"빠져 drown, drown, because of you, you"
Photo by MIN, KpopConcertsEurope (@MINdoesKPOP)
ONEUS are finally in Europe!
In November, the five member boygroup made a stop in Tilburg and Berlin - after having not been able to perform in Germany due to having Covid - to perform at "013" and "Columbiahalle" respectively. Almost 3.000 TO MOONs celebrated Seoho, Hwanwoong, Keonhee, Xion and Leedo at each stop for their elegent choreographies and catchy songs.
Let's take a look at how "La Dolce Vita" was celebrated in Europe!
The Venue | Tilburg
The 013 Poppodium has been around for years, holding approximately 300 concerts every year from various artists. The concert hall has a capacity of 3000. 013 has mentioned in the past that they want to expand further into the Kpop genre. Apart from Oneus, Dreamcatcher and Cix also performed here this year.
Tickets were not sold out, except for Tier 1, other tiers still had some tickets available, but the venue was pretty full. The concert hall has several entries for the tiers, this made it easy to enter (and to leave afterwards) Because the 013 has a levelled (stairlike) layout, you get a pretty good view of the stage no matter where you are standing
Normally the venue is easy to get to with a 10 min walk from the train station, and a few minutes from the parking garage. Sadly, due to the bad weather on the concert day, it was a challenge this time to get to the venue on time, since some public transportation was delayed or even cancelled completely. Those who made it to the concert venue had to wait outside in the heavy wind and rain. Some fans were so eager to see Oneus, they had been waiting in line since the evening before.
It was not permitted to bring large bags into the venue, but large lockers outside were available to store these, inside there were smaller lockers to store jackets, small bags or merchandise that was bought at the merch stand.
Official tour merchandise was sold at the venue trough kpop store Hey!Hallyu. The line for the merchandise stand was long – before and after the concert, but the staff was prepared for this, even still after the concert pretty much everything was sold out.
The Venue | Berlin
ONEUS performed at "Columbiahalle", a well known venue in Berlin that holds up to 3.500 fans. The boygroup was, in fact, not the first K-Pop act to graze the venue since aespa, DAY6 and soon-to-come fellow boygroup P1Harmony did or will be performing at "Columbiahalle" as well. "Columbiahalle" is only a ten minutes walk from U-Bahn station "Platz Der Luftbrücke" away. Parking, though, is virtually impossible, so visitors are advised to take U-Bahn to get to the venue.
Despite being a highly anticipated group, the venue closed its upper rank for ONEUS' concert, making everyone stand in the pit in front of the stage.
The Organization | Tilburg
Due to some miscommunication regarding our tickets, we had to wait outside the venue for over an hour until we could finally go inside. Once inside we received the wrong wristband, resulting in us not being able to enter the right part of the venue. After some back and forth with the 013-staff, we were finally given the right wristband and entered moments before the show started. Luckily, the concert started a good 10 minutes later than planned. Our guess is this was done intentionally to ensure all the fans were inside the venue, as it seemed to take a long time for everyone to enter.
The Organization | Berlin
ONEUS' concert in Germany was organized by Trinity Music. They were also in charge of organizing aespa's concert at Columbiahalle back in September and are known to bring K-Pop artists to Germany's capital.
Fans took their frustration about the chaotic organization to TikTok (source: 1, 2) where they explained that fans were getting hurt while trying to enter the venue.
People who had gotten the VIP and VVIP packages also mentioned having been sent back outside after their Soundcheck experience and being forced to freeze in the cold November weather. Entry was delayed for over 30 minutes with staff not being able to control and guide fans to get inside the venue safely.
The Concert | Tilburg
19:42. The crashing waves projected on the main screen and blue stage lights suddenly shut off at the sound of thunder. Oneus enters the stage in mainly white outfits with frills, their back ground dancers wearing black. They start with their latest single ‘Baila Conmigo’, a song that due to the use of Spanish always gives me summer vibes, followed by ‘Erase Me’. The background dancers seemed excited to perform, as they kept dancing and lip syncing to the song even when they were off stage.
Next up was the first ment with group and member introductions. All ments were mainly done in Korean and translated by an offstage English translator. Oneus shared how it was their first time performing in Europe. “We should have come earlier and we will come back often” to which the crowd shouted in agreement.
The theme ‘blue’ continued throughout the concert with a heavy accent on blue stage lighting and blueish backgrounds on the main screen. The fourth song ‘Full Moon’ was in contrast with this trend and used red stage lights and a red full moon on screen. This song was giving (sexy) Halloween vibes; very fitting to be performed in the week of Halloween.
In the next ment Keonhee accidently said “New Zealand” in Korean, correcting himself shyly with “Netherlands”. Don’t worry Keonhee, we forgive you! Oneus also shared: “I thought this was a cold city, but it became hot thanks to you”.
Oneus and To Moon practiced how to wave their light sticks in a rhythmical and orderly fashion to the refrain of ‘Valkyrie’. Valkyrie, their debut song and one of my personal favourites, was performed as a rock version.
After a VCR portraying daily life aesthetic shots alternating with underwater shots, Oneus returns in baby blue and white satin outfits. The next few songs were all traditional Korean inspired: Intro Window, Luna and Lit and performed with hand fans as props and Korean symbolism on screen. Particularly with the performance of ‘Lit’ you could feel the energy of To Moon rising.
