Volume 1 2009 Chapter 106: Admission, Fan Culture
The awkward silence continued until we got off the bus.
The blush on Rabbit's face lasted for a long time, and Yi Haoyan was too embarrassed to speak. The two of them followed the crowd silently.
When we got to the entrance, there was a long line at the door.
Feeling like it wasn't going to work to keep silent like this, the boy was about to do something to break the awkwardness.
"Brother Umbrella, please take out the ticket." Rabbit spoke calmly, and nothing else could be heard from his voice.
Yi Haoyan quickly took out the two tickets he had prepared and handed them over carefully.
"It's a good location." The girl smiled and turned her head to indicate, "It's very close to the stage."
"Really? That's indeed a good spot." Seeing that the girl was calm and seemed to want to let go of what happened just now, the boy quickly agreed.
"Take this." Rabbit took out a small flashlight from his bag.
" What's this?"
"Cheering lights, Sone has them."
"What is Sone?" Yi Haoyan didn't understand.
"Sone is the official fan name of Girls' Generation. It seems that Brother Umbrella is not a fan?"
"Oh, I really don't know that."
The rabbit waved cutely, motioning Yi Haoyan to bend down, and took out a headdress for Yi Haoyan to put on.
"What is this?"
"It's a cheering card. Don't move. I'll put it on for you." Rabbit supported the boy's head.
“Do I have to bring it?”
“You must bring it!”
"Okay..." Yi Haoyan had no choice but to compromise. Who made him in the wrong?
After putting on the hairpin, the rabbit fumbled to turn on a switch. Two pink rose-colored stars lit up on the boy's head, swaying cutely.
"Hehe!" Looking at Yi Haoyan wearing the hairpin, the girl giggled.
"Isn't this color too sissy?" Yi Haoyan complained.
"Don't talk nonsense, this is Girls' Generation's official cheering color."
"Well, as long as it's not green."
Rabbit looked at the boy strangely. There was no concept of cuckold in Korea, so she certainly didn't understand Yi Haoyan's strange words.
The two entered happily.
To arrange the orderly entry of thousands of people to a venue in a short period of time requires management and organizational skills.
Judging from the scene, SM has indeed used a high-level team this time.
Admission starts half an hour in advance. There are three entrances in total. Each entrance and every subsequent fork in the road are managed by a dedicated person to guide fans to their seats, avoiding the chaos caused by searching for seats everywhere.
There is a huge main stage in the center of the venue, surrounded by steel structure supports. The entire stage is like a large open warehouse with many lighting and sound equipment installed on the top and sides.
At the back is a huge LED screen that occupies an entire side of the stage. In the front there are some movable steps and floor lifting devices, as well as some decorative scenery that can be quickly replaced. It is obviously a modular and flexible stage.
In front is an extended sub-stage in the shape of a Chinese character "田". In the center of the Chinese character "田" is a huge circular area equipped with a lifting platform.
The secondary stage extends all the way to the edge of the venue. The design of this venue allows audiences in most positions to have the opportunity to get close to the stage. It seems that SM's stage design is still very user-friendly.
Yi Haoyan and Rabbit's position is right in the center of the "田"-shaped stage, very close to the main stage and the circular stage, which is considered the best area.
After the rabbit entered, it kept looking around excitedly.
She was amazed by the gorgeous and grand stage design, and her beautiful big eyes kept sparkling.
It was also Yi Haoyan's first time to watch a live concert. As the crowds of audience members entered the venue and listened to their excited discussions about their expectations for the performance, he also began to look forward to it.
Almost all the people entering the venue were fans of Girls' Generation, and no one had empty hands.
There were hand lights like Yi Haoyan's, as well as various pink, no, pink rose-colored banners and other support items. It was obvious that they were an organized fan group.
Fan culture in Korea is very developed.
Since the first generation of idols HOT and H.O.T., Korean fans have formed well-organized and powerful groups in order to chase their idols.
In the days before the Internet, concert tickets were sold at banks . Whenever fans heard about HOT's concert, they would skip school and wait in front of the bank from the early morning to wait for the tickets to go on sale. When the album was released, the community music and video stores, which are now almost extinct, would become busy. The music and video stores would prepare limited edition posters with huge portraits of the idols and post promotional materials in front of the store.
Fans look forward to the day, and they even leave school early to get in the first line of posters. Every time a HOT album is released, the Education Department will issue a document to each school prohibiting early leaving.
Such a young and crazy group naturally needs to be managed and guided. With the advent of the Internet age, the speed of information dissemination has increased rapidly. The number of fans has also increased explosively.
In order to better operate the idol industry, various brokerage companies have gradually established official fan groups, and charged real-name registration for idols' fans, forming a unique fan culture in South Korea.
For example, the official will jointly agree with the fans on the representative colors, items and slogans of support.
Only after joining the official fan group can you have priority in participating in various activities of the idol. Sometimes there will be lottery benefits (idol's autograph, CD) and the like. The things given for fundraising and support can be handed over to the company and then transferred to the idol through the agent.
Fans will have a deeper sense of participation in such activities, and companies will be able to gain a firmer control over fans and earn more profits in this way.
Now, the types of activities held by fan groups are more diverse.
The development of the Internet has led to a rapid expansion of the fan base, making it easier to manage. The power of young fans who are willing to spend money is amazing, as can be seen from various support activities.
The most common is food aid.
Because Korea has a small land area and not abundant resources, the prices of fruits and meat are relatively high. In order to express their love for their idols, fans will send food to support their idols whenever they participate in activities, film TV dramas, appear on variety shows, or participate in sports games. The support targets are not only the idols themselves, but also other artists participating . Therefore, this kind of support is often sent in dozens or hundreds of portions, not only with exquisite packaging, but also with rich food, from fruits, snacks, Western food, Chinese food, and buffets.
Cheering is not only for idols to see, but also for the media and staff to see, so that everyone can enjoy the benefits and let the media know the popularity of the idols.
