Part 1.
On 20 June, IVE brought their world tour, SHOW WHAT I AM, to Spark Arena in Auckland. The girls have loved this group for years, ever since Korea, so the moment we heard the news we booked tickets straightaway. To think we'd be seeing them here in Auckland, when the shows back home had always been so hard to get into. The girls had been buzzing for months, and as the day drew closer they could hardly contain themselves.
The show was due to start at seven. We headed out early, dropped Jin at a close friend's place, parked at a Park and Ride and caught the bus. Up the front on the top deck of the double-decker, Min and Hyun delighted in the strange new view, and lit up when the Sky Tower came into sight in the distance. Spark Arena, about fifteen minutes' walk away, was already thick with people when we arrived. We had an early dinner nearby, and at the merch truck the girls each bought the lightstick and keyring they'd been longing for ($100 for the lightstick, $25 for the keyring).
As seven drew near, the bag checks began. My bag — packed with water for the girls and this and that, just in case — had to go to the coat check. We'd queued a little before six, but it was only at seven that the gates finally opened. They were selling burgers, chicken and chips inside, so we just grabbed the girls a drink and some lollies. The drinks came with the caps taken off, which made it awkward the whole way through the show.
Part 2.
Then, at last, the lights went down. A vivid red glowed up on the stage screen, and as music that seemed to pound through your chest swelled, the curtain rose and IVE appeared. In their striking black outfits, the group set the whole arena alight in an instant. Still new to the ways of a concert, the girls didn't cheer — they just gazed, spellbound, unable to take their eyes off their favourites.
From those slight frames came voices of such presence that they filled the entire arena. Only after three or four songs back to back did IVE finally turn to greet the crowd. Our seats were to the right of the stage, not so far that we couldn't see their faces clearly. Lovely as they'd been on screen, they were even more dazzling met without a lens in between.
The show opened with their more recent songs, then moved into a string of short solo stages, each member drawing out her own charm to the fullest. As the night went on, the set turned to songs my own ear knew, the well-known ones. Carried along by the music, by the roar that broke out at the end of each song, I felt buried in the sheer scale of the energy.
Then, at last, the finale — though, as these things go, an encore was waiting in the wings. Min, counting off on her fingers the signature songs they hadn't played yet, was sure they'd bring out this one and this one too. Before the encore came a dance screen event in the interval. A song's choreography played up on the screen while a camera worked the crowd, and whoever it landed on danced the moves on the spot. With each new song, the people caught on camera — whatever their age or gender — danced with the happiest faces. A great big man; a girl who looked about Hyun's age; a clutch of glammed-up young women in their early twenties; a few who, going by the merch they carried, were surely IVE's most devoted fans — every one of them scattered a bright, shining joy.
Changed into something more relaxed, IVE came back out for an encore made up — just as Min had predicted — of their best-known songs: After Like, Kitsch and the rest. Here, in a place they'd reached after flying half a day across the world, surrounded by their own shining fans, they waved and met eyes and gave their thanks, over and over and over — and the girls took every moment of it in.
The show, having started past eight, finished after ten. We collected the bag, walked back and caught the bus, picked up Jin — fast asleep at our friend's place — and got home past midnight. Worn out as they were, the girls were each too wound up to sleep, and sleep was a long time coming.
한국어 요약
6월 20일, IVE가 월드투어 SHOW WHAT I AM으로 오클랜드 Spark Arena에 왔다. 한국에서부터 몇 년째 이 그룹을 좋아해 온 Min과 Hyun을 위해 소식을 듣자마자 표를 샀다. 한국에서는 늘 표 구하기가 어려웠던 공연을 여기 오클랜드에서 보게 된 것이다. Jin은 가까운 친구 집에 맡기고, Park and Ride에 차를 세운 뒤 버스를 탔다. 2층 버스 맨 앞자리에서 두 아이는 낯선 풍경에 들떴고, 멀리 Sky Tower가 보이자 얼굴이 환해졌다. 공연장 근처에서 이른 저녁을 먹고, 머천다이즈 트럭에서 각자 그토록 갖고 싶던 응원봉과 키링을 샀다.
입장 전에는 가방 검사가 있었다. 물과 이것저것을 챙긴 내 가방은 물품 보관소에 맡겨야 했다. 여섯 시 조금 전부터 줄을 섰지만 문은 일곱 시에야 열렸다. 마침내 조명이 꺼지고 무대 화면이 붉게 물들더니 검은 의상의 IVE가 나타났다. 콘서트가 처음인 아이들은 소리도 지르지 못하고 넋을 잃고 바라보기만 했다. 화면으로 볼 때도 예뻤지만 렌즈 없이 마주한 모습은 더 눈부셨다.
앙코르 전 쉬는 시간에는 카메라가 관객을 비추면 그 사람이 화면 속 안무를 따라 추는 이벤트가 있었다. 나이도 성별도 제각각인 사람들이 가장 행복한 얼굴로 춤을 췄다. 앙코르는 Min이 손가락을 꼽으며 예상한 대로 After Like, Kitsch 같은 대표곡들이었다. 친구 집에서 잠든 Jin을 데리고 집에 오니 자정이 넘었고, 두 아이는 한참 동안 잠들지 못했다.
Yussi
Writer · Social work student, Massey University
A mother of three girls and a Korean immigrant making Mairangi Bay home — writing about starting school, home learning and everyday life on Auckland's North Shore.
More about Yussi →Frequently asked questions
- How do you get to Spark Arena for a concert in Auckland?
- We parked at a Park and Ride and caught the bus — up the front on the top deck of a double-decker, with the Sky Tower coming into sight. Spark Arena was about a fifteen-minute walk from where we got off.
- Can you take a bag into a concert at Spark Arena?
- There were bag checks before entry. My bag, packed with water and a few just-in-case things, had to go to the coat check, and we collected it on the way out.
- How much was IVE merchandise at the Auckland show?
- At the merch truck outside, the lightstick was $100 and the keyring $25 (June 2026).
- What songs did IVE play in the encore in Auckland?
- Their best-known songs, including After Like and Kitsch — just as Min had predicted, counting off on her fingers the signature songs they hadn't played yet.
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