asked if cereal is a soup. There were some divided opinions. BUT the funniest thing is that (all 4 took polaroids with AB6IX) when it was that girl’s turn, Woong said cereal is a snack (not soup) and then called cereal girl loooool.

They actually talked to the audience a lot. They took the time to read signs and there was someone dressed up as Ash. Oh there was also someone wearing Daehwi’s outfit from Rose Scent Kiss and he asked, “Where did you get that from?” and she said she made it. I think during the ending ment Woojin asked if we were ready and he was like “really?”

I came in holding an Woojin slogan but I’m a Donghyun fan now. He was the most engaged out of all them. The other 3 were definitely less so... I know someone (Daehwi?) mentioned the day before on pm that they were getting tired. I think that’s why Donghyun stood out so much while performing (in a good way), he was enjoying himself at least. Was kind of surprised with Woojin, he looked like he was just going through the motions. I didn’t see Woong that much but when I did he was cute. I felt like Daehwi was trying to be sexy a lot lmao. But I think he sang live the entire night!!

Another thing I want to mention is the lack of “kpop opportunists” (as I heard for the first time today lol). The people at the front knew all the fanchants and everything, and phones were up but not obnoxious (at least from my pov, in the back. It was the first time in a long time I didn’t have to crane my neck to avoid phones in my view!) I obviously can't say for sure everyone at the front was actually an abnew but the vibes were definitely more genuine than they have been. I'm really happy for those fans! I hope they had a good time. 

Hi-Touch went super fast. Even faster than my Wanna One hi-touch. I think the order was Daehwi, Woong, Donghyun, Woojin? I wanted to tell Donghyun I’m his fan now but he definitely did not hear lol. I put my phone in my pocket to see if it would pick up anything and you can only hear them, you can’t hear me at all. So they for sure did not hear anything lol. 

Overall I’m glad I went! I was able to get a VIP ticket for $100 (less than fv) so I think it was worth it. I bought my ticket a week before the show just in case something came up.