A Concert-Filled SoCal Summer

From packed stadiums to sold-out arenas, 2025 is a landmark year for live music—and nowhere is the excitement more electric than in Los Angeles. As an Asian American raised in Southern California, although it may be typical, my musical interests heavily lie in K-Pop and Asian Artists. And this summer, the concert scene in SoCal is nothing less than POPPIN. So, I wanted to share a glimpse of my concert adventures this summer—just a little taste of what’s been filling my heart (and draining my wallet).

Stray Kids 5/31 at Sofi Stadium

My view for the Stray Kids concert at Sofi stadium! (Photo: Kyra Phaychanpheng)

The first time I saw Stray Kids was in 2022 at the Honda Center in Anaheim—super local for me, with a capacity of around 15,000. I remember my tickets were only $70 back then (crazy right). I saw them again in 2023 at BMO Stadium, both for the Maniac and extended Maniac tour.

Since coming to college, I haven’t had the time to keep up with the K-pop stan lifestyle I maintained so religiously in high school. The reality shows, vlogs, and comeback content started to feel overwhelming—especially while trying to adjust to an entirely new environment and workload here. Going into the concert, I felt a little disappointed in myself for not being totally caught up with my “ults.” I’d only listened to their new mixtape, “Mixtape: dominATE” once all the way through. Regardless, I was beyond stoked. They’ve made it: SoFi Stadium!

The concert itself blew me away with its incredible live sound and grand theatrics. As expected, the live rap from Changbin and Han delivered. I also thought they struck a perfect balance between old songs and new ones on this tour. Personally, I was so glad they still performed “District 9” and “MIROH”, and “Back Door” took me back to my roots, when I first started stanning. Plus, their performance of “Giant” was absolutely unforgettable—especially with the massive blow-up figure towering on stage. The new songs on the aforementioned mixtape were so hype live, and it really showed me the consistency in BANGERS they are still spitting out. Additionally, I was especially surprised—and delighted—by the moving carts that carried the members around the stadium as they performed a couple songs, something I’d previously only seen in Asia tours.

My singular downside would be a double-edged sword; since this was my third time seeing the group, I noticed they have as much “ment” time. This would include the spoken segments where the idols interact with the audience, share stories behind songs, or engage in “fan service”. There were certainly little tid bits of interactions between the members, but it was disappointing that for my show, only Bang Chan and I.N. were able to share their full thanks and sentiment. I feel that these talking segments are such a big part of the K-pop experience, but I understand that they needed to *JJAM* pack their setlist with songs (real ones would get the pun). Still, maybe I am biased but I would still rate this a five star michelin experience!

Blackpink 7/12 at Sofi Stadium
Another monumental tour that shook the K-pop scene was Blackpink’s “Deadline” Tour. Now, I’m no conspiracist—but it honestly wouldn’t surprise me if this marked the end of their era as a group. Considering how the members have basically functioned as solo artists for the past two years, it kind of checks out.

To be honest, my expectations going into the concert weren’t super high. Knowing they weren’t even releasing a mini-album beforehand and just a single, “JUMP”, was already a letdown. On top of that, seeing concert clips from earlier tour stops on social media didn’t help either; people were constantly criticizing the idols for low energy and lackluster performances.

But with that said, as the hours counted down before the show, I still couldn’t help but get hyped as we prepped in the car listening to the projected setlist. They opened with “Kill This Love” and came out swinging—smoke machines, pyrotechnics, dramatic lighting—the whole deal.“JUMP” was super energetic, and “Ddu-Du Ddu-Du” completely lived up to my expectations. The solo performances were incredible as well! Jisoo actually looks ethereal and her performance actually got me enjoying “earthquake” after not liking it too much. Jennie’s aura was immaculate…the way she carries herself throughout her set was crazy and I have a new appreciation for her album. Rosé’s “3AM” was beautiful. And of course, “APT.” had the entire crowd hyped, there were so many baby Blinks! But my favorite moment of the night was Lisa’s performance of “Fxck Up the World” with a splash of “Money”. Queen type beat.

However, I do have a few criticisms of the show. For a group with their level of success (and budget), it was a little disappointing that they didn’t use the SoFi infinity screen, the giant, oval-shaped 360-degree screen above the stadium. It would’ve made a big difference for those of us in the nosebleeds…and could’ve elevated the experience overall. Also, the interlude videos between songs were also a little odd to me. The storyline seemed clearly tailored to appeal to an “American” audience, with the Joshua Tree-style scenery and cowgirl fits. Additionally, the way they divided up the acts felt kind of random, but it could be due to my lack of pattern recognition.

Ateez 8/9 at BMO Stadium
My first time seeing Ateez live, and let me tell you… they did not disappoint! I was so happy to go to this concert with some hometown friends. They aren’t my ults, but I’ve listened to them a lot over the past couple of years, even if I haven’t kept up with their latest releases. After a couple days of solid setlist studying, I was ready. I thoroughly enjoyed the concert, it was packed with so many songs! The solo songs were really good (and spicy!), and I was honestly really shocked at how little downtime they took between songs. They still found time for some fun talking segments too, though admittedly it was hard to follow anyone besides Hongjoong.

