ATEEZ came to Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena on their TOWARDS THE LIGHT : WILL TO POWER Tour on Thursday (August 8). They showed why they are one of the leading K-pop groups right now – even during a particularly strong time for Korean acts at the top of the charts. Their in-your-face performance style was driven by powerful vocals, sexy moves and ambitious theatrics, and it resonated in a frenzied way.
When the “8 Makes 1 Team” (as their catchphrase goes) were last in the Greater Toronto Area – they performed at Hamilton’s First Ontario Centre in 2022 – they had a raw, unabashed energy. In the two years since, they have become more refined and self-assured. While their last album cycle, WORLD, introduced a heavy, dystopian rock sound — like on single “Cyberpunk” — their current Golden Hour era sees the group leaning more towards electronic and rap-oriented bangers like “WORK.”
Performing in Toronto on lead rapper Mingi’s birthday, the group’s adventurous forays – ranging from the Latin-tinged “ARRIBA” to the synthwave-esque “Silver Light” – set high sails. No wonder they became the first K-pop boy group to headline Coachella this year: the current tour revels in the group’s cinematic, sophistically staged solo and subunit performances. (And don’t get me started on how feral the audience was. There was barking. Barking!)
Here are five of the best moments from ATEEZ’s Toronto concert.
Refined Performances
Everyone in the group got a chance to shine.
On raucous anthems like “Say My Name” and “Guerrilla,” ATEEZ’s rap line – the rappers in the group – stood out. The more baritone Song Mingi traded back-and-forth barbs with the melodic and speedy flows of Kim Hongjoong, the group’s leader and frequent producer/composer who even wailed on an electric guitar at one point. Indeed, much of the group’s overall vocal thrust was defined by its baritone quality, which played well on the rap and metal-leaning songs.
The band’s decision to feature solo and subunit performances – a choice that more mid-career K-pop groups make when they have a big enough discography – highlighted the different elements each member brings to the group. Dancers/vocalists Kang Yeosang, Jung Wooyoung and Choi San, in their sensual, subunit performance of dystopian trap-leaning “It’s You,” brought fluid sensuality and whispery vocals. Song also partnered with Jeong Yunho to deliver a nostalgic, boom-bap ode to teen friendship in “Youth.”
Choi Jongho’s Secret Weapon Vocals
Every K-pop group is known for its secret weapon – its “maknae,” or youngest member. In ATEEZ, that’s Choi Jongho. His powerhouse main vocals are like the defining intensity that another maknae, BTS’s Jungkook, brings to his respective group. Guardian music critic Alexis Petridis compares Choi’s “strident vibrato” to Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickson.
That register came into its own during the group’s WORLD era. Yet, as much as Choi drove a lot of ATEEZ’s more metal and rock-leaning output in Toronto, his solo “EVERYTHING” performance – a solitary ballad number on a spiral glittering staircase – was subtle, delicate and emotional.
Atiny’s Pirate-Core Looks
Toronto’s ATINY contingent – ATEEZ’s fandom name, a contraction of ATEEZ and “destiny” – put on quite the runway show before the concert started.
Looking through the Scotiabank Arena crowd, the fits were predominantly black pirate leather and chains, echoing the group’s original Pirate concept. There were tightened corsets, fishnets, cut-out tube tops and blousy white pirate shirts. (Imagine a Pirates of Penzance aisle in a Hot Topic.) Many were already exchanging photocards with each other, and some even had knitted cozy covers for their “Lighttiny,” the name for the group’s glowstick which features an hourglass within its glowing orb.
The merchandise line snaked across many gate entries and concession stands, with fans clamouring for pickets of their bias ($20 CAD each) and the in-demand black and white striped baseball jerseys ($137 each).
ATEEZ at Scotiabank Arena on August 8, 2024Courtesy KQ Entertainment
The Sophisticated Lore
In the current pop landscape, Charli XCX’s acid-green Brat summer duels with Taylor Swift’s Eras-exchanged friendship bracelets for all-encompassing worldbuilding. In some ways though, Western pop has nothing on K-pop when it comes to lore – especially ATEEZ.
The group’s 2020 ZERO : FEVER ‘Diary Film’ established the group’s winding swirl of dream-within-dream storylines and a chained-up goth pirate king alter-ego. Now, the fixation with time-bending alternate realities translates into cinematic choreographies and staging. There were fight sequences – including one memorable John Woo-style action scene with flying doves – burning institutional buildings, and even lightsaber swordplay. This created a basis for the group’s visuals, which benefited from the tight close-ups of theatrical muggings and frenetic cutaways to choreography that played out in the two large screens framing the stage.
The Barking
I risk provoking ATINY's ire by suggesting the fanbase chose one member over another in the thirst category. But, judging by crowd’s feral barking (literal barking) that occurred during Choi San’s black leather vest-wearing body rolls on “Wake Up” and during camera cuts to Park Seongwha’s “bite me” facial expressions, those two certainly riled some animalistic urges. Never have I heard an audience bark so loudly.
Set List
Crazy Form
Say My Name
WIN
This World
Wake Up
Guerrilla
Cyberpunk
HALAZIA
It’s You (Yeosang, San, Wooyoung)
Youth (Yunho, Mingi)
Everything (Jongho)
Silver Light
WAVE
Dancing Like Butterfly Wings
MATZ (HongJoong, Seonghwa)
WORK
ARRIBA
DJANGO
BOUNCY (K-HOT CHILLI PEPPERS)
Wonderland
Eternal Sunshine
Fireworks (I’m The One)
The Real
Turbulence
Dreamy Day
Utopia
