Chicago went CRAZY for LE SSERAFIM
Hello and welcome back to The Willow! This week will be a concert overview for LE SSERAFIM, who performed at the United Center on Friday, October 2nd!
LE SSERAFIM is a five-member K-pop girl group consisting of members Sakura Miyawaki, Kim Chaewon, Huh Yunjin, Kazuha, and Hong Eunchae. The group debuted in 2022 under SOURCE MUSIC, a sub-label of HYBE. The group's name is actually an anagram for the phrase "IM FEARLESS" which is at the center of the group's identity and concepts. With songs like "CRAZY," "Perfect Night," "ANTIFRAGILE," and "BOOMPALA," LE SSERAFIM has established themselves within the K-pop genre and are not going anywhere.
Last year for their EASY CRAZY HOT tour, the group had their first ever tour stop in Chicago at Wintrust Arena. The packed show emphasized their demand in the Midwest and the group promised to come back for their next tour. After the release of their second studio album PUREFLOW Pt.1 in May, the group announced their second tour PUREFLOW and fulfilled their promise with Chicago as one of their U.S. stops. This past Friday, the group performed at the United Center to another full venue.
I've been a part of LE SSERAFIM's official fandom FEARNOT since 2022, and attended their EASY CRAZY HOT tour last year as well. Their show at Wintrust Arena was electrifying and guaranteed my attendance to their future shows. I believe it also solidified my love for the group.
The concert was split into three parts and an encore. "CELEBRATION", the first single of PUREFLOW Pt.1, opened the concert followed by "Creatures." Both songs were energetic and fun, and set the tone for the concert. After these two performances, the girls introduced themselves. The first part then continued on with their songs "Eve, Psyche, and the Bluebeard's wife," and "Need Your Company." From there, part one of the concert concluded and the girls had an outfit change intermission.
Part two of the concert consisted of the songs "Sonder," "Trust Exercise," "HOT," "Perfect Night," "Blue Flame," "Easy," "1-800-hot-n-fun," and "Saki." After"1-800-hot-n-fun," the girls had a quick intermission and interacted with the crowd. This intermission also gave member Sakura the opportunity to slip away from the stage and prepare for their next song "Saki." Each stop of their U.S. tour has had different introductions to "Saki" as Sakura appears in the stairs of a section near the stage wearing or holding something related to the city they're in. For Chicago, she was holding a Giordano's deep dish pizza box containing a paper with her pizza order and signature. A very elated younger fan was given the box. I've noticed that every K-pop concert I've been to always has a deep-dish pizza mention...someone needs to introduce them to tavern style pizza ASAP. After "Saki," the girls had another outfit change intermission.
The third part of the concert was personally my favorite part of the show because of the girls' infectious energy and the songs performed. "BOOMPALA," "ANTIFRAGILE," "Irony," "CRAZY," "SPAGHETTI (Member Ver.)," "UNFORGIVEN," and "Fire in the Belly" were the songs lined up for part three. Last year, Chicago was very loud for "CRAZY" ; the members even made comments about how it went viral. This year we did not disappoint again. I had to take my jacket off after "CRAZY" because either the venue got warmer due to the fan energy or I was moving around too much. Probably both. In the "SPAGHETTI (Member Ver.)" performance, there was a dance break which again made the crowd go wild. After performing "SPAGHETTI (Member Ver.)," the members had an opportunity to catch their breath with another intermission. Members Chaewon, Eunchae, Kazuha, and Yunjin also gave Giordano's deep dish pizza boxes with their pizza order and signature to fans in the crowd. Maybe I'll get one next time...
For the encore, LE SSERAFIM wore altered tour merch. Their most recent songs "Made my Night" and "ICONIC BY MISTAKE" opened up the encore followed by "iffy iffy," and "No Celestial." During the final intermission, each member again expressed their gratitude to the crowd and shared their positive experiences of Chicago. Before the final song "Smart," Yunjin gave a small heartfelt speech that stood out to me: "Recently, I was having a talk with my friend and we were talking about like positive personal narratives, and how I feel like sometimes when I talk like very positively about myself, I feel like I don't have the evidence to back it up. And then she [Yunjin's friend] said 'no, I am your evidence, your friends are your evidence, and your FEARNOT are your evidence.' " I believe Yunjin's addressal of that fear to such a diverse crowd was important because whether we're an idol or a student, its normal to have moments of self-doubt and uncertainty when it comes to who we are. After a lengthy goodbye, the members walked off the stage and a video of the members with their song "Liminal Space" was presented.
LE SSERAFIM, in my opinion, will never let you down with a performance. Compared to last year, their PUREFLOW tour contains more moments dedicated to FEARNOT and what the members have envisioned for LE SSERAFIM. I'm grateful I had the opportunity to see LE SSERAFIM again, and I would encourage others to check out their discography even if you are unfamiliar with K-pop.
Thank you for reading and see you next time!
-Ariel :)
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