Ten years ago, convention events like Warped Tour were the place for alternative people to see their favorite bands and to discover similar music. It combined punk rock music with skate culture, which is why the festival is sponsored by Vans.
It was hyped up online as a once in a lifetime opportunity to meet band members and get exclusive band merch, as well as guaranteed to hear your favorite songs live. In 2006 Warped Tour came to Fresno along with 49 other stops, but in 2026, they only have five locations making it harder to plan the trip.
Kcon, a Kpop convention event held in LA, has also been around for over ten years. It is advertised as a fan event with trivia games, raffles and dance competitions. All with a chance to meet idols or win exclusive merch and in rare cases even a chance to dance with the idol group on the main stage at the end of the night. This all sounds fun if you’re a mega-fan or a dancer, but as a casual fan, I would skip all of this.
Both of these events would have at one point been appealing to me, but looking at their 2026 lineups, they are full of artists I either don’t listen to or wouldn’t care to see live. Especially not for the asking price of $92-$662 for one day.
Let’s say you do spend $200 for one day to go, let’s run through how your day would go.
Assuming you didn’t drive there the day of, (only a crazy person would do that) traffic would still be hectic near the venue. Parking prices also spike during big events like these and good luck even finding a spot that’s within walking distance. You’d have to wait in line to get your ticket and bag checked, it doesn’t matter if you arrived early, trust me.
I attended Kcon 2022 and I arrived around 9:45 a.m. Although I had a prepaid parking spot, which was $45 by the way, the line to check in made it so I only got inside at 11:25a.m. The whole reason I arrived so early was because there was an idol event I didn’t want to miss and I ended up in the back with a horrible view.
If you want merch you should line up immediately, they will run out of the hoodie you had your eyes on, but sometimes even that’s not enough.
I went to see The Boyz, a Kpop group, in September 2025, I arrived at 3p.m, five hours before the concert began just so I could line up early to get merch. I was the only general admission person there at the time because the venue let VIP tickets in at 4p.m. So although I was first in line for general admission when doors finally opened, VIP sold out the only merch item I wanted. How is that fair?
After that you will probably wander around the venue aimlessly for approximately another two hours before the show. By now your feet are starting to burn.
The time of the show arrives and you have to squeeze in between strangers legs to get to your seat, your feet finally catch a break as you sit down. Lights turn off and the show begins, the speaker music blares popping your ears. The people sitting in front of you stand up as the opening artist comes out and your entire view is blocked. Now you have to stand for the whole show if you want to see anything.
Hopefully there’s no bar at the venue, the people in front of you may have a little too much to drink and vomit causing security to escort three whole rows to new seats, kind of like what happened to me when I saw Peso Pluma in September 2024. The smell lingered and I am severely emetophobic (intense fear and anxiety of vomit) so I can safely say I didn’t enjoy the show after that.
After the show, your feet are throbbing, your throat is on fire from singing along, you are beyond exhausted and all you want to do is go home. Then you remember you parked three streets away for the cheapest parking price and you also drove there the day of, to save money on a hotel.
Next time I’ll just listen to my favorite songs on Spotify.
Worst. Concert. Experience. Ever.
