By Jaliyah Fitch, Opinions Editor
Starting this year, hit K-pop girl group, TWICE, embarked on their 6th world tour. TWICE–– one of the best-selling K-pop girl groups of all time is a nine-member South Korean music group formed by JYP Entertainment in 2015. TWICE have achieved a massive global following over the past decade with: multiple world tours, awards, over 20 million in album sales, and more! Needless to say, these girls are K-pop icons of no small renown.
On Saturday, January 17 and Sunday January 18, TWICE’S “This Is Four” tour performed at the Oakland Arena! Luckily, I was able to attend the Saturday show, and in a series of thrilling events, I’ll be recounting what I loved most about the experience and sharing some insight on my favorite performances of the night!
The Venue:
TWICE performed at the Oakland Coliseum Arena! Opening night was absolutely packed, with four lines wrapped around the arena entrances with fans (onces) chatting, taking pictures, buying merch, etc!
From the inside, the arena was filled with people! Many fans brought their lightsticks (candybongs). Now I personally didn’t get the chance to snag one before the show…But nevermind that!
The performance had a 360 stage, giving the whole arena an up-close view of the show even from the nosebleeds seats. This elevated the experience for me personally, as I was up in the higher seats, and I was able to see everything!
The Merch:
At the concert, the typical merch goers could buy ranged from t-shirts, sweatshirts, hats, tote bags, blankets, keyrings, and more!
Image via: livenation.kpop on instagram
I personally wish we got the chance to purchase official plushies or lightsticks, but thinking logically–they probably wouldn’t have enough for all of us. After all, with around 19,000 people at the show, merchandise was bound to be limited.
The Show!!:
Now for the actual show, I couldn’t find another word to describe it other than phenomenal! As a longtime fan of Twice, I was in absolute awe at seeing some of my favorite songs being performed live.
The opening act kicked off with the song “This is For”, which was an amazing opening considering just how many fans were singing and dancing along to this number. Out of all the songs in act one, my favorites were: This is Four, Strategy, I Can’t Stop Me, and Moonlight Sunrise.
There was also a dance intermission leading into act II that was an artwork of choreography! It incorporated contemporary, lyrical and hip hop elements that felt so ethereal and grounding all in one.
Act II had amazing visuals following the performance “Mars.” The screen projecting the stars felt so immersive like I was walking through an exploratorium exhibit. However, my favorite songs in this act were by far “Gone”, “The Feels”, “Cry for Me”, and “Right Hand Girl.” Not to mention the band showcase instrumental after Right Hand Girl was absolutely breathtaking!
Act III gave the individual members their chances to show off with their solo songs. A lot of fans seemed to love Tzuyu’s “Dive In” and Jiyho’s “ATM”. My favorite solo performances were Nayeon’s “MEE” and “Chess” by Dahyun.
Admittedly, Nayeon is my bias (which is someone’s favorite idol(s) in a group), so I am playing favorites here. However, Dahyun’s use of playing the piano felt sobering in wake of all the intense songs in act II, not to mention it was also a good way to accommodate for her injury. She was still able to give an eyecatching performance despite not doing any extensive choreography–which was a lovely show of artistry from her end!
Now by far, act VIII was my favorite part of the concert. All of the fan favorites: Fancy, What is Love, Dance the Night Away, and One Spark were all in this act–single handedly causing my sore throat after the concert. I can’t say I had a favorite song from this part, as I loved every single one of them! However, seeing Fancy live brought me back to 6th grade in such a vivid light.
One initial gripe I did have was that “Feel Special” did not get performed. I had heard rumors online that the song got removed from the setlist in order for members to cover the song “Takedown” from Kpop demon hunters. That night, we had gotten Takedown, so I expected not to get “Feel Special” as a result–leaving a lot of fans disappointed.
However, TWICE came back on stage for an encore number, and many fans started chanting for them to perform “Feel Special.” So by the end of the night, we actually got to see both Takedown and Feel Special in the same show!
I have no other critiques for this show, I personally had an amazing time. I feel lucky that I got to see TWICE for my first concert because they were absolutely stunning! I highly recommend that others look into TWICE because not a single song in that concert was a skip! The girls had such wonderful energy, the visuals were breathtaking, and all the fans were dressed so cute and super energetic during the show!
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