Gig Review: P1Harmony at Spark Arena

P1HARMONY 
Spark Arena 
Sunday 24th September 

^{Words by Louise Morris}

The first thing I noticed about P1Harmony is that they showed immense appreciation and dedication to their fans. They hadn’t even entered the stage before they played a video of the group introducing themselves to the audience, one filled with gratitude and sincerity, then encouraging the fans to scan a QR code that popped up on the screen. When scanned, the code took you to a survey that asked a variety of questions, mostly focusing on feedback for the upcoming performance.  It was clear from the very start that what I had signed up for would be an experience like no other; they were committed to providing the audience with the best.

For those unfamiliar, P1Harmony is a six-member K-Pop group from South Korea, featuring Keeho, Theo, Jiung, Intak, Soul, and Jongseob Forming in 2020, their music style is a smooth blend with elements of pop, hip hop, EDM, highlighting their incredible talent of singing and dancing.

Just as it was immediately noticeable how passionate P1Harmony was, it was also obvious how committed their fans were. Stepping into the arena, fan signs scattered across the arena, and light sticks (a modernized version of the phone torch in the air) lit up the seats and floor like fireflies. 

They took to the stage bang on at 8 pm, fire shooting from the stage and lights shining directly on the members. They looked like they came straight out of a poster, each member posing dramatically towards the audience in their ‘Black Parade ’-esqe outfits. 

After their killer entrance, they moved on to ‘Backdown,’ clearly a popular song with the audience as they were singing along word for word. My ears were already splitting, not with how loud the music is, but instead with the insane cheers of the fans.

I didn’t notice straight away that only five members were performing, but shortly after performing their first few songs a crew member brought out a chair and fellow band member Soul came out to sit down with the rest of the group. After giving a quick introduction to the audience, Keeho, leader and fellow translator of the group, was quick to bring up that Soul had suffered from an injury and following doctors’ orders, couldn’t perform with the group that night. Soul spoke a few words himself, noticeably gutted that he couldn’t dance, but despite this setback, was still committed to being a part of the performance in any way he could. 

The performance was split into a mix of group, solo, and duo performances, with the members frequently transitioning on and off the stage with frequent costume changes. The songs ranged widely, from bangers such as ‘Secret Sauce’ that brought an intense energy to the stage, to more rap-dominated music performed by Intak and Jongseob, to softer and more intimate ballads, as well as a few covers of other popular songs; Jiung came out wearing the classic Michael Jackson fedora and white band singing ‘Love Never Felt So Good’. 

The performance was littered with many audience interactions, often with calls and responses to the audience and encouraging us to do certain dance moves with the songs, all of which everyone eagerly participated. At one point P1H got the audience to stand up and jump along to their appropriately titled song ‘Jump’.  

Before ending their concert, the members took to the floor to walk around and interact with their fans on a more personal level (but not before stressing the importance of safety). Each member, except Soul who was sadly stuck on the stage, sang with the audience and took photos with fans lucky enough to be at arms reach. 

My personal takes on the entire night:

-    One early happy birthday sung to Keeho

-    At least four costume changes (although their first lot of outfits were the highlight

-    So many ‘I love yous’