A Stray Kids’ Stage Was One Music Show Designer’s “Toughest Experience”—Here’s Why
Stray Kids‘ music show stages are always a rollercoaster ride of talent, energy, and excitement. However, for one music show stage designer, a Stray Kids stage ended up being her most difficult experience yet—here’s why.
The anonymous designer, hereon referred to as “Ms. B,” spent a year working as part of a team that set up stage props and sets for music shows like KBS‘s Music Bank, MBC‘s Show! Music Core, SBS‘s Inkigayo, and Mnet‘s M COUNTDOWN. During that time, she worked with major stars like TWICE, IZ*ONE, ASTRO, and TXT. Putting together these groups’ incredible stage sets can’t have been easy, but Ms. B had one stage in mind when YouTube channel Doyouram asked her to name her “toughest experience.”
According to Ms. B, the most difficult time in her prop career came when she was setting up a stage for Stray Kids. While she didn’t specify the performance she was referring to, Doyouram shared a clip of Stray Kids’ “ALL IN,” and it seems to match Ms. B’s experience.
For some context, each Korean music show records one day a week, cramming every group’s performances into the space of just a few hours. That means the stage setup crew has to work quickly to assemble and dismantle each group’s set in between recording sessions.
When it came to setting up for Stray Kids’ “ALL IN,” Ms. B explained that the stage design included a lot of drum cans.
Drum cans are cylindrical containers typically used for transporting dangerous goods like flammable liquids and powders. When Stray Kids performed “ALL IN” on Music Bank, their stage was filled with drum cans to bring an edgy and cool look to the performance. Of course, since Stray Kids never do anything by halves, JYP Entertainment needed real drum cans to create the right atmosphere.
Of course, drum cans are heavy. In fact, a standard empty metal drum weighs around 20kg (40 lbs) on its own. As such, Ms. B says Stray Kids’ stage was her toughest experience because she had to “move [the drum cans] and get them off stage” in such a short window of time.
Of course, it was worth it—for fans and likely for Ms. B herself. The stage designer revealed that the biggest perk of her job was watching performances live from the front row, and Stray Kids definitely gave it their all.
Watch Stray Kids’ full “ALL IN” stage on Music Bank here:
