Last week, Keeho, Theo, Jiung, Intak, Soul and Jongseob rolled up to the OVO Arena Wembley for a riveting night that blew expectations out of the water. In previous years, the boys filled out old theatre venue Troxy more than once. With a capacity of over 3000, it’s still quite a feat for a K-Pop group, but it’s nothing on the 8000 at Wembley. The very same Wembley Arena that welcomed them for HallyuPopFest London 2022 and Korea On Stage in London (2023). Keeho himself remarked that they ‘have some history with this venue’, going on to muse that they’d never imagined coming back to the same venue for their own show.
Well, imagine it Keeho, because this arena is visibly full.
The crowd cheered without restraint.
As the very last stop of the P1ustage H : Most Wanted world tour, energy was clearly ramped up by both the audience and the group in gleeful vigour for this last hurrah. The boys made their entrance in neon-lined cyberwear, following the show’s interstellar theme. It didn’t take performances long to call for pyrotechnics, and the glittering blazes were well-suited for their power-packing charisma.
Jiung, for instance, was clearly feeling his energetic cover of “Uptown Funk”, looking dapper in maroon and putting on his own spunky rendition of the famous choreo. Other solo performances by the boys – all consecutively – included dance and rap covers, and a particularly awesome guitar stage by Theo.
The venue’s acoustics did justice to songs like “Work” that have fabulous percussion. It was also a delight to be able to hear Keeho, Jiung and Intak’s consistently live vocals, and skilfully so. We’ve said this before and we’ll say it again: singing is as easy as breathing for these vocalists, particularly Keeho with his distinct smoothness.
While fans were surprised with old favourites like “Scared” and “Do It Like This”, the setlist was kept fresh with hits from their most recent albums. Namely, “Pretty Boy” and “Dancing Queen” had crowds vibrating with joy, and “Stupid Brain” had not only fans ecstatic but even more so… themselves. Before the song came on, the boys took the time to sit down and chat about being present in the moment.
‘This next song we’re performing is very special to us,’ Keeho told the crowd, ‘I feel like we live in a time where we’re expected to be so perfect all the time. Every single day: every second of our lives. And everything’s documented and people are expecting you to be super smart right out the gate. It doesn’t really make sense. But I really want the people in this venue tonight, just for the remainder of the show – and especially [during] this song – to realise that it’s okay to be imperfect and it’s okay to take our time. And we’re so young. And we still have so many opportunities. That it’s okay to just relax, and not worry about all the responsibilities you have to get to tomorrow.’
The singer interrupted himself: ‘Actually, tomorrow’s Saturday, ayy!’
The entire arena ayyyyed in response. But the point was received. Lightsticks, phone torches, and all other luminary devices were used to decorate likely the most meaningful performance of the night. It’s this kind of sincerity that makes fans give their all back to the boys in filling out arenas, and waving, cheering and jumping when songs warranted it. And this show called for a lot of jumping.
After a full world tour, P1Harmony might’ve been tired at the very last stop. But they certainly didn’t look like they wanted to be anywhere other than the stage.
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