K-Pop group IVE storm London’s O2 with all-night party on their first world tour

I’ve been to countless concerts in my 31 years, but I can safely say IVE at The O2 was the best I’ve ever seen.

To say I’d been looking forward to it would be an understatement. The K-Pop girl group was my most streamed on Spotify last year, and, according to Spotify Wrapped, I listened to their song I AM more than 500 times since its release.

This would be IVE’s first performance in the UK, with the date at London’s O2 being the final in the Europe leg of their Show What I Have World Tour. The tour kicked off in Seoul, South Korea last October before heading around Asia and then to the US.

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But despite being on tour for months, and promoting their latest mini album Ive Switch, the six members – Yujin, Gaeul, Rei, Wonyoung, Liz and Leeseo – brought the energy to London. Wonyoung explained she was feeling somewhat different about this date, as it was the final show in their string of European dates.

The screams from the crowd clearly energised the group, though. As they each introduced themselves, the audience cheers were almost deafening, and at points some of the members took out their ear-pieces to hear the love.

And whether it was the pink lights from fans with the group’s official lightstick, or other fans – known as DIVEs – wearing outfits inspired by IVE, there was plenty of love for the group to feel.

They kicked things off in the centre of the audience with I AM (I didn’t have long to wait to hear my most-played song of 2023!) before a rock version of Royal. Things turned blue for the next two songs – Blue Blood and Blue Heart – but nobody in The O2 was feeling blue in the slightest.

It was impossible to feel sad. From the incredible, crystal-embellished stage outfits, to the clear vocals and precise choreography, there wasn’t a second to be bored or underwhelmed.

The group switched between title tracks and B-sides, picking songs from across their discography. I was personally ecstatic that they included the song Mine, taken from their first full-length album I’ve IVE.

The gentle, heartfelt song is beautiful and really shows off the groups vocals. And despite it being slower than the likes of I Am or Baddie, they gave it a special choreography with umbrellas.

I couldn’t help thinking, ‘That’s so unlucky to open an umbrella indoors!’ But IVE don’t need luck on their side, they’ve got the talent.

The members broke off into smaller units for solo and duet stages, with them showing love to some of the biggest UK girl groups as they did so. Gaeul covered Ariana Grande’s 7 Rings while Rei performed a cover of Niki’s Every Summertime.

They then took on the Spice Girls, performing a lively cover of Wannabe together. But they weren’t the only members to give a nod to the great British girl bands.

Yujin and Leeseo gave a powerful performance of Little Mix’s Woman Like Me. Meanwhile, Wonyoung and Liz hit the stage with a stunning cover of Reality, by Richard Sanderson.

The cover performances have been on the set-list throughout Europe, but it felt special to hear them perform Spice Girls and Little Mix in the UK – especially when we don’t have any major home-grown girl groups right now!

Things got dark for the spooky song Hypnosis, with choreography using white sheets and rocking chairs. And if fans had somehow fallen asleep during the tinkering sounds of that song, they were soon woken up by the force of Accendio.

The track is another of my favourite IVE songs, so you know I was one of the thousands of fans going crazy. And without having a moment to collect my thoughts, they were back with Love Dive.

Arguably the group’s biggest track, they moved back to the central stage to get in amongst the audience. For those of us at the sides closer to the main stage, it meant watching the backs of them, but luckily the screens provided a crisp picture of whoever was singing at that time.

The group said that the final part of the set-list would be the most “IVE” sounding – and they were true to their word. While many K-Pop concerts I’ve been to end the show with slow, heartfelt songs, almost tributes to the fans, IVE kept the energy going until the last second.

They closed the show with more of their biggest hits – Kitsch, Baddie, After Like and their latest title track Heya. And after a short break – in which the cameras panned to the audience for fans to show off their moves to the songs we’d heard – IVE were back for the encore.

The girls took to the stage in various customised versions of their tour merch for the final songs, OTT and All Night. All Night, a cover of Icona Pop, was the perfect song to close the show.

The entire night felt like a party, with confetti cannons filling the arena throughout the show – even at the start before IVE had appeared on stage. Fans were collecting the confetti and streamers for keepsakes, while those on the ground floor level looked like human spaghetti as it fell on them.

At one point, I saw a girl run down the stairs and return with her arms completely full of the metres-long streamers. I have no idea what she planned to do with it, but I admit I did pick up a few pieces of confetti for my own “box of memories” that I keep at home.

From start to finish, IVE’s Show What I Have World Tour was incredible fun. I expected to wake up the next morning with a sore throat from all the screaming and singing I did, and I couldn’t help but run to the merch stand before I left.

Amazingly, IVE are just short of three years into their career – and it’s safe to say they have a bright future, and I can’t wait to see it.

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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk