Belated Blood Saga in Seoul Review: M&G and Soundcheck, Ticketing Experience

(Wasn't quite sure what to add for the flair)

Hi! As Blood Saga in US/LATAM is about to kick off, I looked back at my photos and videos from Blood Saga D1 & D3 in Seoul that I was fortunate enough to attend. I wanted to provide a comprehensive review of the ticketing experience as a foreigner, the day-of experience (as I got M&G and soundcheck), and my overall impressions as someone who saw them for the first time. (QUITE LONG!)

Ticketing

I had never ticketed with NOL World before (previously known as Interpark Global), but I'm familiar with the intensity of K-pop ticketing. When I made up my mind to travel for this concert, I decided to create an account. Once you create an account, you need to verify your identity with your passport and a face scan, so please do that before ticketing starts! I also linked my Weverse account and membership to NOL.

REGRETS: I wish I had watched tutorials on ticketing ahead of time, as I expected it to be like Ticketmaster or AXS, where you can zoom into each section to see what seats are available. This is NOT the case for NOL. It is an extremely old interface. You literally have to click each section one by one to see what seats are available, which obviously causes you to waste time picking a seat. You also cannot have multiple days open in different tabs. Once you select a day and pick your ticket, you have to rejoin the queue if you want to go multiple days.

The next thing is that for soundcheck, I was confused because the seats are displayed as rows instead of just a general floor. However, you are actually picking your entrance number, so pick the one closest to the top! I wasn't aware of this and got a far number, but I ended up being extremely close (more on this later). I also did not bother to go with Play & Stay as the prices were ridiculous, but I saw that several people were able to get M&G this way.

DAY OF EXPERIENCE

Getting to KSPO Dome was very easy, and I saw a lot of ENGENEs on public transportation there. Once I was there, I had actually preordered some slogans from fansites, so I was refreshing Twitter to see where they were located and made my way there. It was PACKED with a bunch of fansites selling slogans, fans, plushies, and more. If you're interested, I recommend buying ahead of time and picking it up because I think they all had very limited stock and only took cash.

I headed over a bit early because I had soundcheck. I ended up coming from Exit #4 of the subway stop, which is toward the other side of the Dome (essentially, the exit), so I was extremely confused about where to go at first. I debated standing in the merch line, but it was so long and it was extremely hot that day, so I quickly gave up.

One pro of concerts in Korea is that they do not have any bag policies, and they offer storage lockers for 5,000 Won. In my bag I had food from the convenience store, water, etc. I stored my jacket, and I ended up buying a lightstick (via Weverse Shop pickup) for a friend and put those in the storage locker.

SOUNDCHECK

I then headed over and scanned my face and ticket to get my soundcheck wristband and lanyard. (This was a bit hidden away, behind the ENGENE Zone.)

When it was time to line up for soundcheck, this is where it all went down. I was in section F4. They had us line up in our queue numbers and continuously checked and helped other fans get to the correct number. There were a TON of C-ENGENEs—I was very surprised—so the security had some trouble communicating due to the language barrier.

We went inside for soundcheck, and because of all the pushing and shoving, though I was number 11XX, I ended up being in the 4th row for soundcheck. I will say this: the pushing was intense. It is all floor; there are no chairs, and people started fighting when they felt like they were being shoved too hard. No one listened to multiple pleas by security to step back out of fear of losing their spot. This is where I felt like the system could've been better.

Another aspect was that after soundcheck ended, I thought we were going to be let back out to requeue because it would've been another 50+ minutes or so until the concert started. Nope. If a person left to sit down or go to the restroom, people swarmed to get their spot in the hopes of getting closer.

