To Philly, To Philly, to See Our Day6

I know it's been weeks and I'm only  just getting around to writing about our trip, but in my defense it was Thanksgiving right after we got back and things have only just settled down for me. I even got snowed in last weekend so I couldn't get home from my brother's house. But that's whatever, and I really just want to talk about the trip.

Philadelphia was a bucket list destination for me, so when we decided to go to that concert, I was super stoked. I was a huge American Revolution nerd in high school, so I was super excited to see "the birthplace of the nation" as we liked to say when anyone asked us why we were travelling across the country to see a Korean rock concert. But it really was also just to see a Korean rock concert. I like this destination K-Pop thing we've got going on. I'm seeing more cities than I ever would. It's a nice excuse to travel.

So we were going to be a cool and not rent a car, but do the whole thing with public transportation. We got an awesome apartment in City Center, less than a mile away from Independence Hall. We literally walked passed it everyday to get to the metro station. We only ended up taking the metro because guess what else was in town that weekend? The Philadelphia Marathon. Add construction on top of that and the bus routes were pretty much useless to us. Oh well.

Our flight was delayed, and we just barely made the earlier option to reconnect, but as it was we were homeless until 3pm anyway. We literally wandered around with our suitcases until we could check in. We spent a lot of time in Reading Terminal Market, it was the food that saved us. We were so hungry by that time (since we'd been delayed for so long on a red eye flight already that it had been forever since we'd eaten), that we didn't even take pictures of the food. But let me tell you that was one of the best Reuben's I have ever eaten.

We barely had time to get cleaned up when we were finally allowed to check in. We had all these grand plans to eat at TWO Korean restaurants that day, when in reality, we ate at the Dutch Eating Place (in Reading Terminal Market) and then a dry lame hot dog at the venue. Whatever. It wasn't about the food.... yet.

BTW, our apartment building reminded me of Tower of Terror, just because it was like Art Deco-ish.

Anyway, we hopped on the metro for our first trip to the Tower Theater in Upper Darby.

The line wasn't even that bad, but there were big confusions about when we needed to get in line for our wristbands to get our hi-touch (because of course we got P2 tickets) and when to get in the regular line. There was this Tower Theater employee there who just kept getting frustrated with us, but he wouldn't tell us anything and just got mad at us for not paying attention to him when he never actually finished his sentences. But eventually we found out that the instructions were wrong and we actually were in the right place because they were going to give us the wristbands as we came in... right in the doorway so it could bottleneck. But it wasn't too bad. We somehow ended up near the front, which was good, because we got in fast enough that we had time to grab ourselves some expensive dry hot dogs and over priced Mountain Dew. But after that trip, I needed my Mt. Dew to make it through the night with enough energy.

It's okay, we were tired, but excited. We were ready to ROCK!

We are at the point in our lives and K-Pop careers where we know what kind of seats we want. We're too old to not have seats as options when we need them (aka, not the Pit), but also not having any of that cheap nosebleed ticket nonsense. We scored some really nice seats. (I don't know how Curdy woke up late, logged in and somehow got the perfect tickets first try, but she did) in row ff, and right on the middle aisle. You know that aisle where they run down if any of that business happens. Yeah, we were right there.

It was nice to be so close to everything. In the confetti zone. I don't think I've been that close before, but it actually made it super magical, and the energy was super high. I don't think we sat down once when they were on the stage, even though they kept telling us we could, and we all just yelled "no" in response, which you could tell they appreciated. They also really loved us singing along and chanting, etc. That was a super cool part of it.

In fact, I was so into the music and energy, that I almost forgot to take pictures and videos. They were probably almost halfway through it before I realized I had done nothing and I quickly popped out my phone in time for one of my favorites. In fact, it was the song that sealed my passion for them as a done deal. There was no going back at that point.

Basically they were on fire the whole time. We were screaming, they were loving it. They kept commenting on our energy and how it gave them energy, which must have been the case because there wasn't much talking, they literally just burned through their set list, playing and dancing non-stop and it was glorious.

