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Enhypen played two sold out shows at UBS Arena in New York to kick off the U.S. leg of their “Walk the Line” world tour on Aug. 6 and 7
The seven-member K-pop group brought the house down with songs from their latest release, including new single “Bad Desire (With or Without You)” in front of 18,000 fans
The crowd was delighted by a surprise second encore, a spontaneous-feeling moment in a masterfully choreographed 2-plus hour performance
UBS Arena proved its structurally integrity on Thursday night. Because as Enhypen took the stage for their sold-out show, the floor, the seats and the ice in every plastic cup in the New York venue visibly shook with the resonant roar of 18,000 fans.
Even a K-pop show veteran may be startled at the volume as the group’s seven member — Jungwon, 21, Heeseung, 23, Jay, 23, Jake, 22, Sunghoon, 22, Sunoo 22 and Ni-Ki, 19 — opened the show (their first U.S. stop on their Walk the Line world tour) with back to back hits: “Brought the Heat Back,” “FEVER,” “ParadoXXX Invasion” and “Future Perfect (Pass the MIC).” And the energy only grew throughout the set.
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Enhypen take the stage at UBS Arena in New York for their “Walk the Line World” tour
Enhypen fans, who go by Engene collectively, are notoriously passionate, and that feeling was shared among a diverse crowd on Thursday, June 7. One mom in the first seated row wore a t-shirt that read “I’m here for my daughter … and Jake.”
The choice to have a general admission floor instead of a seated one also added to the party atmosphere with a mass of fans dancing and waving glowing light sticks on every side of the thrust stage.
The set list for the 28-show, 19-city tour gives a very solid sense of the vibe between the members and their fans: “Loose,” “Fatal Trouble” and their latest single, “Bad Desire (With or Without You)” were designed to tantalize, while “Sweet Venom,” “Teeth,” and “Bite Me,” play into the group’s vampiric lore.
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Enhypen take the stage at UBS Arena in New York for their “Walk the Line World” tour
For the track “Lucifer,” performed by the subunit of Jay, Jake and Sunoo, the trio wear outfits evoking a priests collar while singing “So pray for me, And I’ll burn for you.”
One burst of crimson streamers was pierced by red lasers, making it look like the paper was literally being consumed by flames as they fell, something those in attendance no doubt felt as well.
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Enhypen take the stage at UBS Arena in New York for their “Walk the Line World” tour
There are elements uncommon for a K-pop set here too.
Jay busts out his electric guitar on “Blessed-Cursed” and Heeseung plays a beautiful piano intro that morphs into their smash “XO (Only If You Say Yes).”
And after the planned encore they do at each show, the group shocked fans by reappearing on stage, as those who had already started to make their way to the exits ran back in.
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It was a true encore in that they performed “Go Big or Go Home,” an anthemic, made-for-a-stadium track, for the second time that night.
The moment had the whole venue jumping and dancing, a perfect serotonin-fueled send off for a night full of big feelings.
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