Ment: Oneus spots a huge banner on the balcony: “Today is my birthday and you are my present”. They ask what the person’s name is, but Oneus can’t hear her clearly, which starts a discussion if her name was Linda or Lieke. Oneus and To Moon sing the Korean version of happy birthday together. I ran into Linda/Lieke after the concert and asked her what her name was, but unfortunately didn’t get an answer before she took off with her banner still in hand. Regardless of your name, I hope you had a great birthday! During this ment, Oneus gets so hyped they forget to stop talking every now and again so the translator could translate for the non-Korean speaking fans.
Oneus surprises the venue with ‘We Will Rock You’ and ‘Shape of My Heart’. Oneus explains that they prepared these English songs for us since we always try our hardest to follow along with the Korean Lyrics.
Photo by Tessa (@tessavageee)
During the performance of ‘Unforgettable’ Oneus put in extra effort to connect with the fans personally by making eye contact and using the fans’ phones to record small pieces of the concert.
The next VCR had a mermaid concept, after which Oneus re-entered the stage in black leather look outfits with their background dancers dressed in white.
Ment: “Rumour is that European people know to party”, to which in response To Moon starts singing “tu tudu tutu tu duuu” (Seven Nation Army by the White Stripes). Oneus is confused as to what this means and start imitating To Moon’s singing and making their own remixed version.
The ment ends with Oneus warning us “to be careful, a beast will come out”, giving us a hint for the next song. They get into position to perform ‘Lion Heart’ when the music all of a sudden makes a very bad screeching sound. Hwanwoong suggests to do a wave in the meantime. After doing a few waves they start their second attempt with the song and luckily succeed without any further technical difficulties. This song is definitely the underdog performance of tonight and managed to turn the concert hall into a club for a few minutes.
Oneus surprises the venue with ‘We Will Rock You’ and ‘Shape of My Heart’. Oneus explains that they prepared these English songs for us since we always try our hardest to follow along with the Korean Lyrics.
Oneus is looking, and sounding, particularly angelic with their performance of ‘Epilogue’, executed seated under five spotlights.
Ment: After promising us that “We will come back for sure” and “We will come back more often in the future”, Oneus leaves the stage. They return in their tour merchandise, which was also sold at the venue, for the encore. They finish their stage with ‘Last Song’, which originally was an iconic joint performance between Oneus and brother group Onewe.
All in all, the performance of tonight was great! Oneus was sweet and energetic and really tried to connect with the crowd especially during the ments. The fans were respectful as well. The only downside was not being able to see the stage directly through the sea of phones in front of us, but that is a pet peeve of mine that I always struggle with during concerts. There were a few moments during the performance where I must admit to realising that former member Ravn’s rapping was missing, as I am still used to hearing their older songs with his rap included. However, the members that took over his parts did a great job.
Hopefully Oneus will make good on their promise to come back more often because this is a group that you definitely will not regret seeing live!
The Concert | Berlin
So imagine the shock and excitement fans felt when they finally got the confirmation that yes, ONEUS are making their way to Europe for their "La Dolce Vita" tour in November 2023.
That excitement surely didn't just stop the second TO MOONs entered "Columbiahalle".
Fans were cheering the second the screens were implying the show was about to start. Unfortunately for people who had to catch a train, the show started about 15 minutes late, leaving people to wander around in Berlin.
With an explosive opening, performing their last comeback songs "Baila Conmigo" and "Erase Me", ONEUS got the crowd going absolutely wild. The cheers grew even louder during their first ment where the group introduced themselves one by one.
Fan interaction was a big thing that evening with ONEUS asking where people originally came from ("Ireland", "Italy" and even "Ecuador" were answers that surely surprised the boys) and always making sure that TO MOONs would take care of each other. Unfortunately, ONEUS had to stop their ments a few time, asking people to back away and if fans in the pit needed water or simply space to breathe. Nearing the end of the show, it had gotten so bad for some people that parademics dragged fans out of the crowd to make sure they wouldn't faint.
Their worried faces quickly lit up when fans and the group started to talk about German food. Members mentioned having had beer and Schweinshaxe already (except for Keonhee who piped up, saying "no beer, baby", implying he didn't really have good alcohol tolerance) and when fans loudly proclaimed ONEUS had to try "döner", they noticed the dish quickly and asked if they should be eating "kebab" after the show. ONEUS also let the fans know to try soju if they ever came to Korea, leading to this evening's interpreter calmly explaining that the group should probably stop talking about alcohol, considering there were minors in the room.
After a setlist full of happiness with members carrying each other around on stage and joking with the fans, the group eased into more vocally challenging songs with impressive high notes during "COME BACK HOME". They proved they were singing live the entire time during "Epilogue" when the background music stopped, turning this set into an acapella version of the song. ONEUS also took song requests and began to sing "Life Is Beautiful", a sentiment fans definitely shared that evening.
ONEUS showed their love to TO MOONs, telling them they were going to come back to Europe and how excited they were to finally be performing in Germany after their performance at KPOP FLEX had to be cancelled. Their feelings to their fans can best be described as one of their ending ments: "I love you so much ... danke!"
To end this glorious evening with a bang, ONEUS came up with remix versions of their hits "Shut Up 받고 Crazy Hot!" and "BLACK MIRROR", turning the venue into a club before they bid their goodbyes with their last song "Last Song".
The Setlist
Gallery
Check out all the pictures from the concert on our Gallery Page
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