Getting up at 5 in the morning to leave for Frankfurt at 6. On a normal day that would be really hard for me, but when you're on your way to a concert, it's different.
The concert I'm talking about is the KPOP.FLEX Festival in Frankfurt! I was there on Sunday, May 15, and I'd like to share my experience with you. Especially for those who couldn't be there and would like to hear more about it. Maybe also to help you decide whether a visit is worth it next year, because KPOP.FLEX has already announced new dates for 2023!
Of course, those of you who were at the concert are welcome too if you're interested in another perspective. Feel free to tell me in the comments what it was like for you and whether you would go again!
I have to say that on Saturday I started to have doubts about whether the concert would be a good experience, after I saw on social media that visitors had already fainted in the heat before entry and that the water supply was very limited. Later, free water bottles were apparently handed out at least. Another big uproar spread not only on site but also on social media when it became clear on the day of the concert that the 5-hour show consisted of a 2-hour pre-show - during which, for example, dance crews performed - and 2 ½ to 3 hours of performances by the K-Pop stars. Most fans had assumed that the 5 hours would be filled entirely with the stars. Afterwards, though, many videos made the rounds online in which fans raved about meeting the idols and the fantastic performances. So I shook off all my worries and started the day optimistically!
On the way to Frankfurt!
I was in good company from the start, because I travelled to the concert together with my twin sister Sarah. The day got even better when we boarded the ICE to Frankfurt in Cologne. Because believe it or not, as luck would have it, the other half of our four-seat block had also been booked by KPOP.FLEX visitors. You should have seen our faces when we realized that our seatmates were also going to the festival!
Half an hour later we knew each other's favorite groups, and then we had the idea of properly introducing ourselves. That actually happens to me a lot. I get into conversation so quickly and get so absorbed that I often forget to mention my name. By the way, I'm Helen, the author of this blog! My new friends are called Seline and Leonie. Almost the best thing about concerts for me is getting to know new people and maybe even making friends. So I was already super happy by the time we arrived in Frankfurt at around half past 10!
I have the feeling that the train station was 70% full of festival visitors. Wherever I looked, there were K-Pop fans, many of them in K-Pop Flex T-shirts that they had bought on Saturday. Honestly, it was half a fashion show. Most of the outfits were surely planned weeks in advance. In fact, I had seen videos on TikTok again and again beforehand in which festival visitors showed off their outfits and in some cases even asked for help deciding.
The fans were smart enough to grab lockers at Frankfurt Central Station early, so they wouldn't have to queue so long at the bag drop in front of the hall after the concert. Leonie had the same plan, but because most of the lockers in the station were broken, we moved on to the hall anyway.
The S-Bahn trains to the hall were well filled, as expected, but it was still manageable. Probably because entry to the grounds had already started at 10 o'clock and we arrived later. Since my twin sister and I as well as Leonie and Seline all had seated tickets, we could take things a bit more relaxed.
At 12 o'clock we were on the grounds.
Finding the way wasn't hard, we just had to follow the crowds. Hard to believe that all these people later fit into the stadium! And it wasn't as full as on Saturday. On the way there were not just one or two, but at least 10 fans handing out self-made photocards and banners for free. It's always lovely to see how friendly and open the K-Pop community can be!
Besides new friends, one joy of concerts is of course also meeting “old” friends. After many long months I was finally able to hug my friend Jenny again, whom I rarely see because of the distance. A concert like this brings us back together! My primary school friend Kawthar was there too! Together we checked out the merchandise stands, where you could buy not only around 20 different T-shirt and hoodie variants, but also soft toys and keychains of the two mascots or a KPOP.FLEX lightstick.
On a large square behind it there was also Asian food and a row of culture stands. The queues in front of the food stands were so long, though, that Jenny preferred to eat an easier-to-reach cheese pretzel. By the way, the weather was great! It got hot quickly in the sun, but there was plenty of shade on the grounds where we could retreat, and every now and then a light breeze reached us.
