On the evening of July 14, history wad made as Stray Kids became the first male k-pop group to headline the BST Festival in Hyde Park (BST Hyde Park). I specify first male group because everyone knows the first ever were BlackPink, but still… this is just a sign of how k-pop is growing all around the world and how it’s not only about BTS, who are my favourites by the way, but that’s not the point.
I will now try to talk about how crazy July 14 was, when the members of Stray Kids realized they truly have fans everywhere, and how much we truly love them. Their slogan says “Stray Kids everywhere all around the world” and I guess they now know how true it is.
But let’s start from the beginning. Stray Kids are a South Korean k-pop group made of eight members: Bangchan, Lee Know, Changbin, Hyunjin, Felix, Han, Seungmin and I.N. They are all in their twenties and have already achieved world-record-breaking accolades, and sold out stadiums everywhere they’ve been.
It’s quite funny, then, that they were surprised at the amount of people at BST Hyde Park for them, hopefully that will really make them come back for a proper tour in the UK, I think we all deserve it.
As it was a festival, despite them being the headliners, there were other artists performing before them and a couple of them were a very positive surprise. The opening was given to KIRE, a Taiwanese hip-hop artist who literally shocked everyone not only with how good he was, but also with his dance moves. I am definitely a fan now.
That’s the same for NMIXX, a South Korean girl group I had never heard of before the day, but one that I loved from the very first second that they took to the stage. The festival proceedings went on with, of course, some local little gems like Alec Benjamin and Maisie Peters, trying to make the long hours of waiting for Stray Kids more pleasant.
Stay (the name given to the fandom by Stray Kids themselves) were already hyped up when some of the greatest song of the band came on, before the very show started. They all sung like there was tomorrow and Stray Kids weren’t even on stage yet, but the band didn’t lose the chance to let the fans know by message that they heard them. That was already a high level of craziness for me.
A few seconds before the main event started, a large tent with their name on it covered the entire stage and, when it dropped down, the members appeared, ready to eat that stage. What happened next was pure delirium!
The set was quite shorter than their usual three-and-some-more-hours concert evenings, so not even one second was wasted as we were taken on a whistle-stop tour of their greatest hits. It all started with “S-Class”, the main track of one of their most recent albums, followed by “Freeze”, “Super Bowl” and a quite guitarish version of “Topline”.
In terms of sheer, feel-good energy, Stray Kids can’t really be beaten. The crowd came wielding the band’s merch, and glitter, ready to dance the night away to the group’s unique blend of rap, electronica and hip hop. Thunderous, ITEM and the super angry Domino showed their vocals and rap potential, especially if you focus to Felix’s deep voice, and Han’s capability of rapping like he doesn’t need air to breathe.
In the second part of the show, we could hear other hits like “Charmer”, “Maniac” and especially “God’s Menu”, the mega hits that even locals or casual listener are still thinking about.
It seemed like they were way more comfortable with us compared to the festival they headlined in Milan two days before this performance, as their outfits were way wilder (it’s not common for Koreans to show their abs so easily, for example) and they even came down the stage to greet some of the lucky Stay who were at the front.
As the night set, Bangchan asked if we had a curfew and if we wanted a last song. We ended up with two more, and “MEGAVERSE” officially gave an end to the night, with the band promising to come back soon. Honestly I really can’t wait. Everything was so intense that it looked like it lasted five minutes!
Stray Kids are now coming back with a new album called ATE, and already announced the first part of their world tour. Europe is part of the list of the unannounced dates for the very first time, so we are now waiting for better moments to scream “GABOJAGO” during their intense “LALALALA” performance.
Words by Barbara Aragona // Photo Credit: Jennifer McCord
