What Happened to Fan Culture?

WHAT HAPPENED TO FAN CULTURE?
Below are some of the latest news and gossip from Korean (and non-Korean) media regarding the recent Dream Concert incidents.

DISAPPOINTED IN SOTAKU AND CATRIEL'S FAN BATTLE
MK.co.kr
Translation: jstn @soshified.com/forums


Lack of preparation, staff and management resulted in injuries at the 14th annual Dream Concert.

The Korean Entertainment Production Association hosted the music festival, "I Love Korea! Dream Concert 2008" on June 7th at the Seoul JamSil Olympic Stadium with DBSK, Wonder Girls, Super Junior, Epik High, ss501, MC Mong and 20 other singers.

The concert attracted 50,000 fans which was higher than the expected volume and resulted in chaos due to lack of secruity and safety officers hired by the management.

Fans rushed towards the empty seats on the ground near the front of the stage soon after the concert began. The rush resulted in injuries and the concert had to be stopped to re-organize the infield.

Disputes between the fanclubs was also a problem.

The dispute began when DBSK's fanclub Casseopia, SS501's fanclub Triple S and SuJu's fanclub ELF (CaTriEl) demonstrated a 10 minutes of silence during the performance of SNSD as a retaliation against the mostly male based SNSD fanclub.

It was also found that a male-based fanclub of Wonder Girls (Wonderful) indirectly supported the demonstration which lead to a battle between the fanclub cultures. Also, using the variation of "otaku", SNSD fans are being referred as "SoTaku" and Wonder Girls fans as "WonTaku" by its rival fanclubs.

Fans are voicing their opinions on the '10 minute silence' incident. They were quoted, "Fights occur when two groups are equally at fault" and "There is nothing to be proud of the fact that the two groups are involved in this confrontation but SNSD fans should sincerely apologize for their violent behaviour against other fans (physically) and CaTriEl should officially apologize to the singers or to the fans for their '10 minute silence' incident" and that instead of pointing fingers, they should respect each other as a sign of being a mateur fan.

SNSD'S SILENCE, AND DANGEROUS BEHAVIOUR. WHAT HAPPENED TO FAN CULTURE?
NEWSPRIME.co.kr
Translation: jstn @soshified.com/forums


The crowd of 50000 overwhelmed the anticipated numbers and caused accidents at the Dream Concert which took place at the Seoul Olympic Main Stadium.

The immateur behaviour of the fanclubs was frowned upon.

The accidents began with the destruction of the fence due to the competition of the 'good' seats. The absence of safety awareness was clearly revealed by their actions. Few fans were injured and the concert was delayed for 20 minutes to clear out the area and move the wounded to the ambulance.

That was not the end. The confrontation between the fanclubs also ruined the performance atmosphere.

The media has indicated that the fanclub culture has lost its intent when other rival fanclubs kept silent during SNSD's performance.

The 10 minutes of silence during the SNSD's performance by the male-group fanclubs was clearly visible and revealed the current situation of our (Korea's) fan culture's lack of etiquette and manners.

Dream Concert festival which has been running for over 10 years have simply turned into a battleground for fanclubs rather than a celebration and a get-together of music fans. Majority of the people agree that a change in the behavour of fanclubs is needed.

JEALOUS B**CHES BOYCOTT GIRLS GENERATION
ALLKPOP
By: johnnydorama


The I Love Korea 2008 Dream Concert which was held on the 7th to boost Korean patriotism, instead only boosted the hostility between fan clubs.

During the opening of the concert, approximately 20 fans were injured and rushed to the hospital. The injuries occurred as fan clubs were fighting over their idols as well as for seats.

To make matters worse, while Girls' Generation performed for a duration of 10 minutes, all of the male idol group fan clubs (fat ugly girls) turned off their glow sticks, as well as "boo-ed" the girls.

Korea's fandom is quite ridiculous, as was the purpose of this concert. I'm sure the male boy bands weren't very appreciative of the nasty behavior that came about from their own fan clubs, then again, even when on their best behavior, who would be happy to be cheered on by thousands of ugly chicks?

One things for sure, if I were in an idol band, I'd make extra sure to never fall victim to those notorious beer goggles.