The return of live concerts since the pandemic struck has plunged music lovers all over the country into a frenzy of excitement throughout 2022, but none more so than Singaporean CARATs, who have been eagerly waiting for the return of SEVENTEEN to our shores. 

To others, it might’ve seemed like a two to three month wait between ticketing to the concert date, but to CARATs, the show was like the sun after a long, heavy drought – Singapore was, unfortunately, omitted from the list of stops in their ‘Ode To You’ tour in 2020, making 2018’s ‘Ideal Cut’ tour the last time the group visited the country – so it’s only natural that the ‘Be The Sun’ concert at the Singapore Indoor Stadium had fans come in full force to express all the admiration and gratitude they’ve harboured for the group.

And it was apparent that S.Coups, Jeonghan, Joshua, Jun, Hoshi, Wonwoo, Woozi, The8, Mingyu, DK, Seungkwan, Vernon, and Dino felt the love and energy in tandem, returning the affection with banters and skits on stage for entertainment, praises for the country and the crowd’s energy, as well as indulging fans with short covers of some well-loved songs including ‘BOOMBOOM’, ‘Clap’, ‘HOME;RUN’, and the classic ‘Hit Song’.

The group kickstarted the show with their critically-acclaimed hit of 2022 ‘HOT’, before getting an already-energetic crowd pumped even further with a slew of electrifying tracks, ‘March’, ‘HIT’, and ‘Rock with you’.

‘2 Minus 1’ , helmed by the English speakers of the group, Joshua and Vernon, marked the start of the unit performances. ‘MOONWALKER’ and ‘Wave’ came next, and gave the performance unit of Hoshi, Jun, The8, and Dino the perfect opportunity to showcase their expertise and ability to strike balance between smooth, fluid, and intricate, as well as dynamic, robust, and rhythmic movements.

The vocal unit (Woozi, Jeonghan, Joshua, DK, and Seungkwan) hit all the right notes – both literally and metaphorically – with ‘Come To Me’ and ’Imperfect Love’, the latter of which saw CARATs serenading along to the instrumentals as the five members watched on in a poignant sight.

If the vocal unit’s performance was heartfelt, the hip-hop unit’s fell on the other end of the spectrum, with S.Coups, Wonwoo, Mingyu, and Vernon bringing the heat and hyping the crowd sufficiently with pure hard-hitting rap in ‘GAM3 BO1’ and ‘ Back it up’. 

At 8.40pm, the show was only just starting as all 13 members took to the stage as a full team once again for ‘Mansae’, ‘Left & Right’ and ‘Aju Nice’ – a nostalgic reminder of their more boyish, youthful selves in the earlier years of their careers – and ‘Shadow’, ‘Crush’ and ‘_WORLD’, which very aptly reflected their maturity and growth over the past few years. 

Following a brief intermission, the group ended the momentous 3-hour programme with their encore of fan-favourites: 'Darl+ing’, ‘Our Dawn is Hotter Than The Day’, ‘Snap Shoot’, and naturally, the famed never-ending ‘Aju Nice’, ending the concert just slightly before 10.30pm.

It’s hard to pick out a performance that stood out to me when all the members of the group were able to charm and mesmerise fans individually with their very own quirks and traits, yet collectively, truly embodying the notion of one team. Despite the varied styles and sheer number of members, the 13 of them still manage to create such seamless synergy, and appear to do so with such ease and effortlessness – undeniably, that’s where SEVENTEEN’s ultimate strength lies. 

Of course, trust CARATs to use their suppressed excitement and energy of the last four years to measure up to Seventeen’s ardent passion in full force: From pre-concert festivities – which included the plethora of individual fan support freebies and a coordinated Random Play Dance segment – to the fervent cheers and wholehearted singing-along of the 10,000-strong crowd. Not to mention, the quintessential Singaporean Kiasu-ism coming out in full force, when Hoshi acknowledged that Singapore CARATs did the “fastest” stadium wave “out of all the countries” in their tour stops, going so far as to demonstrate the speed of the wave with his hands. 

It would be amiss of me to leave out the pre-encore fan project, which saw majority of the audience recreate the warm glow of the sun with the use of orange LED wristbands, bringing “Be The Sun”, or rather, SEVENTEEN’s embodiment of the sun to life in a grand display of their appreciation for the 13 members. Not forgetting the banners “For SEVENTEEN to shine as bright as the sun, CARATs will be the clear sky”, echoing their feelings for the group.

Given all the time spent apart, the three-hour concert felt more like a joyful, heartwarming reunion between family, with CARATs’ ardent displays of affection for the members through screams and witty signboards complementing the member’s adoring acts of fanservice and heartfelt expression of their appreciation and gratitude for CARATs.

The K-Pop industry is undoubtedly in a transitory phase, with 3rd generation groups halting their activities and promotions temporarily and 4th generation groups gradually rising in ranks; And yet despite this, SEVENTEEN – now in their 8th year of their career – show no signs of slowing down, much less stopping.

SEVENTEEN are known for a multitude of things: Their prowess as self-producing idols, their versatile discography, their unrivalled synchronised choreography, undisputed gods of 예능 (entertainment) – and each of these qualities (not to mention, the members’ individual appeal) shone through over the course of the three hours. 

With the group still ferociously blazing ahead as one of the currently-active representatives of their generation, consistently surpassing their own standards, surprising listeners with new sounds and styles, and smashing new records with each comeback, it’s exciting to see what they’ll come up with next; But if one thing’s for sure, they’re definitely in good hands of their CARATs.

SEVENTEEN is heading to the Philippines and Indonesia for additional tour stops this December, find out more here.

Special thanks to Live Nation SG, One Production, and Singapore Sports Hub for the invite.