KCON LA 2024 Presented by Samsung Galaxy is back for another year, which means another lineup of concerts. When convention closes for the day, the doors at the Crypto.com Arena open up for the nightly M COUNTDOWN concerts. Friday July 26th hosted the star-studded Day 1 lineup.
The pre-show returned with a variety of acts. Boy group DXMON was the first to perform, starting things off with a bang. Following a hard hitting song with a brighter pop song. Boston Conservatory at Berklee returns with another mashup performance. This performing arts dance troupe mixes their contemporary dance style with several modern K-pop songs. Boy group DRIPPIN shows off their own colors with electro-pop and funky songs. Soloist Alexa closed out the pre-show acts with a pop-rock song accompanied by performers with electric guitars. Continuing a yearly contest, Asiana Airlines returned to present their raffle winner with a trip to Korea. And with that, the main show was set to begin.
As the lights went down, an introductory VCR played, featuring some of the weekend’s guest talent. Shortly after, the host of Day 1 raised from below the K-shaped stage, revealed to be boy group SF9’s Rowoon. Shortly after, boy group ZEROBASEONE took to the stage for a special appearance. They kicked things off with a high energy synth-pop song with “Crush.” Electro-pop song “Sweat” closed out their set with its summer vibes.
Members from boy group P1Harmony on stage to introduce survival show girl group, Kep1er. They started with the song they started their group with in “Wadada.” “LVLY” contrasted their debut song with a darker tone. To round things off, they ended their set with the very fun, “Back to the City.”
Members of BOYNEXTDOOR appeared in the stands to introduce the set of performances. Soloist BIBI started things off with her viral waltz hit, “Bam Yang Gang.” Immediately after, she flipped the switch with the hip-hop track, “Sugar Rush.” Further mixing things up, she ended her set with the dark viral track, “Vengeance.”
Japanese survival boy group, INI, returned for another KCON. They started off with the high-energy “Loud.” Next up was the throwback hip-hop sound of “Legit.” To end their set, they brought the tempo back up with the electro-pop track, “Fanfare.”
Continuing to connect with fans, host Rowoon appeared in the crowd to announce the next performance. Kep1er returned to put their own spin on previous popular KCON performance, Back Door (Original Stray Kids). This wasn’t just a dance cover, but it included their own vocals. It was great seeing them take on a genre that we don’t normally see.
BOYNEXTDOOR was next as they were lifted up from below the stage. They started off with the genre-bending song, “One and Only”. Keeping the crowd on their toes, the high-energy song, “Earth Wind & Fire,” continued to mix things up. Rock anthem, “But Sometimes,” rounded off their set.
Members of Kep1er showed up in the audience to introduce the penultimate act, P1Harmony. As spotlights shined into the audience, members of the boy group appeared as they made their way to the stage to the western sounding, “Everybody Clap.” They switched things up with the hip-hop genre, “Killin’ It.” The group closed out their set with a bass bumping track that shook the stands with, “Back Down.”
Members of BOYNEXTDOOR helped introduce the final act of the evening, TAEMIN of legendary boy group, SHINee. Flanked by six female dancers, he raised from the middle of the stage with a strong presence. Lasers filled the air as the orchestral music of the darker toned, “Guilty,” began to play. Anyone who’s watched their favorite idols do dance challenges would have been familiar with the viral choreography of this song. He followed this up with another dark but elegant song in, “Black Rose.” Another staple of KCON to bring fans closer to their favorite artists was the Dream Stage. Several fans auditioned in the morning at the convention for a chance to dance on the same stage of a chosen guest artist. “Guilty” was the Dream Stage of Day 1, as fans got to dance to this groovy song. After this rare moment was shared, it was unfortunately the last song of the night. As the lights rolled up and you saw TAEMIN and the dancers all with their hands tied, you knew it was going to end with a bang with the dance title, “Criminal.”
As cannons filled the air with raining confetti, it welcomed all of the artists back on stage for a final send-off for the night. Artists walked around greeting as many fans and interacting with each other before they walked backstage, marking the end of the show.
It’s always great to see a diverse lineup for these nightly M COUNTDOWN concerts. Even within each artist's individual sets, they brought a variety of song genres. I remember attending my first KCON in 2018 and broadening my catalog of groups to follow. I hope this year did the same for others out there. For more information on this and future events, fans are invited to visit www.kconusa.com.