On Friday, May 5, NMIXX returned to Los Angeles after a successful performance at KCON 2022 for a sold-out night at The Wiltern. NMIXX’s Nice to MiXX You marks their first solo tour and reunites them with their Los Angeles NSWERs, their official fanclub name. The six-member girl group from JYP Entertainment debuted on February 22, 2022, with the unique, experimental title track “O.O” and captured fans with their live vocals and stage presence. Growing with each comeback, NMIXX was ready to show off new sides of themselves with specifically prepared performances to old and new fans.
The concert began with a mystical and galactic video ment, introducing each member and their universe concept of “Mixtopia.” Following the video, NMIXX entered the stage in teen-crush pink and denim outfits to kick off their setlist with “TANK” from their first single album AD MARE. The addicting, energetic chorus and dance hyped up the crowd and the momentum carried to the next stage of their debut single “O.O.”
Led with a “Hellaurrr” by the resident English speaker and Australian native Lily, the NMIXX members lined up on stage to formally greet NSWERs. Although they were in an intimate venue, NSWERs received a concert experience with close-up camera shots of each member projected on the background screen as they were speaking. When asked how much they had wanted to see NMIXX, the crowd exploded in screams and barks. Lily pointed out that all the members are “so cute and excited to be here” and her fellow members obliged by doing aegyo while jumping around. Haewon adorably incorporated their tour name in her introduction by saying that it was “nice to mixx you” to the crowd.
Because the first and last time they were in Los Angeles was for KCON, they remarked on how it was very special going from performing only a few songs to now performing 12 songs in front of an entire audience that loves NMIXX on their own solo tour. Lily explained how the first two stages were their debut songs that they had worked very hard on and hilariously coined them as “surprisingly flashy songs that shocked a lot of people.” Then the members asked NSWERS to guess what the next song would be, with Haewon giving some hints by pretending to type on a keyboard.
Jumping right into it, NMIXX performed the cute, bubbly “PAXXWORD” from their recent mini album release, Expérgo, which perfectly captured the concept of Y2K nostalgia as computer pop-up messages timed with the lyrics were displayed on the background screen. Another track from Expérgo, the next stage was “Just Did It” where the lighting changed to a moody magenta to mirror the change from the light, soft pre-chorus to the bass-filled, sassy chorus.
After explaining the two previous stages, Haewon asked the audience “What’s NMIXX’s password?” to which the crowd shouted all sorts of answers. One male NSWER jokingly shouted out “JYP” which the members passionately rejected until the members revealed the correct response to be “NSWER,” and touched everyone’s hearts. Haewon then cheekily stated that she “heard NMIXX is home to great B-sides,” and was met with screams of agreement.
Before proceeding with “Young, Dumb, Stupid,” NMIXX wanted everyone to learn the “ding-dang-dong” dance featured in the chorus and instilled the showcase rule that everyone should enjoy the show together. After everyone agreed to the rule, Kyujin took the lead in teaching NSWERs the “ding-dang-dong” dance, tapping into her inner enthusiastic preschool teacher. Kyujin innocently asked “Is it difficult?” and cheered them on with an energetic “You can do it!” and admitted that this dance was like “a brain workout.” Lily confidently declared that because Los Angeles is the land of dreams, NSWERs should be able to sing and dance along with them. After their performance of “Young, Dumb, Stupid,” the girls smiled brightly as they saw NSWERs trying their best to do the tricky “ding-dang-dong” dance. Bae and Lily then explained how this song samples the popular nursery rhyme “Frère Jacques” and is considered a “round” song meaning that multiple voices can sing the same song, beginning at different times, but will coincide harmoniously as well. Lily teased that if NSWERs succeed at this challenge, they would get a special gift.
Sullyoon and Kyujin paired up to lead their section as team “daebak,” Bae and Jiwoo led the middle section as “fighting fighting fighting!” and Lily and Haewon led the last section with a “you say ‘Hae’, I say ‘Won.’”
After a practice run, NSWERs following the lead of NMIXX were able to successfully complete the challenge and earn the gift of two cover stages! They first performed “TT” by their JYP senior labelmates, TWICE, showing their cute sides and playful chemistry with each other. They chose “Hey Mama” by David Guetta featuring Nicki Minaj, Bebe Rexha & Afrojack for their second cover as it is an extremely loved song in the K-Pop community after being featured in the dance competition show “Street Woman Fighter.” Despite adjusting some of the lyrics to “Hey Mama” to be more family-friendly, the girls flaunted their tough sides, especially in the rap sections covered by Kyujin and Jiwoo.
Continuing the high energy, NMIXX performed their second title track “DICE” and NSWERs eagerly sang along to all the iconic parts, particularly at the “NMIXX Change Up!” part.
The members exited the stage and a video played of the girls preparing for this tour in their practice room. They fondly poked fun at how the KCON NSWERs sounded when they sang the English lyrics extra enthusiastically compared to the rest of the song. In order to pick their tour roommates, the girls took turns interviewing each other on their living habits and also thoughts on the upcoming tour. The members made NSWERs laugh throughout the video, with their strange antics in the background and with Bae practicing English by learning cheesy pick-up lines.
After the video, the girls came back on stage in matching white shirts and pink, tutu skirts for “COOL (Your Rainbow).” Official lightsticks, MIXXSTICKs, throughout the whole venue swayed side to side during the song and mouths dropped at Sullyoon’s acapella ending.
Living up to their reputations as live vocal queens, they performed “My Gosh” with all of its high notes and ad-libs effortlessly, interacting with fans throughout the entire stage. Sadly, it was time for their closing ment but Bae cheered up the crowd with another pick-up line: “If I could rearrange the alphabet, I’ll put ‘U’ and ‘I’ together” and Kyujin remarked that “next time, instead of a showcase, I hope to meet you at a concert.” After everyone said their goodbyes, it was time for “HOME” where the lyrics “I don’t wanna go home” accurately captured NSWERs’ feelings towards the concert ending. They then finished their regular set with “Love Me Like This,” their most recent and commercially successful title track thus far, eliciting the loudest fan chants of the night.
The girls exited the stage but NSWERs were hungry for more–the screen lit up with “NMIXX! Scream!” and the crowd quickly started chanting for the encore. With an “everybody stand up,” the girls strutted back on for encore stages of “O.O” and “Love Me Like This” where the members, especially Haewon, sang their hearts out at their parts and added extra spice to their ad-libs. Much like a music show encore stage, there was absolutely no question that these girls were singing live and exhibited so much joy and happiness to share this moment with their fans. Concluding the show, NMIXX expressed their love and gratitude to Los Angeles NSWERs and made many promises to see each other next time.
The successful Nice to MiXX You tour is a testament to NMIXX’s growing global presence and reputation as formidable rookies. Their recent comeback “Love Me Like This” demonstrates how they are constantly evolving as artists and have many more sides to show the world. As Kyujin had already teased, NMIXX will definitely be back for a concert instead of a showcase soon.
All photos courtesy of JYP Entertainment
