Hi! It’s Annie!
I often feel that it has been way too long since I’ve talked about my ult group. But this is not really the way I was hoping to come back to them on the blog. Of course, I’m going to be talking about general ATEEZ news, so there will be some really positive stuff here! I’ll throw in some stuff that I just really liked recently! But unfortunately, most of this will probably be me talking about all of the issues that ATEEZ has been having with specifically European fans. I have no idea why the European fans are acting out so much on this most recent tour. It probably has something to do with the mass success of ‘HALAZIA’. But it really shocks me that the fan behavior in Europe is so bad when usually the US is known for poor fan behavior. And I say that as someone who lives in the US. I mean, look at the fiasco that was everyone throwing things at BTS during the Las Vegas PTD concerts. ATEEZ has been having so much trouble lately that even KQ had to put out a statement. So with that said, I’m just going to get into it!
ATEEZ in Europe:
We all have known for a while that ATEEZ would leave for their European leg of the tour; but it did surprise some people when they announced that the European leg of the tour would be pretty disconnected from the dates of their American, Korean, and Japanese dates. We eventually realized that this was a break that they took mostly for their release of ‘HALAZIA’, which blew up even more than probably even they expected. This being a smash hit made them even busier, but recently they did eventually have to leave for their tour. We all know that they’ve always been super busy, but their recent schedules have seemed to be particularly hectic for them. This portion of the tour saw an increased level of excitement from European Atiny, and some fans who seemed to think that the concert would now include new releases like ‘Paradigm’ and ‘HALAZIA’ despite the fact that this is the same concert that they had been touring with before. There was a baffling amount of collective disappointment when these songs did not pop up on the set list. I’m confused as to why some of these fans are acting this way. The boys put so much time and effort into the current set list. This is a set list that they practiced and perfected for months and had to continue to practice in order to account for the breaks between concert dates. It feels pretty ungrateful to be acting this way because these songs aren’t on the set list; especially when no other location got these songs. Even worse, some “fans” have been following ATEEZ around both inside and outside their schedules and yelling at them to perform these songs. Since when did anyone think that demanding songs was supportive or respectful fan behavior?
The worst part of that behavior though, is definitely the following ATEEZ around. Them being on tour does not mean you are free to follow them, ask for pictures, or yell things at them. Has the issues faced and brought up by BTS taught people nothing? Idols are human beings and they deserve to be treated that way. Would you like to be followed around in your regular life? No. So don’t do it to other people. How much you like them should have absolutely no bearing on the matter. Don’t be selfish! On top of this they’ve also been having issues with sasaengs attempting to board their flights or ambushing them at airports. Because if you do any of those things you are not an Atiny or even a “fan”. You are straight up a sasaeng. KQ entertainment recently had to put out a statement that detailed unacceptable fan behavior because of the way that ATEEZ is currently being treated by people in Europe. This list has also stated that if caught doing any of this behavior, you could be banned from all future ATEEZ events. Of course, most of this told fans never to follow ATEEZ or wait for them at airports or attempt to meet them at places during their schedules. All of this should be common sense. The statement also said that ATEEZ has recently been having issues with sasaengs calling their families. That is boundary breaking and extremely horrifying! It shouldn’t have to be said that you should absolutely be ashamed of yourself if you are even trying to seek out the numbers of family members of ATEEZ, never mind making the decision to then call them. Our boys deserve so much better than this poor fan behavior.
UPDATE: I honestly don’t know what to say. I didn’t think that anything so bad that I would have to update this would happen, but apparently “fans” are all here to prove me wrong. Mingi fell and got hurt at a concert in Europe and then asked fans filming to not share the video. And “fans” decided not to listen to his wishes. (DO NOT watch or engage with these videos if you see them posted!) Not only that but many people laughed at Mingi when it happened. This on top of people continuing to demand that ATEEZ perform ‘HALAZIA’ even after Hongjoong politely requested that fans stop asking that and even apologized when he shouldn’t have had to. What is going on in Europe? Idols are people, not content! How can these people call themselves Atiny?
Japanese Comeback:
We’re getting a Japanese comeback! And so soon after the ‘HALAZIA’ single too! They really must be working so hard right now! I don’t want to assume anything, so I’ll just say that I hope that they’re all doing well and are healthy right now! We don’t know much about this comeback yet, but I know that some of their Japanese projects have been some of my favorite of their work. ‘Dreamers’ is one of my ultimate cheer-up songs, so I am absolutely psyched for this! And we’ve started getting some concept photos as well! As of writing this not all of the photos have been released; we pretty much just have the photos for the hyung line so far. All of the photos have focused on a fencing concept, with all of them holding pure black fencing blades and some of them holding white fencing masks with the ATEEZ logo on it. The fencing masks remind me a little of the men in white in a lot of the ATEEZ MVs so part of me wonders if there’s any connection. But not all of ATEEZ’s projects have had connections to the main storyline, but absolutely all of them are amazing! So whether or not this is connected to the main storyline, I know it’ll be great! And this concept is already selling me.
Idol Radio:
Just before they left for the European leg of their tour, Hongjoong and Yunho interviewed each other for an episode of ‘Idol Radio’. Having these two interview each other made for a really wholesome episode of ‘Idol Radio’ and also made it feel so much more personal. It almost felt more like a personal podcast than a full scale show, which just drew me in even more. In this we got some really fun moments where Hongjoong ranked every hairstyle that he’s ever had. I know that this is a common pastime for Atiny, so it was hilariously awesome to see Hongjoong make his own list. My favorite parts of this interview were when they started talking about how close the two of them have become. It’s been interesting to see Yunho and Hongjoong do more and more together publicly. Yunho is is the main member of ATEEZ to join Hongjoong in painting one of his nails black for the Painted Man campaign that helps raise awareness to support women and children who have endured acts of violence in the hopes that it will stop. It was even featured in their most recent vlog. (We stan progressive men!) We’ve also seen them go to museums on tour and just hang out a lot. We all know that they’ve always shared a room while on tour, but in this interview they talked about how they are practically attached at the hip while on tour now. It was an adorable interview and, again, I loved how personal it felt!
Obviously I wanted to put in some positive stuff, because there’s always positive ATEEZ news! But I am extremely angry over the treatment of ATEEZ in Europe. I know that ‘HALAZIA’ gained them some more attention and that should have been purely a happy and celebratory occasion. Instead, some of this attention has gotten them all of the worst parts of fame that BTS have been speaking out against and trying to protect other groups from by talking about it so openly. Apparently, we’ve learned nothing. If you are one of the Atiny who has been defending this fan behavior or participating in this fan behavior, I hope this is your last time going to an ATEEZ concert. Because this is not the way you should be treating the boys, or really any human being. Their safety should be our top priority, just as they’ve demonstrated that our safety is theirs. This is a pretty poor way to show them our gratitude. Let’s keep our boys safe!
See you cross the pond!
Sincerely, Annie
Oreos & Peanut Butter 