After dazzling fans at MAMAMOO’s sold-out 2023 U.S. arena tour, Whee In took center stage at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles on May 19. The show served as the second of eight stops on the U.S. leg of her first-ever solo world tour, WHEE IN THE MOOD [BEYOND].
Jung Whee In is a singer-songwriter who first rose to fame as part of the four-member K-Pop girl group MAMAMOO, known for their powerful and mature vocals. She began releasing her solo work in 2018 with her single album, Magnolia. In 2021, She released her first solo mini-album, REDD followed by her second mini-album, WHEE in 2022. After MAMAMOO’s 2023 MY CON world tour, she released her first full-length album IN the mood. In February 2024, Whee In followed up with her latest single, “Wheee,” to kick off her highly anticipated WHEE IN THE MOOD [BEYOND] world tour. The tour, whose name is derived from the singer’s Instagram username (@whee_inthemood) and her albums WHEE and IN the mood, aims to show Moomoos, MAMAMOO’s fandom, new stages and sides of Whee In as an ever-evolving solo artist.
A VCR dramatically switched between black-and-white and colored shots of Whee In, signaling the start of the show. A single spotlight illuminated the stage, revealing Whee In standing behind a mic stand in a one-shoulder, metallic dress. She opened her concert with “I Know I Know I Know (Beyond),” the first track from her latest album. Joined by her backup dancers, she performed “water color” and “Spark” and established that tonight would be a show with stunning live vocals and performances. Whee In danced perfectly with stable vocals and the production team elevated her performances with stage visuals and lighting that were carefully tailored to each song’s content and mood.
Whee In introduced herself to the crowd and kindly reminded fans they could sit down during her ment. She reminisced about how she was on tour in the U.S. with MAMAMOO last year and Moomoos happily showed off their Moobongs, the iconic radish-shaped official lightstick. For her first solo tour, she wanted to show what kind of artist she truly was by preparing new songs and never-before-seen performances exclusively for her fans.
Matching her fans’ energy, Whee In transitioned into the dreamy, “EASY (feat Sik-K)” and even rapped along to the Sik-K’s original verses. She performed the fun, upbeat “TRASH (Feat. pH-1)” complete with partner choreography during pH-1’s rap verse and showed a new solo version of “Bite Me,” which originally featured HAON.
As she was commenting on the great LA atmosphere, Whee In abruptly exclaimed “That’s the shit!” and hilariously asked for reassurance if she used it correctly. She shared that she was in fact staying at the same hotel she shared with the MAMAMOO members in 2015 and even recreated photos she took on her previous trip. She laughed at herself for talking so much and cutely told the crowd that this was her “TMI” segment and now it was time for her to start singing again.
In the next stages of “Butterfly” and “Paraglide,” the focus was on Whee In’s sweet, tender vocals, captivating the audience with the power of her voice alone. Her dancers then rejoined her for the calming yet bright song “Make Me Happy.”
Marking the concert’s midway point, a VCR featured Whee In getting glammed up for a photoshoot while answering questions about her preferences. The audience then sees her slaying in a bright red, glamorous look followed by a sultry, cat-woman-inspired black outfit. She then approached a mirror and wrote the word “Deserve” with red lipstick.
Whee In returned onstage in a sparkly, mesh outfit with cutouts, accentuating her figure for the more mature portion of the night. She performed the special, full-length version of the song “Deserve,” originally a 30-second interlude track on her album WHEE. She drove fans wild with her effortless sexiness and sensual choreography in “On The Island.” She then switched gears, focusing on just her singing as she walked around the stage for “Dance 4 You” before going into the upbeat, pop song “17 (feat. Hwasa).”
To the surprise and delight of fans, Whee In’s hair and makeup team came out on stage to touch her up and get her headset mic ready. Instead of going backstage, Whee In stated she much rather do this in front of fans to spend more time together, allowing fans to feel closer to her. She teasingly asked the audience how her outfit was and was met with deafening cheers.
Her hair and make-up artists quickly scurried off stage and Whee In resumed the night with “In The Mood” and the unreleased, dark and sultry song, “Shh.” After “Shh” was over, the crowd reacted with feral barks to show how much they enjoyed the sexy performance that featured lots of intimate partner choreography and even a red ribbon, used as a rope to bind the male dancer’s hands. She continued with the groovy “Pastel” that showed off her brighter sensuality in contrast to her darker side shown in the previous stage.
Greeted by more barks, Whee In continued talking to her fans about the stages she just performed while her team touched her up again. For “Shh,” she wanted to show a new, sexual side and poked fun at how Moomoos “really like the sexual stuff” which the crowd affirmed with their cheers and barks. She also explained that she purposely created special stages just for the concerts so people would come back to see her. However, it was now time for the “last” song of the night but she promised that she would work even harder and make good music for everyone in the future.
For the “final” song, a single spotlight shone on the singer as she took center stage for the emotional, uplifting song “Here I Am” looking like a bright star amongst the galaxy projected on the screen behind her.
After she exited the stage, an adorable VCR showed Whee In living a life like a cat. Like she never left, Whee In returned for the encore, sporting cat ears while being lured with giant cat toys by her dancers for “OHOO.” The song was heavily inspired and written from the point of view of her beloved cat Ggomo, whose pictures were plastered all over the screen.
The U.S-based MAMAMOO fan account, mooble 무블, had rallied fans all across the country for surprise VCR events at each of Whee In’s shows. The show continued that display of love and support as the Los Angeles-tailored VCR played showcased fan art and MooMoos shared their favorite, chaotic moments of what “Whee In once said…” After watching the video, Whee In turned around and was met with the audience holding fan banners that read, “Our butterfly, we’ll be the wind beneath your wings.”
As the considerate queen she had been all evening, she again asked fans to sit down during her ment as she thanked them and shyly asked if she could come again. For her last encore songs, she performed the sweet “Springtime” and made fans feel like they were listening to her while under falling cherry blossom petals. She wished everyone in the audience would leave their stress behind and be happier tomorrow before gifting fans with the comforting “D-Day.” The dancers returned with the cat toys to join her for the epic, high-energy pop-rock song “Wheee” and joined hands and bowed. Just as the crowd thought it was over, Whee In ran back on stage for one last chorus before saying her final goodbyes.
Despite it being her first solo world tour, Whee In confidently showcased who she is as an artist through every carefully curated stage. Her passion for performing and creating music for her fans was evident and her promise to come back is one that Moomoos can count on.