By Lily Goode ’24
With the surge in global popularity of K-Pop music, or “Korean-Pop music”, an increasing number of acts are expanding their presence in the western music scene. When K-Pop artists announce tours, fans eagerly scour the dates to see if their favorite act is coming to their city. While major cities like New York or L.A tend to attract the most performers, Boston is seeing an increase in the amount of artists coming here to perform, which is great news for New England-based fans who would otherwise have to travel out of state to see these shows.
Having been a fan of K-Pop for the past four years, I have traveled across the country from New Jersey to California just for a chance to see my favorite idols on stage. So when it was announced that up-and-coming girl group “TRI.BE” was coming to the Regent Theater in Arlington, I was both shocked and excited. Being an Arlington resident and having spent many years both attending and performing in shows at the Regent, the idea that a real K-Pop group was going to be coming to my town was surreal.
Tri.Be is a seven-member South Korean girl group that made their debut in 2021 under TR Entertainment and Universal Music Group. Their name is a combination of “Tri”, short for “Triangle”, which symbolizes perfection, and “Be”, which represents existence making their name an expression of “perfect existence”. Their latest album “W.A.Y”, released in February 2023, features the hit single “We Are Young”, which sold over 20,000 units making it their most successful album release to date. Tri.Be teamed up with Leo Presents, a small concert promoter based in Minnesota, to bring their “Vida Loca” to the U.S. to seventeen cities across the country, including their much-anticipated Boston-based stop in Arlington, Mass.
I run an Instagram account called @kpop_in_mass, which I use to share local K-Pop events happening in the Massachusetts and New England area. I created this account for a project for CO630 Multimedia Communication, a required course in Regis College’s Master of Arts Strategic Communication program that I am a part of. I now run my account as part of my internship for this program. I share events that are happening as well as host my own events. In South Korea, fans show support for their idols through “fan cafes”. These cafes usually include photo opportunities, themed food and drink, and are a special place where fans can come together and celebrate their fandom together.
When I saw that Tri.Be was coming to my hometown, I immediately knew I wanted to host a “pre-concert” celebration. The Regent Theater is conveniently located across the street from my favorite Arlington small business, Bubble Nation. With Bubble Nation’s help, we were able to create drink specials, decorate the cafe, and make a giant card for fans to sign to give as a gift to the group. More than 50 K-pop fans attended the event at the cafe before the concert, which was held in June. They excitedly discussed their favorite members and what they were most looking forward to at the show.
Just as we were wrapping up the event to begin heading over for the concert, an exciting surprise happened. The management team of Tri.Be approached us to let us know that they were interested in bringing the members of the group over to check out the cafe for themselves. The girls came over and were so excited to see the decorations. They took photos, and the staff at Bubble Nation even made the girls their own custom drinks themed around their songs such as “Doom Doom Ta”, which featured a refreshing combination of matcha, lemon, and clementine. Tri.Be filmed the experience for their vlog and even made posts on Instagram and Bubble about how much they enjoyed visiting the cafe.
The concert itself was an incredible combination of electric dance choreography and captivating live vocals. Fans filled the theater cheering loudly throughout the entire show. Tri.Be performed their hit songs, did an interactive Q&A with the audience, performed unit stages, and even came through the aisles of the audience for an intimate encore performance during which they posed for photos and sang a song dedicated to their fans. The overwhelming joy from the fans in attendance combined with the intimacy of the Regent Theater created an unforgettable concert experience for everyone involved. Here’s to hoping that future K-Pop concerts find their way back to the Regent Theater in Arlington.
K-Pop in Massachusetts will host a cupsleeve event, New Jeans Day, Sunday, July 30, 1-4 p.m. at Shi Shi Boba Quincy, 1456 Hancock St., Quincy, to celebrate the K-Pop girl group, New Jeans.
