When it comes to boy bands, every generation has its own. Remember
‘The New Kids on the Block,’ ‘The Backstreet Boys,’ or more recently
‘One Direction’? Well, now we have K-Pop (Korean Pop), and its global
ambassadors, ‘The Bangtan Boys’ (better known as BTS) —are taking the
U.S by storm. Haven’t heard of them yet? No worries. If you have daugh-
ters ages 12 to 17, it’s likely you will soon enough. And as I was properly
schooled by my now 15 year old daughter, Niomi Joy—they are the hot-
test thing to have hit the scene in years (teenage years that is :-)). So, it
was no surprise that when tickets went on sale for their latest U.S. tour,
and locally in our hometown of NYC, hundreds of teenage girls (including
my own) went scrambling to see the now internationally-renowned band,
up close and personal.
Now to be clear, our family has been here before… Particularly with our
now 20-something year old daughter… For her, it was hip hop acts in-
stead of K-Pop fun, but in the end its all the same — and we fully under-
stood the right of passage. But now, to watch what I consider a cultural
invasion take place has been something special… Each girl still swoons
over her band member of choice (like we’ve all done), and of course buys
posters and t-shirts, and knows the lyrics to every song — but in Korean?!
This, has been absolutely eye opening.
In the end it’s so good to know that pop music is alive and well and that it
still manages to breakdown barriers of race and culture. And just like for
generations before us, that a girl’s dream of being serenaded by her hand-
some, fresh-faced crush is alive and well…and now delightfully in Korean.
.
Here are a few pics and short video clip (filmed by Niomi) at the recent
sold out NYC concert. This was her first venture into the musical arena,
but I’m sure not her last. After getting home, we celebrated and talked
about every single detail… over and over… and over :-)… and celebrated
over her favorite treat: warm waffles, ice cream and a drizzle of choco-
late fudge… According to my awestruck teen, a treat almost as sweet as
their beautiful faces.
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