Xikers opened for them, and they really set the tone. Their cover of “Bouncy” had the crowd hyped and perfectly primed for Ateez’s first stage.

Before the concert, I didn’t even have a bias, since I wasn’t super familiar with them—but by the end of the night, Mingi won me over with his killer live rap skills (and, let’s be real, his obvious good looks). Standout performances for me were “Shaboom,” “We Know,” and of course the high-energy anthem “Guerrilla.” Will definitely be listening to these on the regular.

If I had one complaint, it’d be the sound system at BMO. Something about it felt a little off—it didn’t sound THAT amazing in person. Still, it was good enough to enjoy their live vocals and rapping, and weirdly enough, the audio actually translated even better on my videos. So I’m not too mad about it, just slightly confused.

Overall, it was such a great show—and honestly refreshing not to see swarms of little kids everywhere (which is always the case with groups that have huge fandoms, or those that try to appease all age groups). The crowd vibe was perfect. Plus, Atinys are so generous and I came home with a ton of freebies to add to my photocard binder!

Keshi 8/11 at Kia Forum

A magical $40 can be so good in this economy! (Photo: Kyra Phaychanpheng)
By the time this concert rolled around, I was exhausted—late nights, early mornings, and driving on top of it all. So, it had better be worth it. Luckily, it absolutely was.

The Forum is hands down, my favorite concert venue. I was a little disappointed they didn’t decorate the outside poles with tour quotes or logos (the perfect photo op missed!), though there was at least one central photo backdrop—unfortunately with a ridiculously long line. On the bright side, the merch line was surprisingly short. I grabbed a shirt that’s way too big but still great quality and a design I love.

Starfall opened the night, and while I enjoy his music in general, his set didn’t land the way I expected. Maybe it was nerves or technical issues, but his vocals felt off. Still, his songs carried the vibe and warmed up the crowd. The second opener though, was more hype and had some crazy autotune. He was a vibe, but it was funny how his set was never ending and he would just be like “okay and one more!”.

Then came the main event— O M G. It was everything I could’ve imagined. His live vocals were insane, truly on another level. What surprised me most was how nonstop the show was. Unlike most concerts I’ve been to, where there are breaks for talking or resting, he dawgged it out two hours straight. Banger after banger after banger. Sure, some extended guitar sections gave him a breather, but still he is still putting in that performance effort. Early on, he performed with his hood up, totally aura-farming, and then the rest of the night? Shirt off. The crowd went wild. Like I said earlier, this is my favorite venue, and perfect for this show with the crisp sound and vertical big screens. The screens had some cool visual effects and graphics that were perfect!

I loved how he seamlessly switched between just singing, electric guitar, and acoustic guitar. His band also deserves serious credit—they elevated the whole concert by at least tenfold. Notable performances included Night, Limbo (with an incredible, drawn-out guitar intro that made me scream), and Forever (yes, I cried). Drunk was so cute with the whole crowd singing along, and War—my personal favorite song in the world—absolutely destroyed me. He closed with Id, which was an epic and fitting outro.

Honestly, he sounded so good that words barely do it justice. It was raw, powerful, and unforgettable.

Nocturnal 9/14

My view from right in the center of the pit during Galantis! Apparently they came out of retirement to perform for this festival. (Photo: Kyra Phaychanpheng)
To further strengthen my ABG allegations, I decided it was finally time to fulfill my duty and attend a rave—at least once in my life. This summer gave me the perfect opportunity. Four of my hometown friends were eager to drag me along, and the lineup looked good (or so I was told). Honestly, I only really knew Zedd before agreeing, but I was down for a good time with friends nonetheless. I was fortunate enough to have a playlist prepared for me to listen to in the weeks leading up to the event. The EDM genre isn’t usually my thing, my only exposure to it being those “experimental” K-pop groups. It took some adjusting to, but I discovered I lean toward the “melodic” side of the genre (whatever that means). By the end of the night, I’d found myself enjoying sets from Seven Lions, Galantis, and of course Zedd. His set was a highlight—he even threw in “Jump” by Blackpink before closing with “Clarity,” which was iconic!

The rave experience overall, though, felt a little underwhelming. In the moment it was fun, but I don’t think I’d go again. The music was loud enough that we wore earplugs the whole time, and while the lasers were cool, I couldn’t help comparing it to my concert experiences. For me, concerts just have more energy. You get the live singing, dancing, and crowd interaction that this could not quite replicate. The vibes were also different from what I’m used to; it was hype but also completely chill. Kind of makes sense though for such a long event, and with some smaller DJs performing leading up to the main shows. Side note, I think I also had a significant second hand smoke intake that was not super enjoyable.

I had originally hoped this summer concert diary would be even longer—I was planning to see d4vd and Laufey too. But as many of us know, recent news surrounding d4vd made me hesitant, and those ticket prices weren’t dropping anytime soon. So that will have to wait for another time.

Even so, looking back, it was a summer filled with incredible music and unforgettable memories. From K-pop stadiums to my first (and probably last) rave, I feel totally refreshed heading into sophomore year. Unfortunately, I’ll be going from screaming the songs I love, to playing them as lock-in music for organic chemistry study sessions.