Welcome back to Fan Chant, a weekly column for K-pop fans, followers, and newbies. This week, the members of IVE reflect on their first appearance at Chicago’s Lollapalooza festival. If you like what you're reading, feel free to… subscribe Sign up for my complimentary newsletter to receive Fan Chant straight to your inbox every week!
One thing about me? I love watching non-fans experience K-pop for the first time. There's something ridiculously fun about watching people experience how overwhelming everything is, from the outfits to the set construction, the camera work, the choreography, and the fan chants. I just happened to be walking by the concessions line.1 When IVE walked onto the T-Mobile stage at Lollapalooza last Saturday, he witnessed people working the booths leaning over the counters to get a glimpse of what was going on.
To their credit, IVE's set started off with a bang as live instrumentalists welcomed all six members to the stage for an impressive 11-song performance. Lollapalooza weekend was warm — Feel free to dig into the full festival rundown for more information on that — but IVE’s energy was laid-back and relaxed on stage, the members sporting flawless makeup and coordinating blue outfits. As they performed tracks like “ROYAL,” “Baddie,” and “ELEVEN,” they grew increasingly comfortable in front of the engaged audience, which was a mix of rookies and fans, known as DIVEs.
“It was really extraordinary,” GAEUL shared in the days following the concert. “We had a great time performing in front of everyone.”
“It was a dream come true to be able to perform at such an iconic and grand festival,” added JANGWONYOUNG. “We feel very honored to have performed there.”
Many of IVE’s biggest hits, such as “After Like” or their recent release “All Night,” make use of sampling: the former takes elements from Gloria Gaynor’s iconic “I Will Survive,” while the latter references Icona Pop’s song of the same name. This allowed new listeners in the audience to become familiar with IVE’s music and offered a connection point for anyone who wasn’t already familiar with the group.
“I hope the audience enjoyed the band live,” ANYUJIN emphasized. “It was a new experience for us and we loved the energy it brought to the performance. We hope everyone in attendance enjoyed our concert, from our DIVEs to everyone who saw us for the first time.”
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