Otakon 2022 Brings K-Pop to the Veteran Anime Convention
Now on year 29 since inception, Otakon has come to be known as one of the biggest anime conventions on the east coast. While it has been anime heavy for most of its time, this year they announced a new addition to the lineup in the form of a K-Pop exclusive concert, featuring three prominent artists in AleXa, PIXY, and Rolling Quartz. This is the first convention outside of KCON to showcase K-Pop acts, and it brings a fresh experience for K-Pop fans in the form of a traditional convention.
The Concert
Friday night of the convention marked K-Pop concert night, a three-hour concert in the main hall on the third floor. Host Lai Frances helped to smooth over the transitions between artists, which could sometimes take 10 to 15 minutes each depending on what needed to be set up.
PIXY took the stage first, exploding out of the gate with their dark debut title track “Wings.” The group performed 13 songs in total, a huge number given the group only debuted back in 2020. Among their setlist was their latest comeback “Villain,” first comeback “Let Me Know,” and popular track “Addicted.” With this being PIXY’s first overseas show, it’s safe to say they killed it.
Photos by David Weaver
Setlist
“날개 (Wings)”
“Greedy”
“Insomnia”
“Let Me Know”
“Moonlight”
“Addicted”
“숨 (Soom)”
“Natural”
“Villain”
“Bewitched”
“안부 (Greetings)”
“스틸윗미 (Still with me)”
“The Moon”
Up next came Rolling Quartz, another exciting act performing for the first time overseas. Much like PIXY, the band formed during the pandemic, so they hadn’t had many chances to perform in front of a live audience. With only one EP released so far, many anticipated what the group would perform if they were to have a similar setlist to PIXY.
The band appeared first to set up while their “Good Night” music video played, and it was rather surprising when the group came out and began performing the U.S. national anthem. Of course, Jayoung absolutely killed it singing. The energy was heated as the girls then broke into “Delight” before performing their debut single “Blaze.” The girls definitely shined in their live performance, with Iree and Hyunjung both perfecting guitar solos and Yeongeun absolutely destroying the drums toward the end of the show. The best cover that was a dream for every millennial in the crowd was their final song, which was a rendition of My Chemical Romance’s “Helena.” We also have to mention how cool it was for the group to present a rock version of BTS’s hit “Dynamite” for the audience as well. To say they destroyed their first international stage is an understatement.
Photos by David Weaver
Photos by Roxanne Wilson
Setlist
“Delight”
“Blaze”
“Good Night” (Dreamcatcher cover)
“Dynamite” (BTS cover)
“Rock’n’roll paradise”
“Azalea”
“Holler”
“Youth Gone Wild” (Skid Row cover)
“심장의노래 (Song of the Heart)” (Crying Nut cover)
“Helena” (My Chemical Romance cover)
The most veteran of the acts closed out the concert for the night. Though AleXa only had her solo debut in 2020, we’ve been following her blossoming career since 2017 and her days on Rising Legends. Fresh off of winning American Song Contest, AleXa came out full of energy with “Revolution” and “Do or Die.” Her personality really shined through in the breaks between her songs, where she often joked with the audience and engaged with them, showcasing her upbeat and energetic demeanor.
Photos by Khanh Tran
Setlist
“Revolution”
“Do or Die”
“KITTY RUN”
“VILLAIN”
“Moon and Back”
“Obsession”
“TATTOO”
“Bomb”
“Xtra”
“Wonderland”
The Convention
This is where Otakon really shined in terms of new experiences for K-Pop fans. Those of us that have attended KCON are familiar with the artist interaction opportunities: hi-touch, audience tickets for the hi-touch, and the chance to catch each artist on the convention floor for special activities. At Otakon, we were presented with different fan interaction options. Each act had a VIP dance workshop (or games in the case of Rolling Quartz), Q+A panel, autograph session, and a special VIP meet-and-greet. While the VIP items did require an additional cost, any convention attendee could attend two of the four special events. While it is becoming a bit more common these days, there still aren’t a lot of opportunities to get signed items from artists, so this was some great variety for K-Pop fans.
Photos by Khanh Tran
At PIXY’s VIP dance workshop, each member broke off with a group of fans to teach them part of the “Villain” dance. Fans would form a circle around the member they were paired with and follow their movements, giving them more personal interaction than usual with a K-Pop group. Rolling Quartz’s individual personalities shined during their game segment, and AleXa showed even more of her playful side with fans in her dance workshop as well.
Photos by Khanh Tran
The Q+A panels were more traditional panel style. Host Lai Frances would first ask the group questions before the floor would be opened up for fans to ask questions as well. At the meet and greet, it would open up with a line where fans could bring something for the idols to sign and give them a fansign opportunity before adding some more interactive content to finish up the allotted time. Autographs were held on the dealer’s room floor.
The Conclusion
Otakon took a leap and changed the game to include a bigger K-Pop segment in their convention, and it proved to bring a fresh new perspective to the K-Pop world and helped to give more exposure of these artists to people that could be in their demographic. We all know that anime and K-Pop are adjacent interests, and it also gave the artists the ability to express themselves and their interests (both AleXa and Rolling Quartz were dressed in cosplay on Saturday). As K-Pop continues to grow, we love to see the systems grow with it as well. With so many opportunities to meet your favorite idols in this convention, it’s hard not to fall in love with the new experiences, especially as a veteran fan that remembers the days when even a world tour was scarce.
Thank you so much for having us Otakon, and we’re looking forward to even more growth for 2023! Keep an eye on our socials for some exclusive content with the artists at Otakon.
Edited by Rashelle B.