An unusual crowd packed the sidewalks surrounding Oracle Park at noon on Wednesday. Clad in red and black, some had been in line since 6 a.m. But they were not there for the Giants. Nope, the K-pop boy band Stray Kids was in town.
Stray Kids fans, known as Stays, flew from all over the country to see Wednesday’s show. As the noise of sound checks floated out to the street, Stays squealed with delight. Showtime wasn’t until 7 p.m., and everyone had a ticket, but they arrived early because being seen is part of the scene. Plus, those with standing-room-only tickets wanted to get a good spot — not to mention first dibs on tour merch.
Kaylee Thompson, 23, wore a floor-length red faux-fur coat, while her friend Lizzie McGill, 25, had on a cowboy hat. The two had arrived at the stadium at 7 a.m., when the clouds were thick and the temperature frigid. McGill flew in from Phoenix on Tuesday night.
“This is legit a fashion show,” Thompson said. “The girls dress to the nines.”
Jessica Mares, 20, had her outfit laid out the night before: fluffy white boots and a white corset, with plushies looped around her waist. Mares and her younger sister hit the road from Oakland at 6 a.m., and the two spent the day trading trinkets and chatting with other fans. Mares had even reserved a parking spot in a nearby garage two months earlier.
Stays passed the time by trading trinkets — a K-pop concert tradition — swapping keychains, bracelets, and Stray Kids trading cards. “Do you want a freebie?” some asked, holding out baskets with goodies. In just minutes, Kaybre Blake and Breanna Snider gave away all 200 handmade earrings from their bag.
Blake and Snider, who had traveled to SF from Utah, arrived at the stadium at 10 a.m. Snider welled up when she started talking about what Stray Kids mean to her. “They have made me find how to express myself,” she said. “I’m not gonna cry, because that’s embarrassing.”
The band is “very involved with their fandom,” Blake added. “Not a lot of famous people are like that. They really want you to feel like they are there for you, and that you are family.”
K-pop has taken hold in the Bay Area, just as it has in the rest of the world. Blackpink performed a sold-out show at Oracle Park in 2023. Other notable K-pop bands have performed at Oakland Arena, and Ateez will perform in San Jose this summer.
Businesses around Oracle Park were ready to capitalize on the craze. Bar Via, across the street from the stadium, transformed into a pop-up K-pop store for the event, selling posters, magazines, and trading cards. Eateries were feeling the effects of the concert, too. “Normally it is very slow,” a barista at Bravado Lounge said. “But it has been very busy.”
Outside the stadium, Nicole Hardwicke, 23, and Kate Lisenby, 18, peered through a window, trying to catch a glimpse of the stage. By 2 p.m., staff had cordoned off the would-be peephole with red tape.
Lisenby and Hardwicke made the drive to the city from Sacramento, waking at 7 a.m. and arriving at Oracle at 10:45. Lisenby, who has been a K-pop fan for five years and was seeing Stray Kids for the first time, paid $1,000 for two VIP tickets. While in line, they met Jaslyn Chia, 15.
“Stray Kids, they’re a family, too, and it also inspires everyone else to create a family,” Chia said.
By 2:45 p.m., the clouds had cleared, the chill had passed, and people were spraying their arms and legs with sunscreen.
Sarah Patterson, 17, of Elk Ridge, Utah, and her younger sister brought their aunt Annie Lee to the concert. They had been at the stadium since 10 a.m.
Lee, who turns 62 next week, became a Stay because of her nieces. She fell in love with the group’s enigmatic energy and supportive fandom.
“They helped me through a really depressing time,” Lee said of both the band and her nieces. “I kind of found my laughter again because of them.”
