Welcome back to Fan Chant , a weekly column for K-pop fans, stans, and newbies alike. This week, the members of IVE reflect on their first appearance at Chicago’s Lollapalooza. If you enjoy what you’re reading, feel free to subscribe to my companion newsletter to get Fan Chant delivered right to your inbox each week!
One thing about me? I love watching non-fans experience K-pop for the first time. There’s something so ridiculously fun about seeing people experience how overwhelming it all is, from the outfits to the stage construction, camerawork, choreography, and fan chants. I happened to be walking alongside the concessions line 1 when IVE took the T-Mobile Stage at Lollapalooza this past Saturday, and witnessed people working the booths leaning over the counters to get a glimpse of what was happening.
To their credit, IVE’s set kicked off with a bang as live instrumentalists welcomed the six members to the stage for an impressive 11-song run. Lollapalooza weekend was warm — feel free to dig into the full festival recap for more on that — but IVE’s energy was easy and breezy onstage, the members sporting impeccable makeup and coordinated blue outfits. As they ran through tracks like “ROYAL,” “Baddie,” and “ELEVEN,” they became more and more comfortable in front of the engaged audience, which was a mix of newbies and fans, known as DIVEs.
“It was truly extraordinary,” GAEUL shared in the days following the set. “We had such a great time performing in front of everyone.”
“It was a dream come true to perform at such an iconic and big festival,” added JANGWONYOUNG. “We are so honored to have performed there.”
Many of IVE’s biggest hits, like “After Like” or their recent release “All Night,” leverage sampling — the former pulls from Gloria Gaynor’s iconic “I Will Survive,” while the latter references Icona Pop’s track of the same name. This allowed the newest listeners in the crowd to familiarize themselves with IVE’s music and offered a connection point for anyone not yet familiar with the group.
“I hope that the crowd enjoyed the live band!” ANYUJIN emphasized. “It was a new experience for us, and we loved the energy it brought to the performance. We hope everyone in the audience loved our set, from our DIVEs to anyone who was watching us for the first time.”
Lollapalooza, at its best, offers a comparatively chill festival crowd. Audiences lean toward curiosity and exhibit a willingness to discover a new act to work into their listening habits, and the members of IVE felt this throughout their performance. “We loved [the environment] so much and would love to do more festivals soon,” LEESEO said. “We love to meet all our DIVES around the world.”
“We wanted everyone to have fun during our set,” REI noted, reflecting on what the members were most focused on in the preparatory phase leading up to Lollapalooza. “We wanted to make our set unforgettable and make a lasting impression.”
After the 45 minute performance came to an end, the members stood hand in hand, with some getting a bit choked up as they looked in the sea of cheering attendees. JANGWONYOUNG described it as nothing short of a “wow moment.”
“We are so grateful for everyone that came out to our performance and showing their support to us,” said LIZ.
Watch Lollapalooza’s official highlight of the set below, and grab tickets to upcoming IVE shows here .
1 I was buying cheese fries, which honestly paired great with IVE’s set. I’m not here to lie to any of you!
Elsewhere at Lolla: Backstage with Stray Kids
Stray Kids, photo by Joshua Druding
I caught up with the festival’s headliners ahead of their fiery set. Read my interview with Stray Kids and set recap here .
Tour Alert: SEVENTEEN in the US
SEVENTEEN, photo courtesy of Pledis Entertainment
While a bit abbreviated compared to their 2022 trek, SEVENTEEN are coming back to America for a 2024 tour. Here’s how to secure tickets to the newly announced shows.
Song Rec of the Week:
While these girlies technically aren’t K-pop, this release in particular feels K-pop adjacent. I’m personally looking forward to the upcoming documentary about how they formed — and if you’re a fan, stay tuned for a forthcoming interview in the next few weeks with KATSEYE!
Get updates delivered to you daily. Free and customizable.
It’s essential to note our commitment to transparency:
Our Terms of Use acknowledge that our services may not always be error-free, and our Community Standards emphasize our discretion in enforcing policies. As a platform hosting over 100,000 pieces of content published daily, we cannot pre-vet content, but we strive to foster a dynamic environment for free expression and robust discourse through safety guardrails of human and AI moderation.
Most Popular
Comments / 0