I worked merch for BTS In Baltimore!
I've been working merch at concerts for a few years now and got the chance to work the BTS concert at M&T Stadium in Baltimore. My daughter and I both applied to work 4 days and got all 4 days! Unfortunately, she hurt her knee the first day so I worked the next 3 days while she rested her knee. I am so thankful to have been a part of such a huge event and one of the biggest of my career.
5 years ago, I was at my lowest point. Highest weight. Depressed. Letting my emotionally abusive husband suck my life of all things. I didn't want to be alive. Was binge eating and could barely stand to wash the dishes or walk a block. So, working merch and doing physical labor now is such a huge deal for me. A few years ago, I couldn't even dream of being able to do the work I do right now.
I also was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease a few months ago so working something THIS HUGE is a great way for me to put both middle fingers up high to everything and everyone who ever thought I couldn't do great things and prove them wrong. Life was lifing that 4 days and not in a fun way!
Going Wrong!
Before I tell you how incredible this experience was, and it absolutely was! I can't leave out the things that went wrong. On the way there, I realized my car defoggers do not work. Ok cool. Yay! First day of work, my daughter and I carpool there and park in the employee lot they said to park in. During the day, there was a windstorm inside the stadium and she got lots of dust and stuff in her eye. I was lifting lots of heavy boxes and my period decided that was the best time to show up! Drove back to our hotel after work and found out my left turn signal was blinking twice as fast as it should be when on. Another thing to check when I get home, I thought!
Walked out of the hotel the next morning to find my car had significant damage on it's front drivers side. My car was side swiped and hit and run in the employee parking lot by the big white business truck that had been parked next to me in the employee parking lot. Pretty significant damage too. But I just called the business and they know who hit my car and are going to pay for repairs, so that's good.
The morning after, my daughters eye was swollen and hurting, so I ran her to urgent care. Her knee was injured too so she stayed at the hotel while I went and worked the next 3 days of merch! Wish we could have worked together those 3 days because I LOVE working with her and she missed out on making money those 3 days but it is what it is!
I'll be honest! I did text my daughter almost in tears that second day morning telling her I just wanted to leave and go back home. Too many things were going wrong and I just really didn't want to push myself to work so hard while she was injured and in the hotel. But she basically told me there was absolutely no way I was giving up this opportunity and that is EXACTLY how I raised her so I went to work!
Working the show!
Working merch for BTS was so fun! There was so much merch and so many fans! About 70,000 fans per each show day inside the stadium and many more who bought merch outside. The first day of work before my daughter got injured was a day we both wanted to be a part of. It was a setup day, which is when we get all of the merch stands ready to bring merch to them. At the end of that setup day, we were in the outside tent, splitting the merch between the two sides and getting the shirts up on the grid. So fun! Especially on that big of a scale.
The second day was the presale day! We were all selling in the tent outside the stadium. Fans had started lining up really early in the morning to make sure they can get the merch they wanted. The member jerseys were very popular! It was so fun to see how excited the fans were! It was so interesting to see new technology being used where the sellers give the merch to fans and they get scanned at checkout to pay for everything. The fans were so excited to get all the items they had waited so long for and the excitement was definitely getting more as the day went on.
At the end of that day, our team leader sent out an email with what stand we were going to be selling at for the 2 shows days and I was selling inside at the club level both days. I had never worked this stadium before so I didn't exactly know what this stand was going to look like but I was excited. After my shift, my daughter and I went to dinner at the Silver Diner in Elkridge MD. Love that diner. If you are going to a concert in Baltimore, it's definitely worth the 20 minute drive to eat there!
Show days were INCREDIBLE! Nights 1 and 2, we had so many fans at our stand and I was so happy to help as many people get the merch they wanted as I could. Literally some of the nicest fans ever! Everyone was smiling, so excited and thanking me for working the show. Literally the best experience of my life!
At the end of night 2, they closed my stand halfway through the show and split us up to other stands. I was sent to one of the bigger stands downstairs on floor level and that was so much fun! I love working really fats, high volume, merch stands and we got a ton of traffic after the show! Everyone was super happy and excited, especially since we still had some jerseys. They didn't last long!
All in all
All in all, even with the car issues and injuries, I had such an incredible experience. Even got to watch a few minutes of BTS on stage each night and see how incredible the whole sold out stadium looked lit up with everyones lightsticks! Absolutely magical!
If BTS is coming near you on this tour, definitely go see them. Be a part of that experience. It will be an experience you will cherish the rest of you life. Even if you go alone, GET IN THAT HOUSE!
WERE YOU AT THE BTS SHOWS IN BALTIMORE? COMMENT BELOW AND TELL ME ALL ABOUT IT!