We entered the hall at around 2 p.m. and prepared ourselves for a wait.
The performances were only supposed to start at 4 p.m. after the pre-show. On Sunday, by the way, it consisted only of the performance of one dance group and a long time with an empty stage and dark screens. I heard afterwards that there had apparently been technical problems.
Now that we were sitting in our seats and waiting for the first performances, I started to worry again. Until that weekend it had always been said that the concert would end at 6 p.m. Since I had to work the next day, we had booked the return trip for 7:10 p.m. My sister and I deliberately travelled with so little luggage that we didn't have to check any bags and could leave right after the concert. But on the setlist that was handed out on Saturday, it said that the last artist, EXO's Kai, wouldn't take the stage until 6:20 p.m. We would have had to leave in the middle of his performance to be back at Frankfurt station in time. And we weren't the only ones. I noticed over the course of the day that many others were in the same situation. No wonder, since most of us have to work or go to school on Mondays. So you can imagine my relief when it was announced at half past 2 that the concert would start at 3 after all. Of course that still caused chaos again, because a large number of visitors, who assumed that the idols wouldn't perform until 4 p.m., were still outside the hall, for example in the queues at the food stands. I hope nobody missed much, and honestly I don't know whether the earlier start was announced outside over loudspeakers. In the half hour until the start, music videos were shown on the screens, starting with “Tomboy” by (G)I-DLE.
Then the concert finally started!
A video message from the actress Jung Ho Yeon, who became famous through Squid Game, was shown on the screens.
She thanked the European fans for their love of Korean dramas and music and wished us a good time! Afterwards, all the artists were called onto the stage one after another to introduce themselves. Finally, after all these months of anticipation, I see them live on stage! Only small, since I'm sitting in the upper tier, but well enough to tell them apart. After Kai joined last, everyone left the stage again. Almost everyone. It took a few seconds until I noticed that Mamamoo had stayed behind on the front stage, and they were already starting their first performance!
Mamamoo
Mamamoo started with “Aya”, then took a short break to talk to us fans, and then performed their hits “Gogobebe”, “Hip” and, to close, “Um Oh Ah Yeah”. On Saturday, Mamamoo had sung their relatively new song “Mumumumuch” instead of “Um Oh Ah Yeah”. As someone who has known Mamamoo since their debut in 2014, I was very happy that they pulled out one of their older songs for us, because “Um Oh Ah Yeah” came out in 2015!
After Mamamoo left the stage, Kai came out as host and announced IVE. At least that way we got to see him in between, because he only performed at the very end.
IVE
Kpop Flex was not only the rookie group's first concert in Germany, since they only debuted at the end of last year, but also the group's first visit to Europe ever. On top of that, the girl group performed in front of this many people for the first time! It was an honor to be there. You could hardly tell, though, because IVE presented “Love Dive”, “Royal” and their debut song “Eleven” very confidently! You could clearly tell how popular the girl group is, because especially for the title tracks Love Dive and Eleven the fans sang along passionately to the choruses!
I was especially happy that the members spoke to us in English during their talk section between Royal and Eleven! They were the only ones to do so, and it was just great that I could understand them without subtitles!
Dreamcatcher
Dreamcatcher first performed their new title track “Mansion” and, after a short introduction round, their hits “BEcause” and “Scream”. The performances were very powerful and energetic. Precisely because Dreamcatcher wasn't on stage on Saturday and only performed on Sunday, the group probably put in extra effort!
Afterwards, Gaeul and Yujin of IVE came onto the stage as hosts this time and announced AB6IX.
AB6IX
Before AB6IX's performance, a vlog was shown on the screens that the boy group had recorded especially for us. In it we see the guys' journey and arrival in Germany and even how they spot the stadium - the Deutsche Bank Park - from the airplane. It really is so big that you could clearly see it!
