Audience Members Criticize “Dancing Queens on the Road” For Sour Concert Experience

tvN‘s Dancing Queens On The Road is currently facing criticism from some audience members of its final concert.

The show followed K-Pop divas Kim Wansun, Uhm Jung Hwa, Lee Hyori, BoA, and MAMAMOO‘s Hwasa as they toured South Korea, performed at various venues, and hung out with fans from close quarters. The show ended with a grand final concert where aside from its regular cast, a stellar guest lineup was also announced to grace the stage.

photo time for dqotr concert pic.twitter.com/h2sFFtHwh2

— heeae's dimpols | #TheMoon (2023) (@JISUNW00) July 9, 2023

On July 9, the final concert of Dancing Queens On The Road was held at the Hwajeong Gymnasium of Korea University in Seoul. The guest lineup consisted of SHINEE‘s Taemin, Red Velvet‘s Seulgi, Zico, and Rain. But after the concert, online communities and social media were flooded with posts asking for a refund on the tickets, citing various problems that apparently made the experience disappointing.

The Hwajeong Gymnasium of Korea University | Twitter

The primary complaint is that the guest performers had a much longer stage time than the actual five dancing queens of the show. Some concert-goers expressed their disappointment saying, “I went to see Hwasa, but there were only two main performances. Is it true that the guests have more screen time than the main singers?” or “Does it make sense to have a setlist where guests sing more than the main singers?”

태민이 이데아 진짜 얼마만에 보는 이데아인지..????????#태민 #샤이니 #슈퍼엠 #taemin pic.twitter.com/vL1JwjUetR

— 스펀 (@lovis_ssfern) July 9, 2023

Zico with Rain, Taemin, and Hyori performing Ssak3's Beach Again for ‘Dancing Queens on the Road’ #ZICO #지코 pic.twitter.com/CvWLQN6cOK

— Zico Staff (@zicostaff) July 9, 2023

The second issue cited by some audience members was the delay. The concert was scheduled at 7 pm KST but reportedly started much later due to reshoots and technical problems. The audience was also apparently not aware of the concert’s filming process. So, the time gone into changing sets also diminished their experience quality.

파트 소화 너무 잘하고 돌출 뛰어나가는거 진짜 무대에서 제일 행복해요강아지???? pic.twitter.com/SA6cyO6ckV

— 필터 (@fi1txr) July 9, 2023

댄스가수 유랑단 서울콘서트
보아 앵콜 넘버원
발렌티도 했는데 넋이나간채로 보다가
찍지도 못한 사람……… 저에요 pic.twitter.com/RzKl8jMaRQ

— Jumping SOUL (@Jumping_soul_) July 9, 2023

Due to the delay, by the time the concert ended, some concert-goers said they had to pay more for taxi fare than the ticket price itself.

Another concern raised by some people was surrounding the safety management issues in the concert venue. Some reported that an audience member on the second floor collapsed with bruises and had to be taken to the emergency room. Since the concert’s main lineup included K-Pop singers across different generations, many came with their elderly family members, who suffered due to faulty air conditioning at the venue. Some also voiced their dissatisfaction with the poor vehicle control in the parking lot, and there are also reports of a brawl between the concert host and the audience.

Some of the posts on online communities complaining about the concert experience | Daum

The concert was slated to be 150 minutes long, and the tickets cost ₩55,000 KRW (about $42.40 USD) for all seats. The dissatisfaction among the audience members grew so loud that tvN had to step in for a review of the situation. The production team later apologized through a post, explaining why the inconvenience happened during the concert.

Due to heavy rain, a power outage occurred during the final rehearsal. Because of this, some unexpected errors happened during the performances, and the concert got delayed beyond the scheduled time. We sincerely apologize to the audience and the artists for the inconvenience caused due to insufficient facilities such as air conditioning and time spent on stage preparations. We ask for your understanding.

—Apology issued by the tvN production team