PURPLE K!SS FESTA in New York was the Party We Were Waiting For
Photos by Jean Libert
Though PURPLE K!SS started their 2023 The Festa Tour on Halloween in Boston, the party was still in full swing the following night in New York and the ladies were more than ready for it. Where else should these queens debut than the borough of Queens, at the Queens Theater. The house was packed and the ladies delivered. The six-member girl group under RBW Entertainment consisting of Na Goeun, Dosie, Ireh, Yuki, Chaein and Swan came on with killer vocals, energy to spare, and charisma out the roof for an intimate concert that was truly a festa.
With an abundance of K-Pop tours of late, and with many having issues selling tickets or keeping their fans happy with over promised benefits, PURPLE K!SS did everything right. They picked a venue that was the right size, priced tickets and benefits at a level that had fans satisfied, and had great merchandise priced at a point that everyone felt that they could partake in it all. Frankly, I don’t recall the last time I saw a twenty-five dollar light stick. The result was a house of happy fans waving lightsticks, decked out in gear, filling a venue during an already saturated K-Pop touring season.
Coming out in cute Tommy Hilfiger bralettes and cute cutoff overalls, the girls gave off tons of sporty energy as they jumped into “Intro : Bye Bye Bully” before hitting “Nerdy.” The latter a fun catchy song that brings drama to the stage, the song was a great choice to hype up the room. With fun choreography and formations, the girls moved smoothly through the set. As the group that comes from the same company as MAMAMOO, killer vocals were rather expected, and they didn’t disappoint. Swan and Na Goeun’s voices in particular would stand out through the night, but all the ladies hit all the points and delivered.
With “Pretty Psycho,” the dramatic points in the song made for a fun performance which had the floor pumping along to the beats. The gestures in particular made everyone want to copy the movements. Following, they took a break for witty introductions, such as Dosie being the queen of stage presence and Chaein’s, “When you say Chae-in, you can never Chae-out!” which had the whole room yelling “out!” Next on the lineup was “Intro : Illusion” and “memeM,” which killed with Na Goeun’s vocals and Yuki’s rap sequences. It was clear that this is a group that must be heard live to truly appreciate their sound.
Ready to chat, the ladies expressed their excitement being there. With most of the team speaking comfortably in English, they expressed how they longed to perform in front of stateside PLORYs (their fanbase) and their excitement meeting everyone there. Na Goeun, feeling the New York vibe, broke out into the chorus from “Empire State of Mind.” Yuki, in her charming Korean, stated that she had hoped to come to New York before she died and was so happy that her wish came true. More adorable was when she mentioned that she saw squirrels in the park and was so surprised that she wanted to take them home. As the translator spoke, Yuki and the girls around her made the most adorable squirrel movements that had everyone smiling. Chaein was also so excited as she expressed that it was a decade since she had been in New York and that her cousins had come in to see the show. Swan stated that the next songs were a special gift to the U.S. PLORYs on this tour as the ladies began the English versions of “7HEAVEN,” their latest release, followed by “Zombie.” The latter had fun ad-lib points throughout the song and when Na Goeun hit that high note, and we were told to “make some noise,” everyone was screaming and dancing to their beat.
With the ladies ready for a wardrobe change, Chaein and Ireh went back while the rest of the team chatted with the crowd. Yuki mentioned how impressed she was with everyone holding PURPLE K!SS merchandise. Dosie, noting in Korean, “I think you all wanted to hear us speaking Korean as well,” prompted a round of “hello,” “thank you” and “love you” in Korean. When Swan said, “I want to teach you guys something in Korean,” someone yelled out, “a curse word?” to the laughter of everyone. It wasn’t a curse of course, it was the phrase, “What did our PLORYs eat to become so pretty?” They were so happy at how well the PLORYs spoke Korean.
Ready for unit stages, first up was Ireh and Chaein doing a cover of “We Don’t Talk Anymore.” With cute short layered skirts that flowed around them and cropped bolero jackets, they pulled off the sexy and sweet dancing and singing which continued with “Sway with me” that followed. Chatting with the crowd, the duo even took a dance request and popped into the moves of ATEEZ’s “BOUNCY (K-HOT CHILLI PEPPERS).” Next was the vocal unit with Swan, Na Goeun and Dosie singing “Light Switch” and “Rain on Me.” Holding mics, their live vocals hit all the points in the song proving the powerhouse vocals of this trio.
From here it was Q & A time with questions written by fans. The first was the “Smoke Challenge” that had Ireh at the plate, who did it perfectly with adlib acapella verses from various songs, including “Biscuit,” to talking about their, and PLORYs, favorite late night eats including pizza, Taco Bell, Chipotle, steak, and Pringles. Moving onto the next stages, they jumped into “Intro: Save Me” and their popular “Sweet Juice,” which had everyone cheering and singing along. Following “agit,” they jumped into their thank yous as the show headed into its final songs. Dosie stated, “We promise you that we'll be the kind of artists that can return the multiples of energy that we received today.”
Closing off the show with “Love is Dead,” a casual cover of “Dance Monkey,” their debut song “Ponzona,” and “My Heart Skips a Beat,” it was soon time for the show to come to a close. Changing into the merchandise T-shirts, the crew returned for their encore. Swan and Dosie came out first, chatting about the freebie bracelets they got from PLORYs in Boston and New York, and took a moment to sit, prompting everyone to sit, and posed on the floor chatting with everyone. The sit down made the room feel more like an intimate special fan meet than a concert. When all members emerged, they fell into the last songs of the night, “Skip Skip” and “Twinkle.” With the theater on their toes, the show ended like a party. Dancing and singing filled the air with the feeling that it wasn’t goodbye, but merely, until next time.
Thank you to RBW Entertainment, Leo Presents, and most of all to PURPLE K!SS for allowing us to take part in their first New York show. We hope to see them here again soon. There are still dates on the tour, so if they come your way, make sure to go. You won’t regret it.
