There are multiple ways to get on one of the popular Music Shows in Seoul, there is a different one every day of the week. I went on The show, Mnet Countdown and Simply Kpop.
- Sunday – Inkigayo
- Monday – Simply Kpop
- Tuesday – The Show
- Wednesday – Show Champion
- Thursday – Mnet Countdown
- Friday – Music Bank
- Saturday – Music Core
Most of these have pre-tapings that involve being in fan clubs and getting in by meeting ‘fan club’ criteria. This seems very time consuming, so we went with the ‘audience’ route where you can see all of the artists who are performing live. This includes all groups with the exception of any groups who did a pre-taping then could not perform on the live show. This happened with us on the first visit to the Show, where the Boyz had went to Japan right after their pre-taping so they were not on the live episode, which was sad, since they get their 1st win!
On to tickets. The Show was by far the easiest to go to. We got our tickets on Trazy, but Klook also sells tickets. We could buy them pretty far in advance so we knew we were going well before we had any idea of who was doing comebacks. I highly recommend getting them even if you aren’t sure.. you can always cancel (week in advance). If you wait, and find that some really popular groups are doing comebacks that week, the tickets will sell out quickly.
The Show is at SBS Prism Tower, which is about a 10 min walk from the Subway at the Digital Media City (DMC) stop. Its very easy to find. Their directions to find the person in charge however is a bit confusing, it mentions “near a TV at the glass wall”. The lobby will be full of people and ‘group leaders’ who are leading different tour groups. There is Trazy, Klook but also some foreign groups, like a Chinese tour group. Just walk up to people with clipboards and ask if they are with the company you booked through. Our lady with Trazy was generally near a column closest to the entrance door on both of our visits. You line up the order you check in, so if you come with other friends, check in together or you will not sit together. You need your confirmation email and your passport. They will tell you NO photography (you have to have your phones up once you go upstairs to the studio) and you can bring water with you. Also you can bring lightsticks for the groups performing. I think its bad taste to bring a lightstick for a group who is NOT performing or has a member as MC. The 2nd time I went, a girl had an ARMY bomb (for BTS). BTS was not performing – do not be that person. Several people each time brought NCT lightsticks due to Jeno being an MC, this is ok.
Once it is time, the group leaders will walk everyone up several flights of stairs to the studio, they will remind you once again do not take out your phone. Even though they said this multiple times, people still had them out in the audience and had to be scolded. They will throw you out.
The studio has the stage front and center, then a moving camera on rails, then the standing audience. This group is made up of fan club or those who waited for free tickets. They have to stand the entire show. Behind them, is another camera on rails, and over them is 2 aerial cameras. Then you have a mini-stage where the MC’s stand to do all of their commentary. Next to them you have about a dozen fixed cameras. I counted 18 total in the room filming each performance. Behind this area is the ‘stadium style’ seating. This is where the tour groups who purchased tickets sit. If you are lucky (like us on the 1st visit) you are on the left side, which is where the MC’s spend the entire show. We watched Jeno the entire show and when he did his commentary on camera, he was about 5-10 feet in front of us. The 2nd time we went, we were all the way to the right and barely saw him. They fill in the seats with the ticketed groups and then any extra seats at the top they fill in with people who waited for free tickets.
They don’t really give you any instruction on how to act, (except no phones!) but you can show your lightsticks, banners, and do fan chants if you know them and cheer for all the groups. Sometimes they will have a performer exit the stage mid-performance and continue with a pre-taped performance while they set up the next act. The Show is shown live so this keeps the flow going. Poor Eric Nam had to leave the stage mid-performance both times we saw him ☹
At the end, they do the Show winner and it is super quick, confetti shoots out and if the winning group is present, they will do an encore performance. When the Show is over, they will then orderly walk everyone out, look for “The Show” papers on some of the chairs and take for a souvenir if you want one. I was the only person I noticed taking one.