I tried to get some different types of songs. It's hard to say my favorites though, because I pretty much love all their music, but I tried to get some really good clips from some great songs.

I really appreciated the light work. Especially when it made them look like glowing rock angels. Actually, it's a good thing that Lizabreff was also taking pictures, because most of these are hers. I actually only got most of the videos. It pays to attend with friends.

 They had some really great moments. You could tell they were enjoying themselves immensely. They had their goofy little dances. Young K really liked to hop from one foot to the other. A classic little bassist dance. Jae did tons of those jump strums for the rocking lead parts.

I don't think most of us had a solid "bias" yet, so I figured this would make some. Although Curdy is totally Young K biased. She even makes a point to not call him Brian, like I have been really trying not to this whole blog post, even though that is super hard.

By the end of the show though, I think Lizabreff is team Sungjin, with a strong Jae bias breaker.

I don't think I could decide, because there is too much to love, which is how we all feel about them, really.

I really loved how excited Dowoon was, singing along and just grinning the entire time he was playing his drums. He always seemed so surprised how much everyone loved him too. And believe me, he probably got the loudest cheering. He's just too lovable.

I really appreciated Wonpil as well, as he probably tried the hardest to tell us how he felt in English, and he talked a lot, even though he was slow and struggling for words. I also appreciate his no touchiness. Solidarity.


Like I said before, we were right on the aisle and at the end of the show they were all running through the aisle and interacting with us in ways they couldn't before because they were singing, and naturally everyone was taking that opportunity to get some extra high-fives.

I believe that Curdy and Lizabreff both got to high five their faves. I ended up on the end in time for Wonpil to come down and he was very like: "no, I'm not touching any of your, but I still appreciate you," which I could appreciate. I still feel happy that we were dancing and singing only 2 feet away from each other.


It was basically magical and after all the songs were over and we were just waiting for everything to get organized for the fan engagements, we were just grinning and finally sitting down and taking pictures of the arches to send to my dad so he could ID all of the singers who had played at the Tower Theater in the past. Apparently I missed out by not having my air drop on, because people were sending pictures of Day6 and random other K-Pop idols, including Exo and I can't remember who else. It kept us entertained until it was our turn to experience even more magic. The Hi-Touch.

They lined us up against a wall and we had to show wrist bands on our left hands and then be ready to just high five down the line with our right hands. Then, all the sudden, they were right there, with only some tables separating us. I honestly had planned out what I was going to say. I know Lizabreff had practiced what to say in Korean too. But honestly, I only managed to get out some weak practically whispered thank yous.

But what impressed me was that even after playing for that long and already going through all the group photos, they were still so personable. They all looked me in the eye and were putting energy behind the high-fives. Young K was even leaning over the table and being very chummy with everyone.

Lizabreff ended up "gently cupping" Jae's hand. At first accidentally, but then she just went for it and made her he knew she appreciated him. I'm sure he did, but we still never let her live it down the rest of the trip, making all kinds of pyeontae noona jokes.

From what I remember, Wonpil's high-five was great, we had that awkward moment of "yeah, let's touch because we appreciate the love if not the touching." I managed to whisper Gamsahamnida. Then I was bombarded immediately with an uber friendly Young K high five which ended all attempts to say anything but thank you. But I loved how personable he was. Then I was awed by how tall Jae actually is, because Lizabreff kindly pointed that out earlier. Also, I lean slightly his way, so I was also awed by how attractive he is too. But then Sungjin also jumped in with another super friendly high five. These guys all make you feel like they're your buddy. Then I had a great moment (for me at least) when I smiled and high-fived Dowoon. He seemed to really love every smile and high five too. Really, they just all seem like really great guys.

We didn't get home until after midnight. We literally caught the last train, but then so did half the concert crowd, so it was a nice full train.

The rest of the trip was us being super touristy. We stayed four more days, and it was heavenly! I loved Philly. I would live there. Especially if K-Pop concerts continued to be a thing there. But this is from where it started to be all about the food. The food and the museums. Yay! So I'll end with a collection of food shots. Because I can.