K-pop Stars Twice Brought A Kaleidoscope Of Color, Confidence, And Pride To Their First U.S. Tour

There's a fan-favorite moment in Twice's "Likey" as soon as member Dahyun delivers a charismatic rap verse over a momentary trap beat. She ends with a long-established dab, as one does. It's brief and unexpected however especially memorable. Watching Twice perform their hit 2017 single at the Prudential Center in Newark on Sunday (July 21) — the stage a multitude of rainbow colors and their faces adorned with glitter — I realized two things: One, Dahyun is the only person who can get away with earnestly dabbing in the year of our Lord 2019; and two, Twice is sort of brilliant.


The music industry loves to put artists in boxes, to package them up into a solitary marketing message and place them on shiny pedestals. The K-pop industry is no different, even for ladies. Korean girl groups can typically one or the other: sweet or sexy; ladies who sing brilliant pop confections or females with attitude. Nevertheless one concept can hardly contain the artistry and multitudes that today's girl groups really have to provide. Twice is a brilliant example of this.


As soon as members Sana, Dahyun, and Tzuyu take the stage for their unit stage — a sultry cover of Beyoncé's "Dance For You," complete with slinky choreography — it's a powerful display of feminine energy and sexuality. "Is this allowed?" tweeted one fan from indoor in the venue. For some reason, "sexy" and "sensual" aren't words that people often colleague with Twice, a crowd known for their bubblegum bops, legendary hooks, and playful point choreography. However on Sunday night, on the next U.S. Stop of their Twicelights world tour, the eight members of Asia's most popular girl sort — ninth member Mina is taking time to recover from "sudden extreme anxiety and insecurity towards performing" — proved that they're not defined by a sole image.


The nearly three-hour set traversed the group's several hits ("Cheer Up," "Yes or Yes," "What Is Love," "Dance the Night Away," to name a couple of) and then some sparkling b-sides ("Strawberry" was a standout) through a kaleidoscope of colors: black, gold, white, red, blue, purple, and pink. As Dahyun kept reminding their fans (called Once) while in the night, they wanted to show their various charms through these vibrant, prismatic stages.


The surprising quantity of actual flames and pyrotechnics throughout songs like "Stuck in My Head" and "Touchdown" didn't hurt either.


Although perhaps Twice's true power was displayed throughout the ballad stage, where the night took an emotional turn while in soon after Moon," which fans have unofficially deemed Mina's song. The members sang out to a sea of mint green light sticks — Mina's assigned color — and then some even became emotional themselves. "I miss Mina," Jihyo mentioned through tears soon following the efficiency. Ballad stages are tricky; they can some days kill the momentum of a good show. Although Twice, dressed in white, matched the kinetic energy of their beginning set with pure emotion, proving themselves as dynamic and empathetic performers.


Dancer Momo, who performs with a breathless intensity, and leader Jihyo sang a mesmerizing cover of Taemin's "Goodbye," yet it was their contemporary choreography that took their special stage to even greater emotional heights. While powerhouse — both in terms of vocals and personality — Nayeon took the stage alongside members Jeongyeon and Chaeyoung for a plucky efficiency of Lady Gaga's queer anthem place on Earth This Way" that was all sparkle and sass. And the cheers from the crowd — a diverse mix of genders, ages, and ethnicities, some holding rainbow Pride flags — were deafening. Right following the efficiency, Nayeon explained that the stage was rapper Chaeyoung's idea. It's a undeniably bold pick for a K-pop order, seeing as uncensored support of queerness is still quite rare.


However subtlety has never been Twice's thing. The final act of the set was an explosion of color and camp. The members took the stage in a holographic prism, wearing an array of bright colors and even brighter smiles. They concluded with their most recent single, decorative a song that saw the sort playing around with more mature sounds. The initial synth adds a layer of mystique that has previously evaded Twice's singles, and the newly added dance break — just for tour — is a striking accumulation of the full Twicelights experience: Twice are so much more than their concepts.


Jihyo, Nayeon, Jeongyeon, Momo, Sana, Mina, Dahyun, Chaeyoung, and Tzuyu are multifaceted artists who are more detailed than their bops often permit. The whole night was a display of their duality and empathy. As they worked the stage while in their energetic encore, dressed in plain white tour tees and light-wash denim, I seen a glimpse of Twice as they really are, not as Korea's chart-topping girl sort nevertheless rather as a crowd of young females bursting with charm and charisma and indoor jokes — who undeniably find strength and solidarity in one another.


As they depart the stage in their giant prism, back to their pedestals, they leave the crowd with one final image: eight ladies (nine in spirit) striking dramatic poses and making goofy faces, dramatically inching closer to ground because the curtain closes down on them — each member wanting to be the last to mention goodbye. Obviously, as soon as it comes to Twice, who'd no trouble filling the New Jersey arena on their first U.S. Tour, this is clearly a visualize you later.


And next time there will be even more colors to show.