Krazy K-pop Super Concert 2023 review: an admiral first attempt

On August 26, a strong line-up of K-pop artists gathered at UBS Arena in New York, where juggernauts such as TWICE and MAMAMOO performed once before. The energy that filled the arena during the concert was infectious even though it was clear that there were more than a few empty seats remaining in the stands.

CRAVITY kicked off the show and hyped the crowd up by performing songs like ‘Fly’ and ‘Boogie Woogie’, the latter of which the group decided to take it easy and focus on singing their hearts out and forgoing the choreography. The palm trees and beach background that played behind them added to the sunny atmosphere. The group also took a small pause to shout-out mention that their next album, ‘Sun Seeker’, out September 11, before closing their set with the catchy, fan-favourite song ‘Groovy’.

AB6IX kept the hype going with ‘The Answer’, engaging with the audience by asking people to hold up their arms similarly to the song’s choreography during the chorus. Like CRAVITY, AB6IX also made time to answer some fan questions that were submitted, with one of them being what was their most memorable experience in New York so far. The members unanimously agreed that it was seeing an advertisement of them in Times Square. Both ‘Blaze’ and ‘Breathe’ closed their set as Kwon Eun-Bi made her way up shortly after.

By the time CRAVITY and AB6IX left the stage, it was clear how the concert’s schedule would shake out. After each act, there would be about a 15-minute interval between for the audience to take a break and the next artist to prepare. This set a steady pace for the concert, but it was a nice surprise when Kwon Eun-Bi took to the stage earlier than anticipated. Stage lights went completely dark and then instrumental for ‘Underwater’ started playing, with fans erupting in applause.

During her setlist, she also got to show off her impressive vocals with ‘Door’ and ‘Beautiful Night’, as well as intricate choreography with her performance of ‘Glitch’. The crowd also cheered and laughed as she described her shopping experience the day before in Soho. Of course, she finished her set with her latest single ‘The Flash’, which recently won Kwon Eun-Bi her first solo win on a South Korean music show.

While the show’s pacing had been commendable so far, Krazy K-pop Super Concert’s main issue is that each artist only gets to perform five songs, which doesn’t feel like nearly enough time. Just as when the crowd would get immersed in each artist’s set, it was over and then the next act would come through.

That said, when IVE approached the stage, you could tell that there was a completely different energy in the venue. The group are one of the biggest girl groups in the industry, so it’s not a surprise that the crowd’s cheers went up a few decibels. Every single song they performed was a hit: ‘Kitsch’, ‘After Like’, ‘Eleven’, ‘Love Dive’ and ‘I Am’. There wasn’t a single quiet moment the entire time IVE were on stage and their performance was definitely the highlight of the night.

Shownu and Hyungwon of MONSTA X capped off the night with their set, starting with ‘Love Me a Little’ and other songs from their mini-album ‘The Unseen’. While the duo have very few songs of their own, the pair took a couple pages from their bigger boyband, performing songs such as ‘Wildfire’ and ‘Who Do U Love’. The energy in the arena was almost just as energetic as when IVE was on stage, with the addition of fangirls barking at random moments during the duo’s set.

Krazy K-pop Super Concert’s lineup was cleverly organized as Pulse Events knew that IVE and MONSTA X would be the biggest draws so they had them be the last acts. For its first outing, the concert was a fun time but wasn’t anything mind blowing. If each of the artists played maybe two more songs, then the concert would’ve felt more substantial. Instead, each act felt more like an appetizer for an entrée that never arrived.