I can check Epik High off my concert list!! For those of you going to K-pop concerts for the first time in Japan, I hope you find this helpful! A week or so after I came here, I knew I wanted to see a k-pop concert and it just so happened that Epik High was coming through my homestay area during my months here in Japan. Buying tickets was actually way easier than I thought it was going to be, I just had to research and figure out how the system works here. I did not think I would get tickets since they had been on sale for a while, but luckily there was some available. If you are thinking of buying tickets for any concerts in Japan, I would recommend this site as it explains the various ways to get tickets: http://www.japanconcerttickets.com/howto/buying-concert-tickets-japan/ (I recommended the machines at convenience stores like Lawson, it requires you to know Japanese but its a very quick process – there are YouTube tutorials as well).

I arrived quite early to the venue just to check out what the line was like and explore the area a bit. For this venue, and maybe this goes for others too, the ticket had a number and letter indicating where you stand in line. Because of this, there wasn’t a reason to line up early unless you wanted to buy fan merch ahead of time. The line to buy the merch is separate from the line for the concert and there was a variety of goods such as T-shirts, towels, and wristbands. I chose the muffler-towel and everything was fairly pricey so bring cash! There

was also a locker system where you could pay 500 yen and put your belongings in a big plastic bag which would be kept aside for pickup after the concert. It was definitely worth it as the concert was standing-only and your belongings could get in the way.

After buying merch, you go to your designated line depending on which group you are in, for example I had B26 so I stood in the “B-ticket” area until staff ushered us to the main line. Before entering the venue, everyone had to pay 500 yen for a drink ticket which I believe is unique to this venue. They had a full-fledged bar and luckily they were also giving out bottled water. Once I got in the venue, I stood with my friends towards the front, as close to the stage as we could get. There were several people waiting in the second level of the venue but that changed pretty quickly when Epik High came on stage and everyone rushed to the front! I was towards the back of the “pit” area and was probably 20 feet away from the stage and definitely made eye contact with Tablo 😛 (small venues are the best!!).

The concert itself was amazing and Epik High definitely got everyone jumping, dancing, and singing along. There was also several rounds of dousing the audience with water bottles which added to it all. 😛 I was expecting them to sing mostly in Japanese as their most recent album has a Japanese version, but they sang quite a few songs in Korean as well meaning I could kinda sing along! I’m surprised my voice didn’t go out especially since my throat was hurting the day before. If anything, I actually feel better – Epik High > medicine! Overall, the whole experience was amazing and definitely worth the money and confusion spent trying to figure everything out! 😀

 

                                                                             Pictures!

Tunes:

anything and everything Epik High