I Attended IVE’s First Concert in Japan!

Have you ever heard of IVE? IVE is a six-member girl group who made their debut in Korea in December 2021 and is currently enjoying explosive popularity among young people. Starting with Wonyeon and Yoojin who are former members of IZ*ONE, which was born from the survival audition show PRODUCE 48. Other members include Ga-eul, Liz, Iso, and Rey, who is Japanese. They have been on a roll ever since, winning their first No. 1 Korean music program within 7 days of their debut, the fastest time ever for a girl group, and winning the "Song of the Year Award" at last year's "2022 MAMA AWARDS" (K-POP's largest music award ceremony) despite being newcomers. In October 2022, they will make their debut in Japan, and their popularity in Japan continues to soar, including an appearance on Kohaku Uta Gassen. Their first fan concert (THE FIRST FAN CONCERT "The Prom Queens" IN JAPAN) was held at Pia Arena MM in Yokohama on February 18-19 and at World Memorial Hall in Kobe on February 23-24. I attended the evening concert on 2/19 and would like to report on what I remember!

This was my 4th visit to Pia Arena MM after INI's fan meeting, IVE's joint live "THE STAR NEXTAGE", and JO1's 1st arena tour "KIZUNA", but I made it to the venue without any problems.
My seat was not in the arena but in the 2nd floor stand. It was on the upper side that was quite close to the stage, so it was rare for me to sit there, as I am unlucky with seats. However, I was within a good visible distance! I drank a bottle of Otaku's fast-acting blueberry, put the binoculars around my neck, held my IVE fan with the penlight I had just bought in my hand, and I was ready to go.

The show begins! In the midst of the strange tension peculiar to live performances, a video suddenly appeared on the screen. After the movie ended, the six members finally took the stage. They started with the first song "After LIKE" amidst loud cheers. This was the first time I was allowed to cheer at a live performance and I had started my otaku activities since Covid. People around me were wooing to their heart's content, but I enjoyed myself modestly (in a shadowy mode).

IVE 아이브 'After LIKE' MV

Everyone is sooooo cuuuuttttteeeeee!!!!!!

I was so happy to be able to see IVE so close to the audience with my own eyes that my adrenaline was pumping. The audience was then treated to "Take it," "My Satisfaction," and "ROYAL," followed by a series of more exciting songs.

After that, it was time for the mini-game corner, and the MC was Masayuki Furuya, who made an appearance for the second time this year. The first game was to guess the lyrics of the IVE songs through charades. I screamed when Ray and Yoojin got angry because Furuya's announcement of the results was so goofy and cute.
Once the game was over, the stage darkened and we were taken back to the VCR part, where the three pairs of Ga-eul & Iso, Yoo-jin & Liz, and Ray & Won-yeon were divided to decide their acts for the title of Prom queen. After the video, each pair went on stage.

Gaul & Iso appeared in cool suit-like outfits and danced to "Love Killa" by MONSTA X who is one of IVE's senior members (they share the same company). I was impressed by the gap between the usually cute dancers and the cool dancers. Yoojin & Liz sang "Gravity" by Taeyeon with beautiful vocals, and their dresses and strong, resonant voices were heartbreaking. Ray & Won-yeon performed "Me too" by Megan Trainor in pink outfits, and their strong gal look was irresistible! After that, we were taken to the mini-game corner again.

The second game was to draw a picture of a theme and guess the winner. The best scenes were when Ga-eul couldn't draw Tokyo Tower but still passed the game, and when Won-young drew a good picture of natto (fermented soybeans), but Liz still couldn't answer the question and Won-young got very angry, saying "But I drew it so well!” After all the games were over, Ga-eul and Iso's team Kira Kira was chosen as this year's Prom Queen! (All I could say was, “ kawaii…”)

The band then performed a new song called, "Blue Blood". It was a mature and cool song, and it was a change from the title track of their previous albums. IVE is amazing, and they can make any song their own. Next was a cover dance to Fifth Harmony's "That's My Girl”. It was posted on YouTube before and became a topic of conversation.

Finally, toward the end of the concert, they performed a Japanese song! LOVE DIVE -Japanese ver-. (Currently, the Japanese version is only available for download.)

I really enjoyed the calls for "breath-holding LOVE DIVE" before the last chorus. Next was "ELEVEN -Japanese ver-".

Rei-chan's killer part, "Koko kara kara nakara na sakusa" was so powerful that I got goosebumps when the audience also sang it in unison. Both songs were so exciting that the audience naturally swayed their bodies. The live ended when the excitement of the audience reached the maximum.

But no, it wasn’t over yet. An encore awaits. When the audience cheered for the encore, the lights came on again. The band edition of "LOVE DIVE" began to play. All the members were running around the stage in all directions, giving out fanservice all over the stage. Some of them were even able to throw towels directly from the members! (I was so jealous that someone very close to me got a towel from Iso-chan...) The encore went on and on with the band performing a band edition of "After LIKE". The last song of the show was again a new song, "Not Your Girl," which was so cute and so typical of IVE that I am looking forward to its release.

Since IVE does not have that many songs yet, I couldn’t imagine what kind of live performance it would be like, but when I actually experienced it, I was so excited to see so much content! The audience was excited and waved my penlight with excitement from start to finish. Unfortunately, I did not receive any special fan service from anyone this time. However, I was very lucky to be able to see such cute members so close up and I am grateful for that. Looking forward to seeing them again when they come to Japan next time. I think I will keep working hard at my job. (LOL)

A Little Something Extra Corner

Lastly, I would like to introduce some goods that would be useful to have when attending a live concert.

CLASSIC PRO / AAA Alkaline Batteries, 10-pack CPB4

The first is the most affordable AAA batteries. You can never have too many of them. Keep a little extra on hand!

CLASSIC PRO / CPF10WH Portable Fan White

The second one is very useful when you line up your goods in the summer! This is also the most affordable portable fan. Be sure not to miss out on taking measures against heat stroke.

3R / Qurra Neck Cooler & Warmer Hiya Nukku Cordless

Finally, for both cold and hot days! Neck Cooler & Warmer. Since it is cordless, it can be used anywhere according to the temperature. It comes in handy in the winter when the venue is colder than expected!