Fans from across the country had a blast in popular K-pop band KARD’s maiden tour in India

Jumping, cheering and screaming with tears rolling down their faces — the mood at Talkatora Indoor Stadium on June 12 was all charged up!

Right from the moment KARD took the stage, the crowd went on a total frenzy. Well one cannot really blame the fans. After all, their prayers have finally been heard.

Any Korean pop music fan knows the pain of having to watch their favourite idol’s performance only on screen. Touring across the globe, they used to come as close as China but never touched down on Indian soil. Well, the drought is over.

Thanks to Pink Box Events, KARD became the first hugely popular K-pop group to perform in the country. With their ‘Play Your KARD Right’ tour, K-pop finally acknowledges Indian fans after years of wait.

A co-ed group of four — J.Seph, BM, Somin and Jiwoo — the members of KARD too were quite overwhelmed with their popularity in India. For any K-pop artist, their fans form the most integral part of their journey. So much so that each fandom has a dedicated name for it.

With KARD it’s even more special and its very name stands testament to the same. The group’s name is inspired from the playing card deck, with each member representing a card. The letter D stands for ‘Hidden Kard’ – the official name of their fandom.

And this fandom couldn’t get any more excited. Fans from all across the country came down to the city, and for most it was their first time attending a K-pop concert.

“My little sister and I had never attended a concert, let alone a K-pop concert. We were so hyped and started planning on how to convince our parents. We finally came to Delhi and when we saw them drive up to the stadium right in front of us, it was such a fangirl moment that we almost cried,” says Mansheen and Agam Kaur, who flew in all the way from Jammu only for the concert.

Agreeing with them, Chaita, who flew in from Bangalore, says it’s all like a dream. “I cannot believe that the artist I cherished and watched on my laptop and mobile screen are right in front of me.  I still feel it’s a dream. KARD said our energy is amazing and it’s only because their energy boosted us. They thanked us for calling them, but we are more thankful to KARD that they came and performed here. I’m happy I travelled all the way to see them. I never screamed so much in my life as much as I did in the concert.”

It was pretty much the same for all the fans. Anyone who attended the concert couldn’t feel their voice anymore after screaming their lungs out, but none were complaining.

The energy inside the stadium was simply infectious. With someone from the crowd screaming saranghae (meaning ‘I love you’ in Korean) every now and then, the fans were armed with hand written and printed banners that read out their love for KARD.

The entire stadium lit up as fans held up their phones with flashlights on and swayed to the music. Spanning two hours, the fans made the most of every minute dancing their heart out. The encore stage went simply wild with fans rushing as close as they could get to the stage and KARD happily obliging.

The members simply could not get anymore interactive. From dancing to some Bollywood music, one of the members – J Seph even sang a few lines from ‘Tujh me rab dikhta hain’, and the crowd happily joined in.

The warmth and communicative nature of Indians is what the artists enjoyed the most in the country apart from the curry, of course.

While KARD’s concert was thoroughly enjoyed by their fans, it also opens up the gates for other K-pop artists to come and perform in India. It’s only the start of the ever-growing Hallyu (Korean) wave!