ASTRO's Exciting Concert in Newark

Astro is a Korean boy group who perform cute, powerful, and soft songs. They debuted in 2016 with their song Hide & Seek which introduced them as a very colorful, and poppy group. Since then they've matured into a just as colorful group with strong vocals and memorable choreography which can be seen in their latest comeback All Night. When they announced their, very few, dates for their USA tour I was so excited there was a show near me and that I was able to go. Naturally, I thought I'd share my experience of this concert because concerts and music go hand in hand and both are my favorite things in the world.

Since the concert was in New Jersey I ended up having stay in a hotel; I stayed at the TRYP by Wyndham Newark Downtown which is about a 5 minute walk from the venue so it was perfect for the one night we had to stay. The hotel was not only convenient in location but was very lively when I got back from the concert. While I didn't go in, the bar area was dancing in colorful lights and exciting music. The hotel's decor is also very fun to walk around and observe. The room itself was very clean and comfortable with free wifi and a bathroom big enough you could probably through your own party in there if you wanted to.

With the venue being so close to the hotel I left at the hotel at about 5:30 and headed to the venue. Most people were already inside and were waiting for staff to open the doors into the actual theater. After getting my wristband for Hi-Touch I stood around in the crowd, as you do, and waited for doors to finally open, which they did around maybe 6.

After getting to my actual seat it's the another waiting game so I usually go on my phone or people watch. I saw some very interesting things. For example, one of the girls in the row next to me pulled a banana out of thin air and was eating it - that was the first time I've ever seen that at any of the very, very, many concerts I've been to. I also had a girl come to my row and as her friend for the setting them to spray her face with, which I can respect a good face of makeup deserves to be maintained through a concert. Lastly, a funny thing I witnessed was some poor girl's lightstick fly apart as she was waving it to the music before the concert, that thing really flew across the gap there was between our sections and the one in front.

Unlike some other concerts I've been to most KPOP concerts start right on time, or within a 5 minute window, and with Astro it was no different. The lights finally dimmed at 7pm and the intro video started. If I'm being honest I don't remember much of the intro video because I was too excited waiting for them to come on stage and thinking of what song they were going to perform first. I've learned over the years that the less you know about a concert, or any live performance, the more fun you're going to have so I like to go into these things kind of blind. I'm also realising now that I should've kept track of the setlist for this post, but now I know the future.

If I remember correctly (and by going by the first video I recorded) they opened with Always You. At the New Jersey Performing Arts Center they're really strict when it comes to recording but you can still manage to record with your phone, which is what I usually do anyways. (I'll link my album for the show at the end!) This song live is so amazing, there are some songs that sound even better live, or that I love them more after hearing them live and there are a few that happened during this concert. One thing that I'll say here since it's so early on is that MJ's and Sanha's voices are amazing live. They sound amazing recorded too, of course, but there is something about hearing them live that just captured my heart all over again.

I don't want to go through every song they sang and my reaction but there a few that I want to share some thoughts on, so I'll do a bit of a run down of those here:

With You - This is one of my favorite song of their's, like within my top five and I really didn't expect them to sing it so when it started I totally freaked out. The choreo is so cute and actually matches with some of the art the screen that plays behind them, which is obviously intentional but I just think it's such a cute little thing.

Moonwalk - After seeing this live I now understand why I was seeing everyone talking about the choreography for this song because of how good it is. There were some moments where it reminded me of Monsta X for some reason but honestly it's so nice to watch.

Real Love - I'm so sad that I didn't record this song because it's honestly so amazing live. Their voices are so pretty and is one of those songs that's 10x better hearing it with your own ears in the concert setting. It's a very warm memory that I'm glad I was able to make and keep.

Merry-Go-Round - Astro are the kings of cuteness, this stage, the entire thing, is the epitome of cuteness and fun and just having a good time. I was smiling throughout the whole performance because of how lovely and memorable it was. If you watch the video I took I didn't even get the cutest part (you can watch an entire recording of it here)

Before I go into the best part of this entire concert I need to talk about the candy projectiles. I honestly cannot remember when this happened other than it was in the second half of the concert. During one of the songs they had baskets of candy so they were throwing them into the crowd and they didn't want to just get the people in the front so JinJin and Moonbin were really, really throwing them, it was so funny but they were really trying to get as far as they could it was very sweet. When they were doing their ending mentions JinJin even apologized incase he hit everyone. I remember him saying something like, "Sorry, I think I went a little crazy when I was throwing the candy."

Now for the best part of this entire concert is when they sang Baby, Hide & Seek, and Breathless, I don't remember if it was that exact order but I know they started with Baby because that it my number 1 favorite song by them so I went a little crazy. Those three songs one right after each other is the best memory I have of the entire concert. The energy levels were just brought up by a thousand and everyone was singing along and screaming. From then on the energy and vibe of the rest of the concert was so infectious and good, that I miss it. I say this after every concert I go to but this concert was really one of the best concert I've ever been to and I've been to 45+ concerts now but this one really blows a lot of them out of the park for me.

All Night was the last song they sang before their encore stage and that live is also so amazing. I can't remember what song they sang for the very last song, and I didn't even record it but it was really like they also didn't want the concert to end and it was just so fun. I miss them thinking about it and wish I could go see another one of their concerts again, like, tomorrow. Hopefully, they get another chance to come back here or maybe I'll bring myself to South Korea to see them, because that's just how amazing this experience was for me that I would do that.

Throughout the entire concert the members were having so much fun with one another and the crowd, and any time they did their little talking bits they spoke some English which I always think is so sweet because a translator is always with them but they still try and communicate with international fans in their own language. Poor Eunwoo had the most malfunctions all night, something flew in his eye and his outfit got messed up at one point too. Lastly, I just want to say that Sanha has such an underrated voice, it's honestly one of the best I think and after hearing him live he's one of my favorite vocalists; also people were going crazy over him and JinJin the most if you were wondering.

If you like Astro I would highly recommend going to see them if the chance ever arises because you really won't regret. Even if you're not familiar with them I would suggest going to see them because you won't be let down at all. The concert was every bit exciting and sweet that I expected it to be and so much more.

Check out my videos and pictures here!