On January 22, Korean rock band N.Flying made their grand return to Los Angeles with their 2023 N.Flying Live USA Tour ‘DWUW: Do What You Want.’ The tour took bandmates Seunghyub, Hun, Jaehyun, Hweseung, and Dongsung across six different cities in the United States before coming to an end at the historic Pasadena Civic Auditorium. This marked the band’s first L.A. performance since KCON19LA and their fans, called N.Fia, were excited to see them back for their own stateside tour. The chilly night breeze didn’t deter hundreds from arriving hours in advance to queue up, pass out fanmade banners, collect freebies, and take commemorative selfies with their official lightsticks before the show.
Blue lights illuminated the stage as the members took their spots by their instruments and mic stands. Jaehyun’s drum intro pulled everyone out of their seats as the room erupted into anthemic chants to the opening song, “Chance.” Following the opening number, the stage was covered in red as N.Flying upped the intensity with “Bitter Sweet” and “Monster.” Seunghyub pulled out a megaphone and belted his rap verses while he and Hweseung paced up and down the stage and jumped on risers to hype up the crowd.
Firstly, we want to give our sincerest condolences to the victims and their families. Although today all our hearts are heavy, we’ll perform today hoping to bring some love and consolation to everyone here today.
– N.Flying’s Seunghyub
Before moving forward with the show, N.Flying took a moment during their introductions to acknowledge the Monterey Park mass shooting that occurred on the eve of the Lunar New Year the night prior. “We heard there was a tragedy in L.A. yesterday,” Seunghyub started. “Firstly, we want to give our sincerest condolences to the victims and their families. Although today all our hearts are heavy, we’ll perform today hoping to bring some love and consolation to everyone here today.” It was moving to see the band stop the show and acknowledge the incident that was still shocking for many. The audience deeply appreciated their sensitivity to the recent tragic event and replied with loud applause and cheers.
Staying true to their word, N.Flying continued the concert with feel-good tracks “HOW R U TODAY?,” “Sunset,” and “Oh Really.” During “Sunset,” the audience created a sea of lights as they raised their lightsticks high into the air and waved along to Hweseung’s beautiful, bright vocals. The band (sans Jaehyun) even worked in a few synchronized dance moves and cute gestures while performing.
Throughout the night, N.Flying would continue to find ways to engage with their international fans and create a more intimate concert experience. The members and N.Fia engaged in Korean lessons through a series of call-and-response practices in preparation for the next songs’ fanchants. Seunghyub eagerly took the lead, “There’s a song called ‘폭망 (I Like You)’ that recently came out. Please follow along. I’m not sure how well you guys will do in pronouncing it, P-O-K-M-A-N-G!” After performing the Seunghyub-defined “medium-tempo, emotional set” that included “Autumn Dream,” and “Fate,” the band was pleasantly impressed. Hweseung commented, “Because the lyrics have a lot of Korean, I was thinking that I had to teach everyone at the end of the song what the last words were, but it seems like you already knew!”
While the back-to-back stages kept the audience engaged, N.Flying’s “Hot Potato” performance was inarguably the highlight of the night’s festivities. During “Hot Potato,” the band tried to instruct the audience to participate in the mannequin challenge, a fun interactive moment that turned into a competition among their U.S. tour stops. As Hweseung sang, “Please leave me alone now / Just stop before I get caught,” it was the cue for everyone to freeze, hold their positions, and remain silent. A redemption round was needed after some couldn’t contain their giggle fits and cheers. On the third try, the entire venue was perfectly still and quiet, until a sudden whistle broke through the silence and caused everyone – including the band – to erupt in laughter. As far as Seunghyub was concerned though, L.A. passed with flying colors, “Oh, there was a bird!? … Let’s all give a round of applause to the bird in here. You have saved L.A.!”
