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K-pop stage-breakers SEVENTEEN catapulted 35,000 fans into a frenzy over two nights of a jaw-dropping show in Seoul on June 25 and 26. The band also greeted their global fans through a livestream of the offline concert.
The 13-piece act’s ‘SEVENTEEN WORLD TOUR [BE THE SUN] – Seoul’ brought back the quintessential K-pop experience to Gocheok Sky Dome, being the largest offline concert in Korea since the onset of the pandemic, and since the ban on chanting, screaming and standing in concert halls was lifted in April.
Tightly choreographed performances of “HOT,” “March” and “HIT” led the set featuring 24 songs, followed by a swoon-worthy spectacle with unit tracks including “MOONWALKER,” “Imperfect love,” and “Back it up.” “Left & Right,” “Crush,” “Darl+ing” and more topped the set, boasting the band’s versatility. For the finale, the K-pop powerhouse staged their iconic hour-long encore with “Snap Shoot” and “Very Nice.”
As they wrapped up the show, SEVENTEEN delivered a heartfelt message to the fans who have long awaited their return to the live stage. The team’s producer and vocal unit leader WOOZI said, “We woke up with every part of our body aching after the first day. So today, we danced even harder. You are the source of all our energy.” The team’s performance unit leader HOSHI emphasized throughout the 2-day show, “We run at full throttle for this set. We wanted to show everyone what a ‘performance’ is.”
Arriving shortly after the encore was a surprise announcement for a repackage album release. Revealed through a trailer which showed the 13 members setting foot in an area labeled ‘SECTOR 17,’ the band is set to release SECTOR 17, a deluxe edition of their record-setting fourth album Face the Sun, on July 18. SEVENTEEN reached a new milestone in K-pop with Face the Sun in May, becoming the second artist in K-pop history, following BTS, to rack up over 2 million sales in the first week of release.
Denise J. Mallabo 