The video was very cute and entertaining, but of course I was especially happy when AB6IX came onto the stage. Since unfortunately I don't know the boy group's music very well, a friend had to help me out to piece the songs together. Thanks to her, I can now tell you that after a cool dance intro we saw performances of “Close”, “1,2,3” and “Do You Remember”. Before the third song, the guys challenged us to a little dance challenge and taught us a few moves to NCT “Kick It”, Black Pink “DDU-DU DDU-DU” and BTS “Permission to Dance”.
(G)I-DLE
Before (G)I-DLE performed Tomboy, the members taught us a few of the most important moves via video. So in theory we were ready to dance along a little. Unfortunately I'm a terrible dancer, but instead I waved a balloon during the concert to cheer on the stars! I'd like to apologize here to my seatmate, who got the balloon in her face twice …
After “Tomboy”, (G)I-DLE also performed “LATATA”, “Oh My God” and “My Bag”. We shouted along to the line “Oh My God” as loudly and clearly as hardly anything else before. The atmosphere was great!
After (G)I-DLE, Yujin and Gaeul of IVE came onto the stage once more and asked us a few quiz questions like “Who is the only solo artist performing today?”, before making room for the next performance. First, though, a video was played in which Stray Kids, Purple Kiss, DKZ, Younite and Eunbi (formerly in IZ*ONE) greeted us! They also told us which songs by other artists they would like to cover. The video served as an introduction to Dreamcatcher's special cover stage! The girl group came out once more and sang a cover of Blackpink's “Kill This Love”!
Monsta X
Monsta X's performance was introduced by a video in which the boy group thanked their fans for their support, because on Saturday, May 14, they celebrated their 7th anniversary. As soon as the guys entered the stage, it became clear how many Monsta X fans had come to the hall. I had already seen Monsta X lightsticks all around me beforehand, but the cheering was more telling than anything else. We had cheered on the other artists loudly too, but somehow the volume almost doubled. It was incredible! And Monsta X was at least as enthusiastic. They really heated things up with hits like their new title track “Love”, the song “Autobahn” as well as “Gambler” and “Saranghanda”. Literally. During their performance of “Gambler”, fire actually shot out of the stage! Between “Autobahn” and “Gambler”, the members also confessed their love to the fans. Among other things, we got to hear Kihyun sing a few lines of his new solo song “Voyager”, Hyungwon briefly covered “Love” Dive by IVE and Jooheon showed his iconic “Kukukaka”!
One last time, hosts came onto the stage. This time Daehwi and Donghyun of AB6IX. They announce the last act of the day:
KAI (EXO)
Kai first performed “Peaches” and, after a talk break, “Vanilla” and “To Be Honest”. Afterwards he told us that he had performed “To Be Honest” for the first time at Kpop Flex. Once again I felt heard! At the end of the performance, confetti was shot into the air; a fitting end to the concert.
Kai said goodbye, left the stage, and it was announced on the screens that KPOP.FLEX is coming to Germany again on June 17 and 18, 2023. The audience was already streaming out of the stadium to head home.
It was around 5:45 p.m. So I actually still had time to say goodbye to Jenny before I walked to the S-Bahn with my sister. The platforms were very crowded, as expected, but we made it onto the next train and were at Frankfurt Central Station early enough to buy something to eat for the return trip. Shortly after we left, though, it must have gotten really bad, because two friends with whom we had booked the return trip were stuck at the S-Bahn for so long that they missed our ICE…
My Conclusion
For me, everything actually went pretty well overall, but especially with the standing tickets the organization is said to have been catastrophic. The security apparently had no idea who had to go where, and in the end people with regular standing tickets were apparently even standing with those with VIP tickets. The concert itself was amazing and it was definitely worth it! Personally, though, I probably won't go next year, because in the months beforehand I was constantly stressed since KPOP.FLEX communicated poorly with the fans and things kept changing. But despite everything, it was a great experience. We'll see whether the organizers have learned something this year and prepare better for next time.
Are you getting tickets for next year? Feel free to let me know in the comments!
