Stray Kids - London 2025

 

Yes, that is a photo of me posing at Tebay services at 2am, and yes I am in fact wearing a T-Shirt of BangChan and that pineapple meme. Let me take you back to the beginning.

 May of this year my daughter came to me and asked if she could play some songs from a K-Pop band that she loves and I finally gave in and said yes. The band in question - Stray Kids. The song she played was Case 143 (which is playing as I write this) and I remember thinking, Oh, they're not bad. So she played Megaverse next followed by Maniac. That was me hooked!! The days that followed saw me watching endless videos of them on TikTok and listening to more of their songs and down the K-Pop rabbit hole I went, with no return in sight. Oh and the Felix effect is real people!!

My daughter was desperate for tickets to see them in London but they were sold out. Until one night in June and I had the sudden urge to check for tickets and there were some available. I have never booked tickets so fast in my life. Tickets secured, it was time to surprise her. Cue tears from both of us and my daughter asking if it's real over and over again. 

July 18th finally arrived after what felt like a lifetime and it was time for us to travel to London. This was the first time in years that I had left the house. Agoraphobia had consumed the last 5 years of my life and I'd had enough. It was a long journey. 3 buses. The first from our town to Glasgow. Then the overnight bus from Glasgow to Birmingham then Birmingham to London. We left Glasgow at 11pm and arrived London at 10am the morning of the concert. We headed straight to the hotel (thank goodness for early check-in). Soon enough it was time to get ready and go. The excitment was crazy.

We arrived at Tottenham stadium (wow just wow) and we were handed freebies by amazing STAY (fandom name) The atmosphere was electric. We eventually found the entrance for our block and by this point my sciatica had kicked in. A lovely staff member took us up in the elevator and soon enough we were in our seats.

Look at that view. Not long later the show started and what an entrance that was. The first notes of Mountains boomed throughout the stadium, the place erupted and Stray Kids took to the stage. My daughter's reaction was worth the money. She was smiling, crying and screaming. Pure happiness. Hit after hit was played, I would write the whole setlist but I would be there for ages. The concert was 3 hours of pure joy. There were tears during Cinema (from me) I blame Seungmin for that one "Hello London. This isn't just a show. It's a memory only we can make. Our story. Our scene. Forever" That was me sobbing then the credits rolled on the screen with the names of the people in the audience that night. Yes I found my name and that was me a sobbing mess again.

Then Cover Me had me sobbing from the first note. It was a really emotional night between songs that made us cry and  smile, to the fan project that had everyone an emotional mess. The banter in between was brilliant. The guys brought the chaos (looking at you Han . 1 2 3 and a half )  and we loved every second of it. Before we knew it, it was time for the final songs. Miroh, had the whole place bouncing, Chk Chk Boom festival version had the whole place on their feet dancing like no-one was watching and then it was the final song Haven,

We had the best time and it took about 2 weeks to recover!! The post concert blues hit hard but that just means you had the time of your life.  The countdown is on for the comeback ( new album Karma is out on August 22nd)  Right guys, when is the next tour??