Let me be the first to admit that since the announcement of SuperM, I wasn’t very thrilled with the concept. As a long-time fan of K-Pop, the whole “K-Pop Avengers” concept seemed disingenuous at best, and nothing more than a blatant marketing ploy by SM Entertainment at the worst. Still, I found myself drawn to the opportunity to see their performance in my own backyard, and as such, I ended up at Eaglebank Arena on Sunday. The deciding factor had also been the chance to see Lucas and Ten in concert, something that may not surface anytime soon given that the WayV members will likely not promote in America.

The septet kicked off their show to a full arena with popular B-side “I Can’t Stand the Rain” before immediately jumping into member solos with the most seasoned member, Taemin, performing his solo tracks “Danger” and “Goodbye.” As a nice homage to fans of the older generations, Taemin even added elements of his primary group SHINee’s “Sherlock” within the performance of “Danger.” I was immediately delighted both by this addition and his performance of his earlier solo tracks. These inclusions gave me a similar warmth I often feel at K-Pop performances that I wasn’t sure I would experience here, given the skepticism I had walking into the show. 

The hype continued with Taeyong appearing for his hard-hitting solo “GTA” before the group reunited for “Super Car,” and finally taking the time for their first ment. Ten then took the solo stage with the performance of “Dream in a Dream” and “New Heroes,” a performance many fans were extremely excited for given that he hadn’t released it live up to this point. Lucas’s solo title is still unreleased, but this also marked another first for the group maknae. 

Baekhyun then performed “Betcha” and “UN Village,” two tracks off of his solo debut mini-album that showcased the singer’s prowess for the R&B genre. The full group came back to perform unreleased song “Dangerous Woman” and “2 Fast” before Ten and Taeyong delighted NCT fans with the performance of “Baby Don’t Stop,” my personal highlight of the show. The final batch of solos, that of Mark and Kai, began the winding down of the show. “No Manners,” unreleased track “With You,” and the title track “Jopping” rounded out the hour and a half show to a highly satisfied crowd. 

All things considered, the concert was a great time. It makes sense that a group of seasoned idols would be able to put on an authentic and high-energy show. A somewhat viral review of the tour stop in Dallas came out and angered a lot of K-Pop fans (and rightfully so, since it was quite disrespectful in general). Some of the allegations made in that review appear to be false, based on my own experience (I speak specifically of the firm statement of lip syncing—Baekhyun’s high notes definitely weren’t fabricated). All of that aside, the SuperM show will be enjoyable whether or not you’re a mega-fan of the members or the groups they come from.