ATEEZ in Tacoma: Blood, Sweat & Delulu Tears—A Night of Insanity

Where the hell do I even begin? Seeing ATEEZ last July in Tacoma, Washington—the first stop on their Towards the Light WORLD TOUR 2024-2025—was a rollercoaster of emotions, iconic moments, and absolute madness.

Let’s talk about the fans… or should I say, the menace?

THE NEWBIES? TRASH. Like, sis, why are you acting like you just discovered ATEEZ? SIT. DOWN. It ain’t that deep. But the real villains of the night? The damn campers. Not all, but a lot of y’all? Top-tier bitches. I “somewhat” camped, meaning my ass wasn’t permanently glued to a sidewalk. We popped up a tent, went back and forth, and still lived like humans. It was hot as hell, and no way in Satan’s toe-nails was I about to be aesthetic fan-cam content for these boys to see.

GA Drama & Line Cutting Fiasco? A Whole Mess.

Listen, the venue was playing pick and choose with the rules. Are we honoring camper lines or not?! The cutters were a disease that night—no, you did NOT just manifest in front of me out of thin air, bye. And the pushing? The grossness? I’m BEGGING for seated GA. My ribs deserve better.

SOUNDCHECK: SUPERHERO SAN & WOOS’ MYSTERY MOOD

San sprinted out like he was about to drop-kick the stage. Valid. The rest came through, ready to collect their checks,but Wooyoung? Mans looked done before even starting. What was his problem? Not my business, but still, I noticed.

THE SHOW: AN ABSOLUTE SLAUGHTER (IN THE BEST WAY POSSIBLE)

Setlist? ATE. Left NO crumbs.

• Best performance? WONDERLAND & HALAZIA. (Adding Halazia back was a genius move—the fans WANTED it.)
• Second best? MATZ. I was headbanging like I had stock in Advil.
• Choreo? Flawless. Like, would they ever fumble? YES. AND THEY DID. (In the best way.)
• Crowd interaction? Surprisingly balanced. Even those in the nosebleeds got love—props to them, because most artists forget y’all exist.
• Backup dancers? BBTrippin snapped. As usual. Flowers, awards, the whole damn garden—give it to them.

San, of course, bodied his mic. Jongho? Served VOCALS on a platinum platter. And Seonghwa? Devoured that wardrobe like it was his last meal—no crumbs, no survivors, just pure slayage

It honestly felt like the end of a chapter and the start of a new one.

FANDOM SHIFT: WHERE HAS THE DECORUM GONE?!

The crowd was insane. Y’all went feral for Guerrilla (as you should). But real talk—K-pop culture, fans, and fandoms? They’ve changed, and not for the better. Four years ago, y’all were respectful. Now? A mess.

Case in point: Some pregnant lady (probably in her 30s, let’s be real) was mean-mugging me and my homegirl outside in line. Like GIRL. First of all, go home and take care of your business. Nobody told you to be out here. The only reason I didn’t light her up more was because of that baby in the oven. But best believe, sis tried it.

THE SEND-OFF? WORST. IN. HISTORY.

Every city got longer interactions except us. Like KQ, Ticketmaster—cut the check. It wasn’t worth it. The boys were rushed, not everyone got their PCs signed, and they didn’t even hit every section. I was stuffed up in there for NOTHING.

FINAL VERDICT? ATEEZ REMAINS THE STANDARD.

They came to slay and did just that. No half-assed lip-syncing nonsense—just pure, raw, LIVE talent. They have NOTHING to prove. They ARE the blueprint.

ATEEZ didn’t just perform. They obliterated the stage.

“Some K-pop groups show up. ATEEZ shows OUT.”]

Yours truly,

VX