There’s a new K-pop sheriff in town
Rising boy band Seventeen rivals BTS in talent, if not fame
BTS is, without a doubt, the biggest K-pop act in the world.
But it might not be the best.
That title may well belong to Seventeen, the increasingly popular South Korean act that made a convincing claim to the throne with its performance at the SAP Center in San Jose on Tuesday.
The show was a total blast, filled with at least as many good songs, slick dance moves and fun moments as you’ll witness at a BTS gig.
Plus Seventeen is more versatile, and features stronger vocal work, than what you get from its better-known K-pop counterparts — who just announced a massive twonight stand, April 25-26, at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara.
Each band, of course, is distinct. And the main value of comparing them is to provide a point of reference, given that the only K-pop band that the general public is really familiar with — at least in the U.S. — is BTS.
But that could change. Seventeen could well be the next K-pop band to break through in a major way.
Indeed, it feels like it’s already happening.
Seventeen-mania was in full effect in San Jose, with hundreds of fans — whom the band members lovingly refer to as “Carats,” as in carats of a diamond — could be seen lining up outside of SAP Center some 12 hours before showtime.
Once inside, many of those fans waved special Seventeen-approved light sticks — which, I kid you not, are called “carat bongs” — and waited impatiently for their heroes to take the stage.
One female fan sitting directly behind me kept repeating: “Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, my God.” Loudly.
Then the band took the stage and the party rocketed to an even higher level as the 11 members rolled out big versions of “Getting Closer,” “Rock” and “Clap.”
It was fun to watch and hear all 11 players at work as they moved through synchronized dance steps and melded their vocals in intriguing ways. They powered through the songs like a supersized boy band, and one roughly twice the size of most such acts.
Yet this was actually a stripped-down version of the band. There are actually 13 members in the troupe, but two of them didn’t make it to the stage.
Jun was in San Jose but not feeling well enough to perform, according to the band.
And S.Coups has been out of the fold for a while, having reportedly taken some time off from the band to recover from anxiety-related health issues.
Even down two members, the group sounded strong as it worked two stages, connected by a catwalk that ran halfway across the arena floor, and sweetly crooned such ballads as “Smile Flower” and handled uptempo cuts like “Trauma.”
The singers also showed plenty of personality, especially during a few lengthy breaks — which are referred to in the Seventeen world as “ments” — when they made various comments to the crowd (often with the assistance of a translator).
Each singer would get the chance to introduce himself onstage, while eliciting screams of delight from the crowd. The8 was a definite fan favorite and drew the biggest response on this night.
But every member seemed to have his own rooting section.
The overall group is broken down into three units — the hip-hop unit, the vocal unit and the performance unit — each of which got its own individual spotlight in this show. Yet the best moments occurred when the 11 members reunited onstage to perform a big cut like “Just Do It.”
All signs point for 2020 being a really big year for K-pop in the United States and beyond. And this concert underscored why Seventeen should play a huge part in the genre’s success for years to come.