P1Harmony Heats Up The Chicago Theater on the P1oneer Tour: Concert Review + Gallery
By Adrianna Dreckmann
There’s only a few times in my life that I was concerned about fan safety at a concert. Not in any alarming or dangerous way but in a way that the energy was so big and massive I thought people were just going to lose their minds. I mean this in a positive way, of course. While I was seated on the balcony of the Chicago Theater in attendance of the P1Harmony: P1oneer tour, there were several times that night when standing on the balcony was like riding a wave. During Back Down, their latest single, it almost felt like the floor was it’s own spring board with the way we were all shaking and bobbing up and down up there.
I arrived at the Chicago Theater right before the P1oneer tour started letting in the VIP guests. The vibe around the theater was buzzing with fans singing songs, everyone was holding a picket, a photo, or a lightstick and it was less than 10 degrees outside (with snow on the way). Allegedly, this was the biggest venue P1Harmony was playing on their United States tour and was nearly completely Sold Out. I love the Chicago Theater as a venue. It’s beautiful and historical and comfortable all around. This isn’t the first time a K-Pop act has performed here but it was my first time seeing one here. Right when I walked in I was stopped by a member of the touring crew and handed a card. On first look I thought it was just going to be a QR code for some sort of single or video or something that P1Harmony was planning but I was pleasantly surprised. I was handed an official P1Harmony photo card from the Tour.
If you’re not familiar with the K-Pop space and it’s traditions let me define this for you. Photo Cards are the equivalent of trading cards in this space. It’s like when you used to collect baseball cards or pokemon cards. There’s merit to collecting your favorite players and for some of these cards they’re worth a lot of money. So, a tour team having people standing at each entrance and giving out official photo cards of idols FOR FREE? Is quite insane. I was so pleasantly surprised. I ended up receiving Soul (who would turn eighteen the next day, a girl in the bathroom told me) and my friend ended up receiving Keeho (my bias, who I negotiated heavy for and failed). There were girls in the corridors who were already gathering around trading for their biases. Another pleasant surprise to me was at the merchandise table, where the tour was selling what looked like hundreds of signed albums from the entire group for a whooping…thirty dollars. Again, another thing incredible unheard of to me in this space. From the minute doors opened it was clear that this tour was motivated in making special moments for fans from start to finish. This show was particularly different for me as I was granted the privilege to photograph the group for this very website you’re reading this on. I was truly ectatic for the opportunity and the entire tour team were the most polite people I’ve had the privilege of working with.
When the show started, the energy was electric. These boys were completely in the zone before the first speaking ment with the crowd. The show seemed perfectly tailored for the audience that was there to see them. It started very serious, fiery, and yes, sexy. Then it started to segway deeper into their personalities and as individuals with their own solo stages. Each member had their own interpretation of their signature style. Solo stages is becoming more of a focal point for K-Pop shows and I was very impressed. We went from a beautiful ballad performed by Soul into a grand Michael Jackson cover by Soul, Keeho, and Jiung. Then suddenly after that we go into a hip hop freestyle from Theo and Jongseob who were wearing these elaborate masks that reminded me so much of ones dogs wear when their rabid or something. It was really bad ass if you ask me and the fans went wild in the place for it.
After the solo stages, that’s when the group seemed to take a more personal turn. They were talking with the audience and really listening. I mean like having conversations with some of them too. The songs began to get lighter and cuter. I think my favorite song of the night was B.F.F. just because it’s already a cute song but then amplified up with personal choreography and an overall happy tone. At one point the members all sat on the floor and faced the audience having a (staged) conversation but letting them know that the show was going to end soon. Typical! It wasn’t going to end for at least another hour. At this point, I decided to finally take a seat for the rest of the show and observe everything. My energy went from exhausted to excited so fast. The energy on that stage was infectious. Most of the translating between the group and the audience was done by Keeho (born in Canada, and the oldest of the group). I was surprised to only hear a translator just a few times during the show. Most of the members spoke English very well with the exception of a few passionate sentences about how they didn’t want to leave so soon. At one point, Jongseob noticed that the balcony was shaking very aggressively and compared it to “a wave of people coming at him” which made me laugh. Where my seat was on the balcony I did get infected with the desire to be noticed in the form of aggressive hand hearts to the members. What can I say? They truly can be charming. Who wouldn’t love to be noticed by their faves?
The show ended with what they called the Play Stage. The members walked through the long walkway in the Chicago Theater and greeted fans while singing a various assortment of their songs. It was casual and definitely very kind. I watched a friend of mine in the fourth row get noticed by her favorite members and then start crying when they were back on the stage. It was definitely the most personal show I’ve seen. Playing in the Chicago Theater seemed like the perfect venue for them. While it was large it gave them plenty of room to have these personal moments with fans and their experience that you can’t really get in the rush of an arena. P1Harmony is a smaller boy group on the scene right now but I truly think that they have the ability to grow bigger as they start to get older. Their songs are fun, dancey, and sexy and check every box that someone who is a fan of NCT 127 or even Enhypen would enjoy. Don’t count out P1Harmony! They’re just getting started.
See our gallery below and our highlight video from the show!
