aespa concludes its first-ever concert, complete with avatars and new songs

Home > Entertainment > K-pop

aespa concludes its first-ever concert, complete with avatars and new songs

Published: 27 Feb. 2023, 15:32 Updated: 27 Feb. 2023, 17:25

Girl group aespa at its first concert, ″Synk: Hyper Line″ [SM ENTERTAINMENT]

With 11 never-before-heard songs, fantastical laser shows and virtual avatars, girl group aespa successfully staged its first concert since its debut in November 2020 with a performance that showed their future is brighter than the current dismal journey of their agency, SM Entertainment.

The four members of aespa — Karina, Winter, Giselle and Ningning — wrapped up their first concert “Sync: Hyper Line” on Feb. 26 at the Jamsil Indoor Stadium in Songpa District, southern Seoul.

The Jamsil Sports Complex Station on subway line No. 2 was already packed with people at around 3 p.m. Sunday, about two hours before the start of the concert. Fans' excitement grew stronger the closer they got to the venue. Fan-designed banners hanging outside the sports complex and a parked truck with a massive display playing fan videos welcomed visitors from the outside.

“I’m so looking forward to the concert. I've been a fan of aespa since their debut and I always wanted to see them,” a 20-year-old Chinese student studying in Korea surnamed Chen said.

Many concertgoers waited at the venue hours before the concert, some to take commemorative photos, some to queue in line to buy official merchandise, and some, like Chen, to trade merchandise with other fans at the venue.

“I came to aespa’s concert because it took place perfectly with my [already planned] trip to Korea," said a fan from the Philippines, expressing their excitement to see a K-pop artist for the first time.

The girl group kicked off the concert at 5 p.m. with its most recent hit, “Girls” (2022), accompanied by a surprise electric guitar performance by lead vocalist Winter and followed by three songs from the group’s first EP, “Savage” (2021).

“Menagerie,” a solo track co-written by Karina, was the first unreleased song to be performed at the concert. As a song about the group’s futuristic fictional universe, the performance made good use of the stage effects that the agency is famous for, including laser shows designed by SM Entertainment's in-house performance director Shim Jea-won and a large transparent OLED screen that changed throughout her performance on stage.

The transparent display stayed for the following song “Illusion,” from their second EP "Girls." On the display, the four virtual members of aespa — known as “ae” — performed alongside the “real” idols, and the members were open to talking about it in between shows.

“You know how you guys saw our ae friends on that transparent display? That thing is really expensive,” Winter said with a laugh.

“Hot Air Balloon” was a welcome outlier within aespa’s discography, many of which have to do with its dark fictional universe. For the new track, a catchy upbeat pop song about girls who are crushing on someone, aespa members dressed up in bright outfits and danced cute choreography with big dolls as a prop — an unexpected detour from the girl group’s usual performance and vibe.

Other members also took turns performing solo on stage — all to songs not before released — with each song having been designed to suit each member. Winter showed off her vocals with the ballad track “Lips,” while Giselle sang “2Hot4U,” a hip-hop track for which she helped write the lyrics and rap portion. “Wake up,” a dance-rap song, went to the group’s main dancer, Ningning.

The group also performed the remaining six new tracks “Thirsty,” “I’m Unhappy,” “Don’t Blink,” “YOLO,” “Salty & Sweet” and “Till We Meet Again.”

Sunday's concert also featured many of the agency’s artists in the audience, with members from TVXQ, Super Junior, Girls' Generation, SHINee, Red Velvet, NCT Dream, WayV and DJ Raiden all coming to support the girl group.

Throughout the two-and-a-half-hour concert, aespa performed a total of 25 tracks. The 11 new songs served as a pleasant surprise for the girl group's fans who had been patiently waiting for any sort of new release.

The concert being held at all was also a relief to many fans, as it had been reported that SM’s youngest K-pop group had been caught up in the turmoil surrounding the agency’s takeover.

When the founder Lee Soo-man made a surprise announcement earlier this month that he would be selling 14.8 percent of his shares to HYBE — the agency behind boy band BTS, executives at SM Entertainment released official statements condemning such “hostile takeovers” and claiming that the founder was “ruining the company,” saying that aespa’s comeback had to be delayed and canceled due to founder Lee ordering the girl group to “sing a song with the idea of planting trees.”

Many fans at the concert also responded negatively when asked about HYBE’s takeover of SM.

“As a long-time fan of SM [Entertainment], I just hope HYBE leaves SM alone,” said a 25-year-old surnamed Lee, who said he’d continue to support the girl group regardless.

Other non-Korean fans, while admitting that they didn't fully understand the details, said they were worried about the takeover.

A 24-year-old Chinese fan who visited Korea to attend the concert said that he doesn't really like HYBE, though he did not give any reasons, and added that is why he doesn't want SM Entertainment, which represents his favorite girl group, to be taken over by the company.

Another fan from the Philippines said, “While I can’t comment in detail [about the matter] because I don’t understand every detail about the incident, I don’t think I want HYBE to acquire SM."

aespa will continue “Synk: Hype Line” in Japan starting on March 15. The girl group will also release its first full-length album in April.