As the instrumental for “Hot” plays, the screen moves up, showing the backs of the 13 members of Seventeen facing an LED sun, representing the name of their third world tour, “Be the Sun.” As the third stop of their tour, Seventeen hosted their concert in Oakland Arena on Aug. 14. I very much appreciated the high energy level, and watching the performances I always watch on my screen unfold in front of me was ecstatic. 

I had previously watched six online concerts and numerous fan meetings and was excited to finally attend a Seventeen show in person. Before the concert, I watched online streaming of the same concert hosted in Seoul. However, I was disappointed by the number of changes made to the show when it came to the U.S.A.

The most significant difference was the setlist: Seventeen took out several songs in their world tour compared to the one hosted in Seoul, including one of my favorite songs, “Heaven’s Cloud.” Since that was the song I was most looking forward to listening to, I was very disappointed. In addition, the Seoul concert lasted for 4 hours and 15 minutes, while the Oakland concert lasted only 2 hours and 45 minutes. Although I understand that most of the members are not fluent in English and therefore unable to talk to the crowd for the length they did in Seoul, an hour and a half is a big difference between the two concerts. At the Seoul concert, they could joke around with the fans and the members more than they were able to in Oakland due to the language barrier. 

However, I was impressed by the effort the members put into learning English and speaking to the fans in an unfamiliar language. I could feel how much Seventeen cares for their fans and love performing in front of them. I was moved by the amount of effort they put into the concert, as seen throughout the show. 

If I did not watch the Seoul concert and attended the Oakland concert blindly, I would have enjoyed the concert a lot more. The stage presence of all 13 members is insane. The members kept their energy throughout the show, and their choreography was powerful and synchronized. The talented vocals of the members stood out as I was amazed by how stable their vocals were while dancing to intense choreography. One stage that stood out the most was “Rock with you,” my all-time favorite song. When the song reached its climax during the 2nd chorus, my heart overflowed with happiness, causing me to cry joyfully. 

Although the concert started at 7:30 p.m., the fans arrived at the venue hours early to buy merchandise, play music and enjoy each other’s company. I ran into numerous fans who were giving out freebies to others. Even though the line was very long and fans waited for two hours in the merchandise line, the inclusive and positive environment made the wait enjoyable. The company of the other fans allowed me to enjoy the concert more. 

The performance, the venue, and the audience were perfect. However, “Be the Sun” in Oakland was disappointing compared to the concert in Seoul, a fact I could not get over despite having a great time.