SHINee, f(x)'s Amber, Gfriend, and more bring down the house at KCON 2016 LA Presented by Toyota - Day 1 > K-POP

In its fifth year running, ​KCON ​is bigger and better than ever, as evidenced by the 76,000 fans that swarmed the LA Convention Center and Staples Center for this year's ​KCON 2016 LA Presented by Toyota​ that took place July 29th to July 31st. It was a jam-packed, action-filled three days of neverending fun and the cooler temperature, though not by much, definitely helped the moods.

​Tip: If you ever decide to go to KCON LA, get a convention pass for the first day at least. There won't be as many fans there milling the place because there is no concert and you don't have to wait in line as long for all the goodies that are at the booths. 

The guests of Day 1 included the likes of ​Lee Minho​ (special guest)​, ​Dean​, ​I.O.I​, ​Gfriend​, ​f(x)'s ​Amber​, ​Turbo​, Block B ​(who unfortunately couldn't make the red carpet for reasons unknown and much to the sadness of their fans)​, and ​SHINee​ (headliner)​. The artists smiled broadly for fans as they appeared both in fancy outfits, dolled up for fans, and performance outfits (perhaps easier to stay in and not deal with the hassle of changing). ​Danny Im​, formerly of ​1TYM​, smoothly MC'ed the red carpet, easily switching between English and Korean to make it easier for both the stars and fans to understand. Aside from a few technical problems, mainly the mics that had the stars cutely tapping the mics to see if they were working, fans screamed excitedly for the stars on the red carpet and held signs that yielded their love. 

Night 1 of the concert were kicked off by special performances from Youtube star ​JunCurryAhn​ and hip-hop/rap duo ​Eluphant​, both of whom mesmerized the crowded and got them pumping for inevitably the big performances of the night. Lee Minho made a surprise guest appearance as he introduced the history of KCON and showed just how much both Hallyu and KCON have progressed for the past 5 years.

Rookie girl group I.O.I. was the first group to perform that night and despite the fact that they were performing for the first time overseas in a big arena, the girls showed no signs of nervousness as they transformed into the ​'Dream Girls​'​ and performed to their hearts' content. They carried their high energy and spirits as they sang ​'Pick Me​'​, infecting the crowd with their cheerfulness and spunk. After introducing themselves (and member ​Somi​ speaking in fluent English to convey those feelings), they ended their night to the slow beat of ​'When the Cherry Blossoms Fade​'.

R&B soloist ​Dean ​was up next and the slew of fangirls in the crowd screamed themselves hoarse. He didn't need to dance the night away or have back-up dancers - just a few body rolls sent the crowd into a frenzy as he crooned to his hit songs ​'Bonnie & Clyde​'​ and ​'I'm Not Sorry​'​. The excitement was real for fans in attendance and they rewarded Dean tremendously with their love for his two performances. 

Up next was one of this year's hottest girl groups, ​Gfriend​, as they walked up on the stage with 'paparazzi' following them from behind. The girls acted this part perfectly, ignoring the paparazzi as they quickly walked on stage. They started off their night with their recent hit song '​Navillera​', perfectly executing their moves. The members then introduced themselves and ​Umji​ surprised everyone there with her cute yet perfect English and telling fans how honored they were to be invited to perform at the Staples Center. The group ended their performances with ​'Me Gustas Tu'​ and '​Rough​'​, also fan favorites and hit songs.

​Block B​'s ​Zico​ and ​U-Kwon​ took to the stage for a special performance of ​'Boys and Girls​'​, pumping the crowd up and getting them to dance along to the music. Keeping up with the energy, ​f(x)​'s ​Amber​ skated onto the stage with some more upbeat music in the form of '​Shake That Brass​', her infectious debut single, with a feature from ​I.O.I​'s ​Chungha​. After that, Amber expressed how happy she was to be performing in her hometown of LA and getting to see everyone there, calling the crowd her friends. She then performed for the first time live a song near and dear to her heart, ​'Borders​'​, which was released earlier in the year as an ​SM Station​ track. 

Ready for a throwback? Fans were in for a treat as ​Astro​, who was slated for the Sunday concert, made an appearance to perform ​Turbo​'s ​'Goodbye Yesterday​' and ​Gfriend ​performed ​'Black Cat​'​. Those who had been in the KPOP scene for a while were elated and excitedly sang to the songs. Turbo then made their own appearance, singing ​'​Again​'​ from their album last year and were later joined by Astro and Gfriend.

With the energy running high, Block B came onto stage as a full group and expressed their joy of being invited to another KCON this year. They started off on the slower side with ​'Toy​'​ and '​A Few Years Later​'​ before picking up the tempo with ​'Her​'​ and '​Very Good​'​. Block B kept the atmosphere like that of a nightclub, ending their night with a bang.

However, the cheers were served for the headlining group of the night in the form of ​SHINee, as the loudest cheers resonated in throughout the stadium when SHINee appeared on stage under a cylindrical dome. They brought forth a remix of ​'Replay​' ​and ​'SHINee in the House​​' ​before hitting up their house hit track ​'View​'. They then surprisingly sang ballad song ​'Encore​'​ before performing fan favorite '​Beautiful​' and finishing up with ​'Everybody​'​. SHINee also mentioned that aside from their hard work preparing for their solo concert in September, they were busy working on their upcoming album.

With the end of SHINee's performance, that wrapped up a fun and crazy Night 1 of KCON. For more pictures of the stars on the red carpet, check out our album here on Facebook and be sure to tune in for a recap of the second night!

​Korea.com would like to thank The Lippin Group​ for extending a media invitation to KCON 2016 LA Presented by Toyota, and CJ E&M, ​Mnet America​, ​Toyota​, ​KCON USA​, and ​Staples Center/LA Convention Center​ for hosting and working hard to make this 3-day event a success.

Korea.com's Emily wrote this article.