MyMusicTaste brought super-rookie K-pop group KARD to the University of London’s Student Central on 1st September 2017. With the London leg of the Wild Tour in Europe selling out within an hour of release, fans even started a petition to get a second date. The South Korean group made up of J.seph, B.M, Somin and Jiwoo, officially made their debut from DSP Media in July 2017.
Fans queued from the early hours of the morning to try and get as close to the stage as possible for the perfect view. The queue was full of commotion, from fan projects to blasting music out loud, as they got ready to party with KARD. Even the manager set up a project where fans could submit questions to the “Ask KARD” board for the Q&A session scheduled as part of the night.
KARD opened the concert with the English version of Don’t Recall. As they stepped onto the stage, all dressed in purple, they were greeted with roaring cheers from the audience. Next, Kard belted out their debut single, Oh NaNa and a cover of Rihanna’s Monster. The excitement failed to fizzle out as the audience sang along to every word with the occasional wave of cheers during the instrumentals.
After each member introduced themselves, it was time for the Q&A session featuring their manager’s “Ask KARD” board. This portion of the show created an intimate atmosphere as the fans got to know the quartet. B.M being American, helped with translating his fellow members’ answers.
The question on everyone’s mind was “what did you first think of the members?”
The crowd cheered and cheered whilst waiting for their answers, encouraging KARD to open up their hearts. One by one, we learned that B.M was like a big brother, the boys considered the KARD ladies as their sisters, and funnily enough, the others thought member, J.seph was scary at first but they assured us he is a nice guy once you get to know him!!
Time was running out as we got to the last request of the night, which was for the group to perform a dance, American-style. Despite having just a few moments left, J.seph dropped the beat as B.M brought the sauce before rushing off stage for the next segment. Needless to say, the crowd went wild!
KARD went on to do more cover performances. Starting with another Rihanna track, Jiwoo and J.seph performed Bitch Better Have My Money. B.M and Somin performed together to Ariana Grande’s The Way. The four member group then came together, continuing to showcase their vocals by performing hit songs: Side to Side, Empire State of Mind and, I Can’t Stop. The crowd continued to show excitement and energy with someone even shouting out “J.seph is brighter than my future” due to their glossy white outfits.
To calm down the energetic crowd, KARD played charades, giving out Polaroids and albums as prizes. Everyone wanted the chance to guess the correct word, a little salty if they were close but got it wrong!
This segment showed another side of KARD, as they got up close and personal with audience members, selecting a few lucky fans to choose their favourite Polaroid image.
The concert continued as KARD performed Rumour and then the song everyone was waiting for... Hola Hola. The energy levels shot up as the crowd sang along filling the hall whilst stomping their feet to the beat.
After a quick costume change, the group returned to the stage in black Hidden KARD tops and white bottoms for their final performances of the night: the Korean version of Don’t Recall and Living Good. KARD interacted a lot with their fans by reaching out to the first-floor balcony seats as well as those who were standing. Jiwoo leaned over to touch a fan’s hand and J. Seph splashed the crowd with water before taking another fan’s golden sunglasses. In between performances, KARD held UK flags and made sure to take a group photo with the audience to commemorate the moment.
As the show came to an end, meet and greet ticket holders were moved into another room. The high touch segment flew by in seconds, and last but not least, we took a group photo. With no barriers between fans and KARD, the members held out their hands to make hearts, allowing fans to complete them with theirs, ending the night picture-perfectly.
-Guest Writer April Blair
Editorial by Samarrah & Raaz
Photos by April Blair for Hush Hush
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