Stray Kids fans 'blow the roof off the dome' at last Seoul 'dominATE' concert

K-pop

Stray Kids fans 'blow the roof off the dome' at last Seoul 'dominATE' concert

Published: 02 Sep. 2024, 15:27 Updated: 02 Sep. 2024, 18:53

YOON SO-YEON
yoon.soyeon@joongang.co.kr

Boy band Stray Kids performs at the Seoul concert of its ″dominATE″ world tour at the KSPO Dome in southern Seoul. [JYP ENTERTAINMENT]

Deafening, dizzying and delightfully devout — thunderous roars from Stray Kids fans were powerful enough to even drown out the band's infamously loud and wacky music during the 200-minute-long "dominATE concert," something that left the members in a state of awe.

“Is this truly happening? I can’t believe the heat here today,” Hyunjin said, pushing the already-excited crowd into a frenzy during the last Seoul “dominATE” concert held Sunday at southern Seoul’s KSPO Dome.

As Hyunjin took out his onstage earpiece, used to communicate with production staff and hear the music, the crowd responded with an even louder holler, enough to “blow the roof off the dome,” according to member Changbin.

“STAY, the energy here today is really shocking,” he said, calling the crowd by Stray Kids’ official fan club name. “I forgot to charge my phone yesterday, but I won’t need to because I’m getting charged up with all the energy and passion today. I really feel like we can take the energy from here today to pull off the rest of our tour happily and healthily.”

Stray Kids kicked off its world tour “dominATE” with four concerts at southern Seoul’s KSPO Dome, held on Aug. 24, 25, Saturday and Sunday, before beginning the Asian leg of its third worldwide venture.

Members of of boy band Stray Kids performing at the band's ″dominATE″ Seoul concert at the KSPO Dome in southern Seoul [JYP ENTERTAINMENT]

The “dominATE” world tour comes a year and a half after Stray Kids’ second world tour “Maniac,” during which the band held 42 concerts in 18 cities around the world from April 2022 to April 2023, and a year since the band held its “5-Star Dome Tour” around four of Japan’s largest domes and the Gocheok Sky Dome in Korea from August to October 2023.

Holding four concerts in less than two months after the release of its latest album “ATE” on July 19 and also taking part in some of the biggest music festivals around the world, including I-Days, British Summer Time Hyde Park and Lollapalooza Chicago, was no easy task for the members, but the cheers from the crowd got them going.

“It was difficult having to pull off all these schedules, and we were worried whether we could satisfy everyone,” Lee Know said. “But as soon as we saw STAY enjoying our stage, like you do now, our concerns just blew away like magic. To us, you’re magicians. You make us go on, and we hope we do the same for you, too.”

“We rarely get nervous before going on the stage these days, but I felt so nervous about starting the Seoul concerts last week,” Changbin said. “But when we saw STAY truly enjoying our performances and jumping along with us, I came back to being myself to 'eat the stage' with the members.”

Boy band Stray Kids performs at the Seoul concert of its ″dominATE″ world tour at the KSPO Dome in southern Seoul. [JYP ENTERTAINMENT]

The eight members performed 32 songs for the crowd during the event, including the newest songs from the band's ninth EP “ATE,” including “Mountains,” “JJAM,” “I Like it” and lead track “Chk Chk Boom,” as well as the biggest hits from its discography, such as “Thunderous” (2021), “Maniac” (2022), “God’s Menu” (2020) and “Miroh” (2019).

The members also dazzled fans with solo songs that haven’t been released on official albums yet: Han’s “Hold my hand,” Lee Know’s “Youth,” Seungmin’s “As We Are,” Hyunjin’s “So Good,” Bang Chan’s “Railway,” I.N’s “Hallucation,” Felix’s “Unfair” and Changbin’s “Ultra.”

Apart from the perfect performances that Stray Kids pulled off, the chemistry that the members flaunted on stage — smiling at each other when they made eye contact, bursting out in laughter when a member made a small dance mistake and splashing each other with water — truly made fans see how Stray Kids enjoy themselves while performing.

