On May 16, P1Harmony took the stage at the Theatre at Ace Hotel for the Los Angeles leg of their 2022 P1Harmony Live Tour [P1USTAGE H : PEACE] in USA. Presented by SubKulture Entertainment, the tour brought Keeho, Theo, Jiung, Intak, Soul, and Jongseob across nine cities to meet their fans called P1ECE. Despite a brief tour postponement due to COVID-19, P1Harmony was welcomed with open arms and a long queue of eager fans that wrapped around the city block. Nestled in the heart of Downtown Los Angeles, the historic venue still flaunted its vintage charms – checkered patterns adorned the revitalized movie palace’s pavement as thousands of fans shuffled inside into the gothic-style lobby. The stunning vaulted ceiling adorned with tiny mirrors replicating shimmering stars was breathtaking.
Clad in their own glittery and metallic blazers, P1Harmony kicked off the night with “Pyramid.” The infectious energy caused P1ECE to jump out of their seats and stand loud and proud as they waved their light sticks and chanted along to the anthemic chorus, “I’m on top of the pyramid, I’m on the top!” The energy stayed strong as everyone danced to “BOP” and sang along to the group’s latest trap-centric hit, “Do It Like This.” Facing the ecstatic crowd, the members made their official introductions in English. Despite still being fairly new to large-scale performances, the six-member group seemed like seasoned professionals, exuding pure ease and full command of the stage. Jiung’s confident introduction, “Get excited because we’re gonna bring the house down!” ultimately set the tone for the night’s festivities.
For the six-piece group, the night was especially monumental as L.A. was home to one of their first live performances. In October 2021, the group embarked on their first-ever trip to the U.S. In addition to celebrating their one year anniversary since debut, P1Harmony had the honor of performing at Korean Heritage Night at the Los Angeles Football Club’s soccer game at Banc of California Stadium. Over 8,000 P1ECE flocked to the scene for their first glimpse of one of the rising K-Pop acts to date. The milestone created an unforgettable moment. Keeho pleasingly shared that he recognized a few familiar faces in the audience. His flirting didn’t stop as he drew the audience’s attention to the beautiful mirror-covered ceiling, before quickly affirming that it was not as beautiful as P1ece themselves.
After performing “Before The DAWN,” “That’s It,” and “Reset” that showcased the group’s more rap-heavy songs and swagger, the members continued to flirt with the audience. Since they were in the City of Angels, the members affectionately called the audience their angels with beautiful wings. Jongseob sassily added, “Angels, stop flapping! Save your energy!” before comically bounding around the stage out of cringe and embarrassment.
After the playful banter, the members gave the floor to Soul to kick off the special stages. Known for his burning passion for dance, Soul made it his mission to showcase variations of his freestyle dance for every show on the tour. Egged on by the crowd chanting “Go Soul!”, he showcased his diverse dance vocabulary by showing different techniques and left his heart on the dance floor. Jiung and Theo then wowed the crowd with their vocal performance of “Off My Face” by Justin Bieber. Perched atop stools and illuminated solely by spotlights, the two performed the acoustic number that perfectly highlighted the vocalists’ beautiful harmonies. Lastly, Keeho, Intak, and Jongseob brought the heat with their unit stage to “Big Three.” The music halted mid-performance catching everyone off guard. However the trio, being the true professionals that they are, finessed their way around the “technical issue” and immediately jumped onto the new rap beat and rode it off for the duration of their stage. P1ECE made sure they expressed their thoughts by barking loud and clear in between each set.
During their ment, P1Harmony recapped each of their special stages – Soul showed off his highlight dance move where he took off his Jordans and swiveled onstage like a microwave. Jiung pointed out that he and Theo wanted to “fall in love” with P1ECE through the thoughtful song. Keeho confirmed that although they planned the technical issue during the “Big Three” stage, they chose to switch up the music to spice up their performance.
By now it’s no secret that P1Harmony was just as excited to see their P1ECEs as they were to see them. When they were not serenading fans to their R&B B-sides “If You Call Me” and “Butterfly,” or turning up with P1ECE to tracks like “Scared” and “Siren,” they made space to engage with the crowd as much as possible. Aside from flirting with the crowd, P1Harmony also sang happy birthday to birthday celebrants at the show; orchestrated a wave that ran from one end of the venue to the other; and even cued the audience to get low, spring up, and go crazy during “Follow Me” that perfectly captured the crowd’s boundless energy throughout the night.
As the show came to a close, P1Harmony returned onstage sporting their tour tees for their encore stage. For this final stretch, Keeho explained that the closing segment of the night was dubbed “Play Harmony.” Instead of performing their songs with full choreography, P1Harmony invited the audience to groove with them, sing along, and just vibe together. As they performed “Peacemaker,” the English version of “Do It Like This,” and “AYAYA,” the members waved at the fans on the floor and balcony, posed for photos/videos, and even received roses and wore headbands and hats and other gifts from P1ECE. Between the top-tier performances and playful banters, the event overall felt more like a homecoming party thrown together for P1Harmony’s closest friends. Until the next get-together, P1ECE will eagerly anticipate the members’ future endeavors.