By Liah Mckee & Sophie Vu
*This is a concert review of the first day of ENHYPEN’s Manifesto: Day 1 tour in Anaheim, on Sunday, October 2, 2022.
The anticipation in the arena rises as lightsticks flicker and the stage lights dim. The mysterious harp melody of “Given-Taken” starts to play, and the audience responds accordingly with their excitement-filled cheers and shouts. It’s such a surreal experience seeing your idols perform in front of you, as everyone seems in disbelief that this was really happening.
ENHYPEN is the fourth-generation powerhouse group of K-pop. Despite being a barely two-year-old rookie group, they have sold over 2 million album copies in just their first year of promotions. With their growing international fanbase, the boys kick-started their first world tour this September, inspired by their most recent album “Manifesto: Day 1.”
The group consists of seven members: Jungwon, Heeseung, Jay, Jake, Sunghoon, Sunoo and Ni-ki. ENHYPEN was formed through a Korean audition program called “I-LAND.” Through the show, the fans were really able to connect with each member and genuinely understand just how passionate they are for their dreams and music. They truly are a group of aces, all with so much unique and unbelievable talent. They are among the few groups in K-pop with no official positions, except their leader. Now as active artists, the boys can tackle any concept ranging from edgy gangsters to royalty. By challenging themselves with different takes on music, the ENGENEs, ENHYPEN’s fans, are guaranteed to always be hanging on the edge of their seat.
The Honda Center in Anaheim was the biggest venue of the tour with a capacity of 18,000, and it was also the first stop of the US leg of the tour. They played two shows, selling out both nights. The group also sold out all other stops of their tour with fans demanding more shows, desperate for tickets.
Here are some highlights of the unforgettable night.
One In A Billion
“One In A Billion” is the theme song for ENHYPEN’s original webtoon, “Dark Moon: The Blood Altar”. Being a relatively new release, the fact that it made it onto the tour’s setlist was quite surprising. Judging by the audience’s reactions when the music started playing, you could easily tell that a lot of people were excited to be hearing the song live, but were also not expecting it at all. Being one of my personal favorites, it was an absolutely amazing feeling to experience it being performed live. With the stage colors being dark red, accented with roses and full moons, they made sure to highlight the dim, mysterious and “vampire-esque” aspects of the song. “One In A Billion” was definitely one of the loudest and most exhilarating moments of the night.
Polaroid Love
Being such a sweet and cheery song, ENHYPEN pumps up the experience by leaving the stage to directly go and interact with the audience during this special performance. The boys’ walked down aisles, high-fiving and communicating with ENGENEs while holding video cameras (hinting at the “Polaroid” part of the song title). Fans were able to experience a mini meet-and-greet with their idols, something that is pretty uncommon to happen at concerts. For people seated in higher, not as accessible areas of the venue, “Polaroid Love” might have been the track that they dreaded the most, as they are only able to interact with fans in the lower half of the arena. Despite your seated area, it was amazing to see the boys’ taking up every opportunity to spend more intimate time with their fans.
Just A Little Bit
As their most soft and slow ballad track playing, the cheers quieted down for the majority of this song. The audience immersed themselves in the boys’ sweet and dreamy vocals as they listened in awe. With most of their songs being up-beat and high-energy beats, “Just A Little Bit” is one of the few opportunities that ENHYPEN gets to showcase their true vocal ability and emotional control. Having the 3D effect of being in an arena, it was a whole different experience than just blasting it through your headphones. With the stage set-up having an overall calm feel, the audience was able to turn their full attention to the boys’ expressions and astounding vocals.
Go Big Or Go Home
“Go Big Or Go Home” is easily one of ENHYPEN’s most energetic and bouncy songs. So when the intro started playing, you could visibly see the whole crowd stand up from their seats and immediately start to sing along. Also having one of the most iconic choreographies, during the chorus you could also see many ENGENEs dancing along. Before the last verse, there is a mini dance break that is perhaps the most anticipated part of the whole song. During this period, the ENGENEs participated in a “fanchant.” In this “fanchant”, the fans chanted the names of the members in unison and in order, while staying on beat with the song. Having a full arena of lively and spirited fans, chanting together really gets the adrenaline pumping. The energy of the crowds during “Go Big Or Go Home” was truly incomparable.
Shout Out
“Shout Out” is notably the most sentimental and special of all of their tracks. The song and lyrics are dedicated to the journey that ENHYPEN and the ENGENEs have walked through together. Member Jake co-wrote the lyrics to this song, pouring his true heart and thoughts into it. Getting to hear this song live was an experience that so many ENGENEs, including myself, will never forget.
We knew how big of a milestone it was for ENHYPEN to be on this tour, and were determined to make this last song of the night as special and memorable as possible. Weeks before the concert, ENGENEs had planned a secret project that consisted of passing out bright orange slogan banners with the writing “YOU’RE BLOWING UP OUR HEART” (a tribute to one of the most memorable lyrics in the song, “You’re blowing up my heart.”) to all concert attendees and holding them up for ENHYPEN after “Shout Out.” When seeing these banners, you could clearly see the surprise in the boys’ faces as they saw their fans unite together to create an unforgettable and beautiful memory for the both of them.
In their ending comments before they left the stage, each member expressed their thanks and messages to ENGENEs.
“You guys were so amazing, we had such a good start off to the Manifesto tour, and I just wanna say one thing. I said this a couple of times but you know, you guys really are the reason I wake up every day, you guys really are the reason I can smile, and just without you guys I’ll be nothing, so you guys are really my everything. So, thank you guys for always being there for me and I really hope you guys follow us through this journey that we’re going through right now. Just, I don’t know, I just love you guys so much. I don’t think words can really do justice but I just love you guys so much, so thank you,” Jake said, as both ENHYPEN and ENGENEs cherished these last few moments together.
This tour is just the beginning of what ENHYPEN has in store for the world. With the impact that they have had and the milestones that they have reached in their short amount of time as a group, the future for them is as bright as the stars. With their first Japanese album “定め”, releasing on the 26th of this month, we are anxious to see all of the amazing content that they’ve prepared for us this time. Knowing the effort, blood, sweat and tears that these boys’ pour into their work, as “Always” we know they won’t disappoint.
