The lights are bright and the concert attendees scream as the leader of the group, Jungwon, introduces himself. My friends and I attended the last stop of the U.S. tour at the United Center in Chicago. A place most notable for where the Chicago Bulls play was now filled with around 20,000 fans of the successful 4th generation K-pop boy group, ENHYPEN. The tour, titled Fate, was a reference to their most recent album which features an intro song named Fate. Then in concert, the members explained how “fate has brought us together.” The group was in Chicago last year for their previous world tour, so excitement was in the air as the members expressed their anxious anticipation to return.
Dressed in white and cream suits the concert started with Drunk-Dazed, the lead single off of their second mini album Border: Carnival. ENHYPEN is best known for their dancing skills and live vocals, and both were showcased during this opening performance. Along with that, they furthered the performances with dance breaks between a couple of the songs. The second song played was Blockbuster, a song originally featuring a member from Tomorrow X Together (another popular K-pop boy group), but formatted to feature all 7 members on tour. Something different about this concert is that they would perform around 3-5 songs, then ments (when every member just has a chance to say something to the fans), and then do a quick outfit change while a VCR would play. The next three songs played were Let Me In (20 Cube), Flicker, and Fever, all from ENHYPEN’s first two mini albums.
After changing into an all-white outfit paired with a white jean jacket, they came out to perform Future Perfect (Pass the Mic) and Blessed-Cursed. If the screams weren’t loud enough before, they were at this point as the mostly English chorus was echoing throughout the stadium. After, ENHYPEN quickly changed into some edgier outfits. Dressed in black jeans and various black and white shirts, the group then played Attention, Please! which is an upbeat rock song that features member Jay playing the electric guitar. This was a favorite of mine as you could tell all 7 of them enjoyed performing it. The following two songs were Paradoxx Invasion and Tamed-Dashed. Both are upbeat songs that got everyone dancing and excited for the rest of the night. A special thing during Tamed-Dashed is that the choreo features a rugby ball that is then kicked into the crowd for someone to catch. All 7 members of the group even signed the rugby ball.
Something different about most K-pop concerts is that each group has a light stick designed for them. The idea is that at the concerts the artists can see every single person there. The lightsticks are then connected at the concert to flash and change colors along with the music. Before continuing with the next part of the concert, the group prepared a game for everyone to play. Based on where you were sitting, your lightstick was changed to a solid color that corresponded to the groups of two or three members. Then when your members said so you were supposed to cheer loudly so you could win the “contest,” but it ended in a tie as they couldn’t decide who won. Although it seems a little silly, it was a cool way to involve everyone at the concert no matter how close or far away you were!
Something new for this tour were two unit performances, where members of the group split up into groups of three and four to sing their ballad songs acoustically. While members Heeseung, Jungwon, and Ni-ki kept the crowd entertained, the four other members: Jake, Jay, Sunoo, and Sunghoon changed into a preppy school uniform outfit before returning to perform TFW (That Feeling When). Jay picked back up the guitar to play and sing along with the three others. Then roles were reversed as the first trio returned to perform Just A Little Bit. Surprising everyone during the second verse, the four other members made their way on the stage to join them in singing the end of the song. The group then continued to sing their slower love songs: 10 Months, Polaroid Love, and Shout Out. This was one of my favorite parts of the concert because they sounded very good live and it was a chance to be interactive with the fans. During the song Polaroid Love, it’s become a tradition to leave the stage and walk around the stadium to be closer to the fans. Unfortunately though, because of previous incidents, they only went around the floor and not up the lower bowl aisles like usual.
After more ments came the song fans spent hours practicing: Go Big or Go Home. Instead of having a bridge, the song features a dance break, during this part fans participate in the fan chant. Another thing K-pop groups typically have is a spot during a song where fans cheer the members’ names in a certain order. For ENHYPEN, it goes leader first then age order. Trust me, it is a big deal. Before the song played, I could hear the girls behind me asking if everyone knew the fan chant. But as I said before, the concertgoers were loud and it was clear people knew it.
After another quick change, the boys returned in black suits with accents of roses to perform songs from their latest album Dark Blood. This by far had to be my favorite set of performances, besides it being some of my favorite songs and dances. The fans’ energy was so exciting and intense that it made it so much better. Chaconne, Bills, Criminal Love, and Sacrifice (Eat Me Up) were the first four songs played. While the other three songs are off of Dark Blood, Criminal Love is actually a digital single that was released back in July.
By this point it was almost the end of the concert and you could still see the amount of effort they put into each of their performances. There was another ment before they performed the lead single off of Dark Blood, Bite Me. This song has really grown on me a lot and definitely seems to be a fan favorite, as every fan was screaming the lyrics.
The final two songs on the setlist were One In A Billion and Karma. For the final two songs, the group quickly changed into jeans and tour merch. Instead of a dance during these songs, ENHYPEN takes it as an opportunity to interact with fans. I think something that’s different about a K-pop concert is that you can tell they really care about interacting with fans. Either by laughing at a fan’s sign, or completing a hand heart, thousands of videos are posted online by fans freaking out about it. This was technically the end of the concert… until they came back out again after saying goodbye twice already.
The members surprised the crowd by reappearing to sing Blockbuster and Go Big or Go Home one last final time. It was really exciting because no one was expecting it and most people had to run back to their seats to watch them perform. Following this, the boys did their last ments and gave goodbyes for the final time.
Overall this concert was really a fun time and a memory I think I’ll hold onto for the rest of my life! Or at least maybe all of the videos I took of the concert…
