Going to live concerts is one of my favourite pass times, the sound system is incredible, of course it's loud, but it's also resoundingly clear. In China, going to concerts is considered an extravagence because the price of a ticket can be up to 7.5 times the price of a comparable ticket in the west. According to some statistics, one concert ticket costs an average of 17.24% of an individuals GDP. This compared to the US figure of 1.81%, Japan's 3.11% and UKs 2.87%, you can already see the difference in relative expenditure between these countries. For the Chinese, it's a considerable financial offset.
我喜欢去听演唱会，现场的气氛，完美的音效给我不一样的享受。但是其实在中国大陆看演唱会是一种很奢侈的享受。国内一场演唱会的票价大概是欧美国家的7.5倍。根据研究数据显示，在中国看一场演唱会的价格占到人均GDP的17.24%，而美国是1.81%，日本是3.11%, 英国是2.87%。所以对于大部分收入不高的中国人来说，演唱会的门票已经成为一种奢侈品，所以在中国的音乐消费压力非常重。
One of the differences worth mentioning between Chinese concerts and Western, is that in China, the area around the stage always has seats. This means even at the front, people are sitting down to watch the stage. However, western concerts often have seatless areas at the front that allow listeners to stand and dance. Concert goers can also hold their whiskys, singing and dancing along with the performers. When they feel extra excited, they often throw their drink cups to the sky in euphoria. In tandem, the singers often jump into the crowd and the fans can shuffle them along.
中国的演唱会在观看形式上与欧美国家略有不同，在国内，舞台前面场地内的观众是有座位的，所以更像是听音乐会，而国外的演唱会，舞台前面场地内的观众通常没有座位，观众可以举着whisky和歌手一起唱一起跳，兴奋高兴了就把满满的酒杯抛向天空，享受湿透的乐趣。歌手高兴了则往台下观众身上一躺，任由台下观众来传递身体。
This is me at Big Bang's concert. They are like K-POP ambassadors of Korea. Bigbang came into existence in the year 2006, bringing with them, excellent music foundations as well ingenuity in style and stage presence. They are very likeable public figures, as such, they have garnered a wide and far reaching fan-base that has been the staples of their decade long career. Their music is easily approachable and so the general public can identify with them easily. This is of course down to their strengths in being able to write and produce their own music. Bigbang is considered the most popular group to come from Korea in recent history, their influence has allowed them to monetize substantial amounts of money from their fans. Afterall, it is the fan's who pay for things like CD's, Concert tickets, Karaoke rights etc. This Bigbang phenomenon has continued to add fuel to Korea's highly competitive K-POP entertainment industry that produces new acts like products on a production line.
这场演唱会是韩国组合big bang，他们是韩国娱乐行业的代表人物。Bigbang在2006年出道，他们扎实的音乐基础、稳固的粉丝群加上成员们的亲民形象和随和的个性是他们成功的秘诀。他们的音乐非常平易近人，被大众熟知，并且他们还有非常强的原创能力。Bigbang成为最成功的音乐组合，撇开音乐，更是粉丝经济（在音乐产业中真正贡献产值的是歌手的粉丝，它由粉丝所购买的CD、演唱会门票、歌曲下载和KTV中点歌版税等收入构成），是韩国明星生产线根据粉丝心理，打造出的最优秀的“产品”。
Tickts for Bigbang's tour around China have been in high demand. Everybody knows how difficult it is to buy a house, and yet people have jokingly said, buying tickets to a BigBang concert is even harder than buying a house. Their tickets are usually sold out within minutes of going on sale. Due to the Korean Military system requiring all men to join the army for a few years, BigBang's members are due to be called up to Military service very soon, essentially disbanding the band temporarily till the year 2022. It's possible that when they finish their military service, they may embark on solo careers. This is why, Bigbang concerts are even more desirable, for fear that they may never perform together again. Some tickets have been resold at extremely high prices well into the thousands USD. Fake tickets have also become a severe problem too with many people being unaware when buying fake tickets.
他们在中国的巡回演唱会一票难求，大家都知道在中国买房子很难，但是有人说，买他们演唱会的门票比买房子还难。他们演唱会的官方票在几分钟内被抢空，还造就了20万人抢几千张票的超级火爆历史。因为按照韩国的义务服兵役制度，bigbang的成员很快要入伍，下次全员集合，最快也到2022年，几位成员服完兵役后可能会单飞，所以这次巡演大家都不想错过。一时间，一些黄牛党将门票倒卖到几万元人民币的天价，甚至网络上出现了不少假票来填补粉丝的需求。
Upon arriving at my seat, I found a goodie bag prepared for each attendee that contained some light sticks and other items used to interact with BigBang on stage. These are all prepared to help boost morale and keep the interaction between BigBang and the fan's strong.
当我来到观众席的座位上，发现每个座位都有一袋子为观众精心准备的，用来和歌手互动的物品，叫做应援物。应援是指在演唱会现场，台下的观众用手上的应援荧光棒给台上的歌手打气加油的方式。
The Bigbang goodie bag is an example of Korea's attention to detail in bringing greater fan interaction and satisfaction. In the picture below, you can see the yellow crown light stick which was designed by G-Dragon. This defies the standard colours and designs used for glowsticks at other concerts. All BigBang fans are collectively called VIP. In the goodie bag, there are also some rings which glow different colour. The different colours are to be worn for different songs. Along with these rings, there is a booklet explaining which song matches which ring. My friends took some pictures of the stuff as you can see. The whole experience is heightened by these extra opportunities to interact with Bigbang. Of course, getting some goodies is also great as a souvenir. Overall, the experience has new highs because of these goodies, and the concert feels more personal as it's geared around interaction with the fans.
以bigbang为代表的韩国应援文化让我很惊讶。bigbang的应援物准备的非常精细，下图上黄色的皇冠，听说是bigbang队长GD亲自设计的，打破了传统应援色或一般应援棒的样式，设计成皇冠，预示王者的意义，与bigbang粉丝的统称VIP相呼应。
应援布条挂在每个椅子背上。我的朋友淘气的拿起它照相。
袋子里有bigbang的应援手指灯，有三四种不同的颜色。这个用于特定的歌曲，台下的观众随时变换手指灯的颜色和歌手互动。
袋子里面还细心的放了一张说明书，告诉观众在演唱哪首歌的时候变换什么样的荧光灯颜色，并且规定好和歌手合唱的曲目，安排观众在演唱会的每个阶段配合歌曲所做出的反应，这样的应援方案让粉丝和歌手的互动达到了极致。
It's hard to believe that a member of the audience turned up wearing a Wedding Dress (this is the name of a very famous song of theirs)
难以想象，有个观众是穿着婚纱入场看演唱会的。
Fans in the middle section also held up lights in the shape of 'BB' BigBangs abbreviation. Along with a heart shape sign.
中间的观众还打出bigbang的缩写BB和爱心的标志。
