Oakland Arena (Oakland, CA)
07/17/24
On an unassuming Wednesday evening in July, the energy, charisma, spectacle, and drama of K-pop boy group ATEEZ filled the Bay Area’s Oakland Arena for a three-hour long show on the second stop of the North American leg of their “Towards The Light: Will To Power” world tour. Known as “Global Performance Idols” by Korean media, the eight members – Hongjoong, Seonghwa, Yunho, Yeosang, San, Mingi, Wooyoung, and Jongho – have cemented themselves as incredible performers with a strong international fan base. Living up to their reputation, this tour has shaped up to be their most ambitious and insane tour yet, with them bringing back their Kingdom: Legendary War director to create a show with a treatment that was more theatrical than ever (IYKYK – Kingdom was a show that pushed the participants’ performances to the next level). All that being said, their fans, known as “ATINY,” had much to look forward to for the show that night, filling the arena with the buzz of anticipation.
The scale of the stage design was immediately obvious, with a 16-meter steampunk-Eye-of-Sauron-esque tower centered on the stage, flanked by large LED screens that brought the visual elements of ATEEZ’s performance to life. The surveillance tower clearly ties into ATEEZ’s lore, which has been figured out by ATINYs analyzing their content and figuring out a very detailed chronicle of, putting it simply, ATEEZ as a rebel group call the “Black Pirates” fighting against a futuristic dystopia where emotion and expression are illegal. As the group took their places on the stairs platform under the tower, silhouetted and engulfed in fog, the crowd reached a fever pitch. The show opened with a bang – literally – as fireworks lit up the stage. The explosive start was a prelude to the energy that ATEEZ would maintain throughout the night. The production of the show came out in full force – Pyrotechnics, confetti, and lasers complemented the high-octane choreography and powerful vocals and rapping, creating an immersive experience that was both visually and aurally stunning. For ATEEZ, all that production is just the icing on the cake because their performance is absolutely big enough for it.
Packing in 25 songs and a number of dance/performance interludes, the intensity of their concert ramped up from the very first song, the popular “Crazy Form,” both on the stage and in the crowd. The iconic dance in the “Say My Name” chorus, Hongjoong’s guitar solo leading up to “Guerrilla,” and the well-timed shots (wink-wink) by their camera crew streamed on the large screen elicited loud screams from the crowds. It was clear how engaged the crowd were with ATEEZ’s performance on the stage; ATINYs screamed at the top of their lungs “Break the wall!” throughout “Guerrilla” and the possibly-hitting-too-close-to-home-for-some lyrics, “Gotta work, gotta make that money, make purse,” during their most recent hit from their latest E.P., Golden Hour: Part.1, “WORK.”
All eight members’ stamina was impressive as they poured out incredible amounts of energy, which proved to be contagious – getting the crowd on their feet and jumping all night. There was some reprieve in intensity during the youngest member and the group’s main vocalist Jongho’s performance, where he sang his solo “Everything” from their 2023 album, The World EP.Fin: Will, on a spiral staircase under a spotlight. It was probably also a nice reprieve for him from singing while executing ATEEZ’s hardcore choreography, which he does very well. The intensity returns by the final song before the encore, “WONDERLAND,” with the production pulling out all the stops, including two animatronic Kraken tentacles moving on stage (tying into ATEEZ’s pirate concept), pyro, and fireworks.
On top of the performance by the group, the coordination of additional stage elements with the show was impeccable, adding to the cohesive narrative of the overall performance. There were thirty seconds after the first few songs where the eye at the top of the tower tracked around the arena while live recordings of the audience were streamed to the screens, reflecting their lore of the dystopia where music and art is not allowed. Halfway through the show, one member picked up a prop light from a dancer and released it upward, lighting up the top of the tower transforming it into a tower of light rather than a monitoring eye. By the end of the night, there was an inflatable hand with a light on the open palm pointed at the ceiling. The clear narrative comes with the message: have the will to go towards the light, and that light is your unique identity.
For anyone wondering if ATEEZ lives up to the hype, the answer from Oakland was a resounding yes.
