I promise to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth. But don't come here looking for drama. I only have nice things to say~
I considered grading certain categories, but I decided to keep it simple. I will just attempt to summarize what each concert experience was like.
I'll start with the group I technically saw late last year but added to the list anyway.
It's almost been a year, so I had to rewatch some of my footage, as some details are a bit hazy after going to 6 other concerts since then, but the overall impression they left on me was strong.
This concert was fierce. High octane. hot. And I mean literally HOT. There were literal flames for a lot of their stages, but those flames were just flickers compared to the heat BP brought on stage. Rumors of listless performances were greatly exaggerated, because I saw zero evidence of that.
No surprise, but Lisa was on her A+++ game the entire night. Her reputation as a performer is completely deserved. I'm not even a big fan of her solo tracks, but when she poledances into Money, like, come on. She owned that stage. They all did.
But Rosé is still my fav, and her vocals were on point that night. Loved her solo stage and my only complaint is that it was over too soon.
Their concert flew by the fastest, but that's not surprising with how fast-paced most of their songs are, and with how many dates there are on this tour, they would need superhuman stamina to do 3+ hour concerts every night. I wish they performed The Happiest Girl, but I can understand why that song wouldn't make the setlist for such a huge tour. Plus they performed Forever Young, and that was my only selfish demand heading into the concert, as it is my favorite BP B-Side.
All in all, I really enjoyed myself. My biggest regret is that I couldn't get as close as I prefer for K-Pop concerts, because the stupid ticket portal crashed and put me back to the back of the ticket purchase queue 
TWICE
Until I went to lollapalooza this year, this was the most surreal K-Pop performance I've been to. It was my second Twice concert in as many years, except it was in a baseball stadium. Words can't really describe what it's like to be surrounded by that many people all coming together to see one K-Pop girl group.
I was really curious how they'd handle such a big venue, not to mention the challenging elements (it was Atlanta in the summer). And Twice really performed their asses off. Nobody would ever call me a Once, but I know enough about Twice to say they really challenged themselves with this tour, especially compared to their last tour.
I was really impressed with Chaeyoung, who performed a cute song with an acoustic guitar while her mic tried its best to hide from her. She handled it like a pro and even performed it again acapella to make up for the cute oopsie. Dahyun played the piano. Momo poledanced. They all gave everything they had. A Twice fan literally couldn't ask for more. I loved the Twice hit medley they performed near the end too.
Finally got to hear "Shy Shy Shy!" in person 
For years, I've called them the quintessential girl group, and they showed it.
What do I even need to say when we're talking Mamamoo and live stages? This is what they're built for. I've legitimately seen Mamamoo perform double digit times, and they've blown me away every single time. It never gets old. I did four stops on their Mycon Tour, and every time one concert ended, I was ready to go to the next one immediately!
As amazing as Mamamoo sounds in any video or performance you've watched online, their voices are even better in person. The ad libs, the powerful belts, the vocal runs, the sweet harmonization--it's something you should experience at least once as a K-Pop fan. I have to of course shout out the now infamous part of the concert where each member swapped and performed each other's solo songs; I could watch that four more times. Like they've always done, Mamamoo lived up to their reputation as one of the most talented K-Pop groups the industry has ever produced.
Since this was the first time a lot of people got to see Mamamoo in person, I wish they found a way to squeeze I Miss You into their set, but again, I understand why it didn't make the cut. That's easily their most demanding song vocally. Paint Me was the most beautiful, emotional performance I've seen all year, so that was a fine consolation prize. Plus I finally got to hear HIP live. FINALLY. 
I just wish their live band had made the journey overseas with them, because as great as the concert was, from personal experience, I know there is an even higher level of Mamamoo concert that can be reached. Plus they had to cut some songs from their US tour, due to the demands of the VIP meet and greets 
But it was still an A+ concert!
I think I already spazzed enough about them the night I returned from lollapalooza, but I have to say this. Unlike the other venues I went to, this wasn't a NewJeans concert. It wasn't even a K-Pop event like K-CON. It was a freaking gigantic music festival with literally 115,000 people AT LEAST filing in each day for the dozens of different artists performing. NewJeans members themselves have spoken to how their team told them to mentally prepare for what may be more of an "appeal stage", since everyone wouldn't be there necessarily to see them.
Could've fooled me. We now know there were at least 70,000 people all packed in like sardines to see NewJeans, and knowing that this would be the first time NJ ever performed in the U.S. and at a venue like lollapalooza, I was even a little nervous for them and how the crowd would receive them.
Until I saw the live band set up, all the Binky Bongs rise up and NewJeans walk out with hand mics Mamamoo style. Then me, and the tens of thousands of people around me, screamed our lungs out while singing every lyric to every song for their entire set. Given the stage and stakes, this was literally a perfect U.S. debut. The girls were vibrant, engaging, cute and the vocals were live. You couldn't tell they were a rookie group the way they performed, and the energy on and around that stage was actually palpable.
I expect that kind of energy at any group's concert, but not a festival like lollapalooza. It was actually a magical experience and ranks up there with one of my favorite K-Pop experiences I've ever had. Oh, and my foot still hurts from queueing for 5 hours to get as close as possible to their stage 
Okay, I'm done with my word vomit for probably the rest of the month. I don't even care if this topic flops, since I am satisfied with how well that last one went. Just had to get this out my system 
