On November 17th and 20th, I was lucky enough to be able to attend two concerts. The show’s music genre was K-pop, which has been on the rise in America recently.
The first group I saw on November 17th was a six-membered girl group called Everglow. They debuted in 2019 with Bon Bon Chocolat. If you like a 2000s pop sound, I recommend this song. Their discography is diverse with a song for everyone. They performed at the Fillmore Auditorium in Denver, Colo. for a little over two hours. I paid for one of their VIP tiers and met the members — Sihyeon, Aisha, Mia, Yiren, EU, and Onda
The second group that I saw on November 20th was also a six-membered group by the name of Purple Kiss. They made their debut with Ponzona in 2021. This concert was set up a bit differently compared to Everglow’s show. They were with a different touring company and at the Oriental Theater in Denver, Colo. If you are considering listening to a song by Purple Kiss, I would suggest Sweet Juice, which was released this year. I met the girls of the group three separate times because of the ticket I purchased and again, they were phenomenal performers and very down to Earth to meet.
I moved from Austin, Texas to Loveland, Colo. in 2020. It was an interesting transition overall, but as someone who has liked K-pop for an extended period, it was fascinating as I had limited access to my main hobby. My first issue at the time was I couldn’t find any K-pop album stores! They had so many in Austin, like K-Pop Austin, so this was difficult for me.
However, as of this year, Colorado has grown in terms of K-pop. More groups are coming to visit here for tours and Colorado gained its first K-pop store called K-pop Zone in Centennial, Colorado.
I spoke to FRCC student Sydney Hernandez, who doesn’t listen to K-pop and has lived in Colorado her whole life. When asked if she noticed K-pop’s growth in Colorado or not, she said, “I feel like it has become more normalized, and it has grown in popularity. It is not uncommon.”
Overall, it is exciting to see how the genre has become more prominent in Colorado since I moved here. I would recommend giving the genre a try if you are open to new music. The songs listed in the article are great listens. And who knows — you might just enjoy it!
