TWICE’s Sydney Show Brought Me Back To Life
I'm back to being a full-time ONCE.
In their first foray down under, TWICE reminded me why I first fell in love with K-Pop.
Often referred to as “the nation’s girl group“, TWICE has been a central part of the K-pop scene as soon as they debuted in 2015. Chosen as the nine victors from the reality series SIXTEEN, one of the ever-popular K-Pop survival shows where a plucky group of trainees complete a series of challenges to prove they have what it takes to be an idol, TWICE came out swinging. Their second single ‘Cheer Up’ became a viral hit (ask any TWICE fan to do Sana’s shy shy shy) and cemented them as the sweethearts of K-Pop.
TWICE’s 2010s discography is almost exactly what you might imagine a K-Pop group to be: bright, colourful, and cute. Their sugar sweet visuals and pop sound was a big reason I fell into the world of K-Pop and couldn’t get out. But after a while, it lost its lustre. Every new song felt like it had the same ‘perfect’ sheen, and I started to lose interest. What brought me back wasn’t TWICE, but rookie groups like New Jeans and Le Sserafim that came in with a completely new vibe and decidedly put the entire K-Pop industry in a chokehold. It felt like the whole K-pop landscape was changing, and it was leaving groups like TWICE behind.
That was until TWICE’s Ready To Be world tour. It’s the first time the girls have come to Australia, and honestly, I almost didn’t go. I loved their early singles, but it almost felt like I had outgrown them. Never have I been more wrong.
I felt a new appreciation for their newer releases, like ‘Moonlight Sunrise‘ and ‘Talk That Talk‘ after seeing them perform it live on-stage. And yes, mics were on. Jihyo sounded like she’d eaten the CD for breakfast as usual, Nayeon was definitely a star (like she’d always wanted), and hearing Jeongyeon again warmed my soul. The live band on stage brought a new sound to their older singles, and their title track medley filled with their OG hits like ‘What Is Love‘ and ‘Heart Shaker‘ literally made me weep.
But the real game changer was their solo performances. Crowd favourite Dahyun sang an enchanting piano ballad. Chaeyoung performed her own song about her guitar. Nayeon treated us to a performance her solo single ‘Pop’. Jeongyeon looked like she was having the time of life covering ‘Juice’ by Lizzo. Tzuyu channeled her inner Michael Jackson while covering Charlie Puth’s ‘Done For Me’.
Incredible performances, no doubt. The other four, though? Hoo boy. Before the solos, a few of the members worked the audience and made a few jokes about bringing some sexy energy to the stage. It was a little confusing because, like I mentioned, that was never really TWICE’s thing. But Mina, Momo, Sana, and Jihyo proved me wrong on every possible count. Every member was incredible, but Sana’s sultry cover of Dua Lipa’s ‘New Rules’, and Momo’s powerful dance performance to Beyoncé’s ‘Move’? Wow. IYKYK.
As fire as every single performance was from TWICE, the best part of the concert was seeing the Qudos Bank Arena completely packed out for the second night in a row, even on a bloody Wednesday.
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Cheering my lungs out with the crowd gave me a new lease on life, and it was especially charming to hear the crowd sing along to the occasional English words in TWICE’s Korean repertoire. While I rocked up to the concert in boring office clothes, true TWICE fans (known as ONCE) did not disappoint with their concert looks. I’ll say it now: ONCEs are the best dressed fandom in K-Pop.
TWICE’s Ready To Be tour swiftly reminded me why they’re still one of the best in the game, and how much fun K-Pop is, especially live. I will now, of course, be attending every K-Pop group that makes their way to Australia and buying all the merch. RIP to my bank account.
Photo credit: TWICE / Jype Entertainment