The monster rookies BABYMONSTER brought their 1st WORLD TOUR <HELLO MONSTERS> to Los Angeles for a sold-out night at the Kia Forum on Sunday, March 2. This first world tour marks their official U.S. debut and first time meeting American MONSTIEZ (the official fan club name). After successful shows in Newark and Los Angeles, Live Nation officially announced that BABYMONSTER will return to North America in Fall 2025 for six additional shows.
BABYMONSTER is a multinational seven-member girl group consisting of AHYEON, RAMI, and RORA from South Korea, ASA and RUKA from Japan, and PHARITA and CHIQUITA from Thailand. After entering the K-Pop scene with pre-debut single “BATTER UP,” they officially debuted with the catchy single “SHEESH” on April 1, 2024. They released their first full-length album, DRIP, on November 1, 2024, with double title tracks “DRIP” and “CLIK CLAK.” The group was also notably recognized as one of the two “Most Promising K-Pop Rookies of 2024” by Billboard and “Rookie Artist of the Year” at the Golden Disc Awards.
The entire night was filled with energetic stages accompanied by a live band and performances that spanned their entire discography, along with special solo, unit, and group cover performances. The girls kicked off the night with the explosive “MONSTERS (Intro)” and followed up with hit title tracks “DRIP” and a remix of “BATTER UP.”
The members lined up to greet Los Angeles MONSTIEZ, where the members shared their nervous excitement about being on a world tour for the first time. Rounding out the first segment of group performance, they performed “CLIK CLAK” and strutted out to the extended stage during Rami’s husky rap. Next was the chill but catchy song “LIKE THAT” and the crowd-favorite track “SHEESH” with everyone enthusiastically singing along.
The concert’s theme focused on BABYMONSTER’s journey to debut, highlighting each member’s trainee period and the pre-debut missions they faced during their reality show, Last Evaluation. The girls showcased their growth by confidently performing the same solo stages from the show for the live audience. RORA covered “Someone You Loved” by Lewis Capaldi, while PHARITA covered “What Other People Say” by Sam Fischer & Demi Lovato which gave a special shoutout to L.A. in the lyrics. RAMI covered “Pick Up Your Feelings” by Jazmine Sullivan, which began with just her vocals and guitar before building up to a faster tempo and high whistle notes. After ASA and RUKA delivered their respective covers of “Godzilla” by Eminem and “GWOLA” by Honey Cocaine, the two joined forces for their rap duo song “Woke Up in Tokyo” from the DRIP album. The joint performance showed off the Japanese rappers’ cute yet powerful charms, enhanced by their complementary blue and pink outfits and arcade game-inspired stage concept. CHIQUITA then performed an emotional cover of “traitor” by Olivia Rodrigo, with a stripped-down ending featuring just her live vocals. AHYEON’s cover of “Dangerously” by Charlie Puth appropriately rounded out the solo stages. She demonstrated with her powerful, expressive vocals exactly why the original performance video went viral and amassed almost 61 million views on YouTube
All seven members reunited on the stage to slow things down a bit with “Love, Maybe” and “DREAM.”
Following a video of the dance version of “BILLIONAIRE,” the girls returned in silver, metallic outfits for a live performance of “BILLIONAIRE” followed by the cutesy “Really Like You.”
The rookie girl group then paid homage to their YG Family seniors by covering 2NE1‘s iconic songs “Clap Your Hands” and “Go Away.” Sadly, it was time for the last two songs, “FOREVER” and “Love in My Heart,” and the girls giddily ran back towards the main stage to exit, knowing that it wasn’t really goodbye.
Shouting for an encore, MONSTIEZ were then prompted by the screen to sing the first verse of “SHEESH” together to bring the group back out. With their cheers, the girls quickly returned to MONSTIEZ, wearing casual, sporty outfits for an encore performance of “SHEESH” and a remix of “BATTER UP.”
Impressively, all the girls said their closing ments in English, with many promises to come back. Chiquita was teased by the members for tearing up, which she vehemently denied. Ahyeon then sang acapella, leading the crowd to sing her the chorus to “DRIP” before the whole group joined in to perform “DRIP” and “Love in My Heart” again. Finally, the group performed “Stuck in the Middle (Remix),” originally a slow ballad, but the girls used this final song to have fun together, singing with goofy voices and playing jokes on each other to wrap up the night on a happy note.
Despite it being their first world tour, the girls fired up the large venue filled with Los Angeles MONSTIEZ with skill and ease. BABYMONSTER continues to prove that they are an up-and-coming force within K-Pop that will only improve and gain more traction over time. With additional North American cities, Singapore, and Vietnam shows just recently announced, hopefully more MONSTIEZ all over the world will be able to see BABYMONSTER in their town!