They were so handsome. ALL of them are incredibly handsome and just have a "celebrity" aura. I would say Jake and Sunoo look the most different (in a good way) IRL. Jake is so incredibly handsome. I feel like in photos or videos he comes off as playful and has a warm aura, but he's just straight-up manly. He's also a lot tanner than I thought, and his tan skin + his aura was just so attractive! Sunoo is also a lot more of a cold beauty IRL. He's just so cute in media, but he's also straight-up handsome and manly IRL (not saying you can't be both)! His aura was so strong. I would say the rest look exactly the same or have the exact same impression. (I'm a Sunghoon bias.) Sunghoon is incredibly handsome and tall IRL, and he kept coming over to our section throughout soundcheck and the concert, and it was super exciting haha. Jungwon was also surprising. He is really slim IRL, with shoulders so wide and his face was super small. Jay was also so attractive—you could tell he was really getting into the music, singing so passionately and running around.

For M&G Day 3, I arrived much later (around an hour before doors opened), scanned my face again, and got my wristband. This was seated, and the Dome is actually a lot smaller than I thought, so I still had a great view of the venue, even though I was further away.

CONCERT

The production value was insane. I'm sure everyone has seen the different clips by now, but they are incredible dancers and singers. The flow of the songs was so cohesive, and I was so surprised and happy that they did Blind and Fate. You could clearly hear them sing as well, and the atmosphere was insane. Since it was the first day and no one knew the setlist, every song felt like such a thrill.

You could tell they were so passionate and excited for this concert, especially on Day 3. They finished their encore, but because people were so loud, they unexpectedly came out and did another song, and you could see them hurriedly putting their in-ears back in. I heard that the livestream had even finished as well, so being a part of that experience felt so special.

The only con was that for floor there were just phones EVERYWHERE. There were moments where the phones were so high up, I had to resort to watching the boys through another person's camera zoomed in. My vision was blocked at points, so I felt like I also had no choice but to use my phone if I wanted to see them more clearly. Plus, at this point I had been standing in 4-inch-tall boots for around 3+ hours, so they were dying. This is a big reason why my experience seated was a lot better. I was able to focus on their vocals a lot more clearly (and you could tell they were singing live), I could see them dancing more clearly, and everyone around me was enjoying the concert more. Also, I was way less sweaty lol.

The ENGENEs around me were very friendly, sharing candy and freebies. We talked about our biases, what we enjoyed, etc. I would say if you open up to the people around you, they were all excited to chat (less so for floor lol).

Hearing Sunoo's high notes in Helium and Paranormal made me emotional, especially because he did so well, and you could just feel how hard they worked for this. My favorite performances were Drunk-Dazed, No Doubt, and Criminal Love.

M&G

For M&G, they alternated rows in each section. So Row 1 would stand up and line up, then Row 20 from the section next to them would get to go next, and so on and so forth. There is literally no way to guarantee you will be close enough to them to say anything to them because of this. The only way you can do anything is if you ask the person in front/next to you once you line up to ask if you can switch spots for your bias or if they can record you. Unfortunately, I got the second row, so I didn't have any interactions with them, and the girls in front of me were already busy helping each other out, so I didn't want to impose.

M&G was incredibly fast—like it was maybe 2 minutes total, and that's being generous! I'm surprised at anyone who posts actual conversations they had, because they literally zoomed by lol. Members also came out in groups, like Ni-ki and Jungwon, who came out together, so it was hard to concentrate. The staff were also very strict: you could not put down any items on the floor, so if you brought a bunch of stuff, you had to be holding onto it the whole time. It was also like a 40+ minute wait after the concert for something so fast, so I think it really depends on the person to decide if the premium of M&G is something that's worth it to you. The friend I made told me that someone else said that they attended M&G for Day 1, and they spent way more time talking to fans that day, so they could've just been tired. I think they also went live soon after, so they were probably rushed on Day 3 to get to the live and whatnot.

Also: I saw a girl wearing both a soundcheck wristband AND an M&G wristband. I have no idea how she did that, but that answers how fansites or other people manage to have all interactions.

Overall, I have no regrets about going to Seoul for Blood Saga. I saw so many ENGENEs even at the airport, and seeing enha and really feeling just how hard they worked to provide such a good concert and setlist made me so happy. I would 100% attend again, and plan on going to the US dates! Happy to answer any questions about the ticketing process and more.