On September 30th, 2018, All That Korea hosted its first ever K-Expo. The impressive artist lineup for K-Expo 2018 consisted of INFINITE’s L, The Rose, A.C.E, and ASTRO. The event included red carpet appearances, artist engagements, performances, K-pop dance events, and more!
As to be expected with inaugural events, the expo had a few bumps along the road. However, the day proved to be a lot of fun for fans. The first scheduled event of the day began with the red carpet. The artists came out onto the main stage, holding a photo time and answering a short list of questions. They chatted about things like what they were looking forward to at the expo and describing their red carpet looks.
After the red carpet, there was a special drum performance by Woorigarak Korean Cultural Arts Center (WKCAC). The performers spun around in beautiful hanboks and even did a set to BTS’s song “Idol,” even including a bit of dance choreography.
The next event on the main floor was the K-pop Random Dance, where fans made a large circle on the main floor and songs were played for them to dance to. It was a fun segment as fans chose to dance along or just watch those participating.
Fans then began lining up for the fan engagements with the artists. Things started off with ASTRO, followed by Infinite’s L, A.C.E and The Rose. They chatted with fans, sharing different stories and answering questions. For the artist engagements, there was also a photo section with a black leather couch for fans to sit on. For L’s engagement, he stood behind the couch and staff kindly instructed fans where to sit or stand. The group pictures were taken with at least 2 cameras and later posted on the K-Expo website. The group picture was definitely a fan favorite, since it is something not all artists do.
The highlight of the expo were definitely the artist performances, which felt like mini-concerts. L’s portion was formatted to be a fan meeting but he also performed some songs, even treating fans to a sneak peek of a song that will be included in his upcoming solo album. There were some issues occurring with L and The Rose who appeared to have in-ear problems during their performances. So, L ended up doing a snippet of a song in a cappella since he was not pleased with his first performance. The Rose’s leader Sammy (Woosung) said he couldn’t hear anything during their first song, so they asked fans how they sounded and made adjustment requests to the audio team accordingly. A.C.E and ASTRO, the third and last acts of the evening, got through their performances without any apparent issues. In fact, A.C.E wowed fans with their powerful choreography during “Callin,” and ASTRO stole hearts with their sweet charm through songs like “Baby” and “Crazy Sexy Cool.”
In addition to the artist engagements before the main performances, the expo included a raffle ticket portion where fans would have a chance to interact with the artists on stage. In L’s case, as an avid photographer, he prepared a one-time use camera for the fan chosen during his segment. The camera included pictures he had taken during his preparation for the expo, including a picture with Stitch, one of his favorite animated characters, from the Disney store in Times Square. It was a very thoughtful gift and something his fans would truly cherish. All of the lucky fans who were called onstage for a special time with the artists were thrilled and had a great time!
The artists all worked really hard to provide a great time for the fans, who were able to immerse themselves into the performances thanks to the talented people who graced the stage that night.
The K-Expo is an event that definitely has lots of potential. While it was an inaugural event that faced different issues such as venue change and audio issues, it was also an event that gave fans an opportunity to interact with their favorites artists in new ways. We’re sure that K-Expo will come back even bigger and better next year or perhaps even in a different city as organizers expressed the desire to take K-Expo to various regions.
Check out even more of WTK’s photos below! You can click on any photo to enlarge it, then scroll through the gallery to see all the pictures.
Did you attend this event? What did you think? Who was your favorite artist of the evening? Let us know your thoughts!
Thanks to K-Expo 2018 for allowing WTK to attend as press in order to get these exclusive pictures and coverage.
Papillon8689 has been a Kpop fan since 2009. In her spare time, she enjoys watching Kdramas and more Kdramas. She enjoys music from various Kpop groups, although Super Junior is her number one!
Media: Eun for What The Kpop
*Please do not remove watermark.