Mid-performance, Seunghyub also spotted a fan waving a potato on a stick. When the song was first released in 2018, the band didn’t have official lightsticks. Instead, the members used to buy boxes of potatoes and would wash, cut, and prepare the potato lightsticks themselves for their N.Fia to use during their music show appearances. Despite a sea of glowing lightsticks in front of him, Seunghyub was ecstatic to see their old potato friend. He ran over to the fan to borrow it, and then sprinted across the stage to his bandmates shouting “친구야!” [Friend]! It was a cute mini “reunion” as the members waved it in the air and performed with it before returning it to its rightful owner.
The following performances were what Seunghyub described as their best performances, “We will show you how lit we are!” The four-piece song set featured a versatile mix of hip-hop and grungy rock sounds. Seunghyub’s rapping took center stage in “One and Only” and “Awesome” while Hun and Dongsung shredded on their bass and guitar solos in “Video Therapy” and “Say Goodbye.”
After their first and only offstage break, N.Flying returned to the stage for their encore. Sporting their DWUW tour merch, the band performed the fan-favorite, “Rooftop.” The 2019 sleeper hit gained traction after its promotion cycle when an anonymous listener shared the song online, making it go viral and top No. 1 on several charts and become one of the group’s most beloved songs to date. The sentiment was reflected in the way the audience enthusiastically waved their lightsticks and sang along throughout the entire chorus.
As the final stop of the tour drew to an end, each member shared their heartfelt feelings. Jaehyun kicked off their closing statements with a sweet observation. “When I first debuted, there was a moment when I said I really wanted to look into a crowd of all our lightsticks as if they were the stars … It is really pretty but something that I noticed is through the lights, I can see the brightness of your eyes.”
For Hweseung, the two-week tour flew by in a blink of an eye. “I was very nervous and I was also very worried. But from the start all the way to the end as I meet all my fans here up [in] L.A. I think I [have] really gotten stronger and better. When the show first started and I saw all of you, I wanted to perform until my throat went out. Moving forward, I really hope we can meet more often.”
For Dongsung, performing in L.A. on their own U.S. tour was still a fever dream. “If this was a dream, it’s one that I never want to wake up from because of the view I have now. But because it’s reality, it’s even better!”
Hun also shared the same feelings and was still in awe that he was performing in the country where many of his role models are from. “Even from the moment when we did our first rehearsal back in New York, I think it really fulfilled me at the thought of performing after these such great artists that I looked up to.” In front of the entire audience, he made a promise: “In the future, if I do return again I’ll make sure I’ll become someone else’s role model and return here one day.”
Last but not least, Seunghyub worked hard to prepare an all-English speech: “This DWUW tour was our first introduction to the U.S. The goal of this tour was to promise you all that we will come to see you all more often. So, keep it in mind that we performed until our bodies broke. I hope that you all know about the amount of effort we put forth… Having a live show every two days was not easy, but I was very very happy. Although this is our first time meeting live, we promise we will see each other more often. And with the start of [DWUW tour], we plan to meet you all until we’re 80 years old. So, please spread the word about us, okay?! Make sure to come out next time and thank you for making lifelong memories with us in LA.” With that being said, everyone gathered to take a commemorative group photo. While most shows just have the band facing the camera with their backs to the audience, the members also turned around to face the audience and posed for photos and videos.
For their final sendoff, N.Flying closed out with the heart-pumping rock anthem, “The Real.” Energized by the crowd’s boisterous reactions, Hweseung and Seunghyub jumped off the stage and ran down the auditorium’s aisles. Although the moment was shortlived (Seunghyub was quickly whisked away by staff and directed back to the stage), it gave fans an opportunity to see some of the band up close.
Throughout the show, it was blatantly clear that N.Flying not only loved to perform but also adored their interactions with N.Fia. The band’s boundless energy, stage presence, and unwavering effort to make the audience an integral part of their shows are what made the concert experience so special. Although the DWUW tour has come to an end, N.Fia are already eagerly looking forward to the next time the band returns to the States.
This was such a good article! I’m so happy to have this record of the best concert I’ve ever been to and the best night of my life!