It’s certainly a cliche, but it’s also true that there’s no one else in K-pop quite like SEVENTEEN.
Over the past decade, K-pop has grown to a place where fans can sift through groups of varying sizes, styles, and aesthetics to fit their preferences almost to a science. With the sub-genre’s still-growing popularity, it’s perhaps more difficult than ever to carve out a loyal fan base – but carve SEVENTEEN did.
Composed of 13 members and initially the product of a smaller label that has since been absorbed into Seoul behemoth HYBE, SEVENTEEN scraped and fought desperately for a place of their own in a crowded musical landscape, embracing the built-in theatricality that accompanies the size of their team, their shared passion for spectacle, and a commitment to forging a brotherhood. On Saturday, November 9th at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles — the band’s US stadium debut — a decade of work was on full display.
SEVENTEEN is composed of S.Coups, Jeonghan, Joshua, Jun, Hoshi, Wonwoo, Woozi, DK, Mingyu, The8, Seungkwan, Vernon, and Dino. But the baker’s dozen team was cut down to 11 for the US leg of their 2024 “RIGHT HERE” tour, as Jeonghan has been called to complete his compulsory time in the South Korean military, while Jun accepted an acting opportunity in his native China filming through the end of the year.
And although it was clear that the members missed their absent bandmates, including them in video interludes and leaving space for them when taking a group photo, the mood at the Los Angeles stadium was undeniably joyful. Once the show began, that is — the start time was officially pushed by an hour ahead of time to accommodate for a playoff soccer game earlier in the day, then shifted by almost another hour and a half as many fans had difficulty entering, partially due to an EDM event happening simultaneously at next door’s Coliseum. Come midnight, SEVENTEEN were still dancing onstage, unwilling to cut down any of the pageantry prepared.
A grand, shiny stadium like BMO undeniably suits the members of SEVENTEEN, who kicked off the show in princely outfits, running through some of their darker cuts, including “Fear,” “Fearless,” and the moody “Ash.” The band then split into units, a tool they leverage both in their discography and on stage: there’s the hip-hop unit (S.Coups, Wonwoo, Mingyu, and Vernon), the performance team (Hoshi, The8, and Dino, missing Jun), and the vocal unit (Woozi, Joshua, DK, and Seungkwan, missing Jeonghan).