Lee Know of boy band Stray Kids performing at the band's ″dominATE″ Seoul concert at the KSPO Dome in southern Seoul [JYP ENTERTAINMENT]

Bang Chan of boy band Stray Kids performing at the band's ″dominATE″ Seoul concert at the KSPO Dome in southern Seoul [JYP ENTERTAINMENT]

“It’s already September and we only have the last piece of this year ahead of us,” Seungmin said. “We went through a lot this year, and we really feel that we’ve grown thanks to everything. We hope that you know we always give all we have with every performance. We might pull pranks on each other and say cheeky things, but we’re always 100 percent honest and sincere on the stage and we hope you know that.”

Stray Kids debuted in March 2018 with "District 9" and quickly became one of the leading names in K-pop. The band gained fame due to its strong beats and electronic-slash-hip-hop style that global fans tended to prefer over the softer competition, evident through the band's hit songs performed during the “dominATE” concert.

Since the band debuted six years ago, 2025 would be its seventh year, a year when the members’ standard contract with their agency JYP Entertainment would expire. The uncertainty surrounding a group’s whereabouts after the seven-year contract period has led to the industry referring to it as “the devil’s seventh year” — but not for Stray Kids.

Seungmin of boy band Stray Kids performing at the band's ″dominATE″ Seoul concert at the KSPO Dome in southern Seoul [JYP ENTERTAINMENT] Seungmin

I.N of boy band Stray Kids performing at the band's ″dominATE″ Seoul concert at the KSPO Dome in southern Seoul [JYP ENTERTAINMENT]

All members renewed their contracts with JYP Entertainment in July, a year earlier than they were set to end, putting the fans at ease.

“We told you that you don’t have to worry about ‘the devil’s seventh year’ with us and we’re really glad and grateful that we were able to keep that promise,” Changbin said. “Thank you so much and thank you to everyone at JYP Entertainment.”

Stray Kids’ latest album “ATE” clinched the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200 albums chart upon its release in June, making it the band’s fifth consecutive album to top the Billboard chart. The band placed its sixth EP “Oddinary” atop the Billboard 200 for the first time in 2022 and since then, its albums “Maxident” (2022), “5-Star” (2023), “Rock-Star” (2023) and “ATE” also hit the No. 1 spot.

Changbin of boy band Stray Kids performing at the band's ″dominATE″ Seoul concert at the KSPO Dome in southern Seoul [JYP ENTERTAINMENT]

Felix of boy band Stray Kids performing at the band's ″dominATE″ Seoul concert at the KSPO Dome in southern Seoul [JYP ENTERTAINMENT]

“Chk Chk Boom” peaked at No. 49 on Billboard’s Hot 100 singles chart and No. 30 on the British Official Chart, the highest for the band.

“It is thanks to you that we can hold this larger tour and tour around the world,” Hyunjin said.

“This isn’t the end for us; we’ll meet more STAY around the world and come back to you,” Lee Know said. “I’ve remembered every one of your faces. You better be here when we hold our next concert in Korea, OK?”

Han of boy band Stray Kids performing at the band's ″dominATE″ Seoul concert at the KSPO Dome in southern Seoul [JYP ENTERTAINMENT]

Hyunjin of boy band Stray Kids performing at the band's ″dominATE″ Seoul concert at the KSPO Dome in southern Seoul [JYP ENTERTAINMENT]

Stray Kids will continue the “dominATE” tour with a concert in Singapore on Sept. 28, followed by stops in Melbourne on Oct. 19, Sydney on Oct. 26, Kaohsiung on Nov. 2, Tokyo on Nov. 14, 16 and 17, Manila on Nov. 23, Macau on Nov. 29 and 30, Osaka on Dec. 5, 7 and 8, Bangkok on Dec. 14 and Jakarta on Dec. 21. The band will end the Asian leg with finale performances in Hong Kong on Jan. 18 and 19 next year.

The tour will add new dates in the North and South American regions and Europe, according to the band’s agency JYP Entertainment.

BY YOON SO-YEON [yoon.soyeon@joongang.co.kr]