The industry's pretty girl finally made her Waterbomb debut! After four years of being one of SM's most successful solo acts, she finally made her long-awaited appearance at the hottest festival of the summer, and like everything Namie does, her set was gold! She had previously said herself that she didn't want to perform at Waterbomb as a soloist until she had enough summer hits, and after releasing the song of the summer this year, she undoubtedly made a splash. So, let's go over what happened, shall we?
˗ˏˋ ꒰ ♡ ꒱ ˎˊ˗ ( WHAT SHE WORE ... ! )
˗ˏˋ ꒰ ♡ ꒱ ˎˊ˗ ( THE SETLIST … ! )
WHY DON’T YOU KNOW
OPENING MENT … !
BUBBLEGUM
BLUE CHAMPAGNE
KNOCK
INTERMISSION … !
HEY GIRL
NO. 1
HIGH ROLLER
I’M NOT COOL
OBSESSED
BE MY BABY (LOVEY DOVEY)
CLOSING MENT … !
CUTIE HONEY
˗ˏˋ ꒰ ♡ ꒱ ˎˊ˗ ( WHAT WENT DOWN … ! )
She's finally here, y'all! Namie's at Waterbomb! We did it!
Namie nation was so pissed every time she didn't go for the last two years, but once SM announced that she'd be going, it was all sunshine and rainbows for the first time since 2022!
She reached the peak of her fame (again) this year, so she and the rest of Pink Marmalade were trending like hell!
Namie has always had quite a lot of creative control over her solo work, and it was obvious here! She was so involved when it came to her styling for the festival (because of course she was), and she went full Y2K! She was taking inspiration from Paris Hilton, Nicole Richie, Ciara... like in the weeks leading up to Waterbomb she was quite literally making whole moodboards. Like, girl, it was serious.
And speaking of styling, let's get into those boots! No one knows how Namie's stylist even sourced those, but somehow it happened. They were truly the cutest thing that any idol has ever worn to Waterbomb, and "HER BOOTS" was trending for hours. So many people were attempting to find them, and Depop crashed a couple times as a result... oops!
Her Versace bikini top was also quite the hot topic! Like, fashion icon we know this already!
Aside from that, Namie's setlist was insane. She literally had all of her hits, all of the summer bops... but a good chunk of her fans were wondering where her debut singles were. And surprise, surprise, it wasn't SM behind the lack of debut era Namie.
It was Namie herself, actually. 😭
She didn't want any of her debut work on her setlist because not only did she kind of outgrow that (she's 24, y'all, come on), but those tracks really didn't fit the whole vibe of the festival. And yeah she's definitely right, but the people would've loved to hear just a wee bit of "Heart Attack," Namie!
But my God her set was incredible. She was smiling the whole time, interacting with the crowd like they were her best friends, and dancing like SM's lights were hours away from getting shut off. Like she bodied the choreography for "I'm Not Cool" like we all knew she would!
And the way she threw her hat once the chorus started... mothering.
For some reason, no one expected Namie to perform "Hey Girl" or "No. 1," but she did! Those are two of her biggest hits, and the crowd couldn't be happier!
At the time of her set, "Obsessed" was literally an unreleased song. And it was fully in English. No one in her crowd knew the words because it wasn't even on streaming services yet and it came out of nowhere, but it sounded good! It was a hit! Everyone loved it!
"NEW SONG" started trending on Twitter the second it started playing lol.
She sang one of her Japanese b-sides, too, which was also a pleasant surprise! And since the song was so long, everyone thought that was it, and then Namie and her cheeky self went "I have a surprise for you guys" right after her ending ment... as if there weren't enough surprises already!
And then "Cutie Honey" started playing... everyone cheered!
Namie is always so expressive every time she performs this song, and it was no exception here! She was up there acting like she was about to win an Oscar and making full use of that stage.
And the best part of all? Right before the first verse started, Namie took off her cute little tube top and quite literally flung it into the crowd! The way the crowd got so loud.
Whoever caught it (either accidentally or on purpose) didn't get to keep it, though lol.
Namie was all over the water guns, too. She shot at the crowd, at her dancers, and she even shot at the rest of Pink Marmalade because of course, they were front and center for their leader! But Jasmine did not appreciate that one-sided water gun fight one bit like for some reason she got hit the most!
And guess who was also in the crowd? Venus! Namie spotted them and waved like her hand was about to fall off like... leader of Constellation nation I fear lol.
After Namie's set of course the girls had to hit the festival circuit themselves! They saw Hyo, Nayeon, Taemin, Hwasa, Kiss of Life... like they got to see all of their faves!
They took so many pictures and filmed so many TikToks, and Waterbomb was essentially just a Sixteen girls reunion! Like Natty, Nayeon, and Namie were all in one room together after nine years!
All in all, Namie was one of the It girls of Waterbomb. She had a great time, #NAMIE_AT_WATERBOMB was trending for a full day, and a fancam of her performing "Cutie Honey" went viral with over nearly 3 million views on Twitter. We love that for her! ˗ˏˋ ꒰ ♡ ꒱ ˎˊ˗
