KCON 2019 LA presented by Toyota, is 4 day long celebration of Korean culture. After the convention doors close on Saturday evening, excitement fills the air as ticket holders start to line up to fill the Staples Center for night of thrilling performances.
To kick things off, newly crowned Coverstar K winner, Seoula, took to the stage with a victory lap. The college group showed off their powerful cover of boy band, Ateez. Following them was World Klass, a survival show on Mnet. The contestants were split into two groups, World Team and Klass Team. World Team brought darker vibes, performing a piece to Billy Eilish’s, Bad Boy. Klass Team changed things up with a lighter set to Justin Bieber’s What Do You Mean.
With the stage warmed up, it was time for the main program. Ateez and Loona opened the night with Dream Stage performances. Ateez brought their own flavor of Block B’s Very Good. Loona also did a cover from a boy band with BTS’ Not Today. These Dream Stages gave these rookie groups the chance to show different sides of themselves.
Keeping with rookie performances, AB6IX made their KCON LA debut. They started off their set with their debut single, Breath, an upbeat pop-electronic track. To switch things up, they slowed things down with an acoustic version of Shining Star. In order to leave a mark on their KCON debut, they capped things off with an electrifying performance of their pre-debut song, Hollywood.
Continuing with special stages, IZ*ONE graced the stage with two of their vocalists, Yuri and Chaewon. The two gave a powerful vocal performance with a cover of Love will Show you Everything. This was only a sneak peek at the performances to come from the survival show group.
To pump up the crowd, Momoland took to the stage with a few of their hits. They started with their newest song, I’m So Hot. They then proceeded with their wildly popular songs, Baam and Bboom Bbom. If this set didn’t get you to dance around, I don’t know what would.
Fresh off their rookie year, Ateez was set to make a memorable first stage at KCON LA. The group opened up with their fun island vibe song, Hakuna Matata. After a brief talk, they brought up the tempo a little with Dancing Like Butterfly Wings. They then performed their hit single, Say My Name. To end their set, they performed Deep in my Heart, a song with a darker tone.
Rookie girl group, Loona, came out to show off many of their charms. They opened up with their latest single, Butterfly, a routine with a very technical choreography. Like their first appearance in the night, they split into different groups to show off covers of boy group dances. Some of the dances included songs by BTS, NCT, and Seventeen. They wrapped up their set with Hi High, a fun and high energy pop song.
Boy group, SF9 brought their energy to the next set. They opened up with a new single, RPM, a hard hitting song with a dark theme. Following that, they did some crowd work, performing to songs like Senorita and All of Me. They also did a blind performance of RPM. They then performed their hit single, O Sole Mio, that exudes latin vibes. They then ended their set with the up tempo stylings of Now or Never and Play Hard.
Members of AB6IX came out to introduce survival girl group, IZ*ONE. They opened up with their hit single, Violeta, pop song mixed with electronic elements. Highlight followed up with its cool vibe and sexy moves. They then performed their debut single, La Vie En Rose. To bring in a happy atmosphere, they performed Airplane, a high-energy pop song, produced by AB6IX member, Lee Daehwi. To close out the set, they performed the theme song of their season of Produce 48, Pick Me.
Boy group Nu’est was tasked with closing out the first night’s concert. They opened up with Deja Vu, a song with a latin/Caribbean vibe. They slowed things down with the sensual, Love Paint. Picking up the pace, they performed R.L.T.L, a song with a nice dance beat. To close out the night, they performed their hit single, Bet Bet.
To end the night, all of the artists came out to a downpour of confetti to greet fans goodbye. This was a very strong lineup of artists and performances. Lucky for fans that planned to attend the second night, there was a whole new list of artists to see.
Photos Courtesy of CJ ENM