Sunmi Dominates the Stage in First World Tour
Former Wonder Girls member Sunmi has been having inarguable success as a solo artist since the group’s disbandment, a fact that continues to remain true as she brought her first world tour to the U.S. this March. The Kraze caught her performance in Washington D.C., her last stop before heading off to Mexico for the next leg of her tour.
It’s no secret that touring as a solo artist is a challenge; in fact, Sunmi even made a comment during her show that she feels she can’t live up to the expectations of performance like boy groups can. Well, The Kraze is here to refute that statement entirely. Beginning her show with the powerful “24 Hours,” Sunmi set the tone by starting at the very beginning of her discography. She then switched back and forth between old and new, transitioning into “Curve” and then returning to “Who Am I,” followed by “Black Pearl” off her latest EP, WARNING.
The first ment came after “Curve,” where Sunmi attempted to speak over a crowd of screaming and adoring fans. She introduced herself and confessed to the crowd that she was struggling with a bad cold, but would perform at her best for us despite that. Frankly speaking, it was impossible to tell the singer was feeling ill at all during her performances. The second ment came after “Black Pearl,” where Sunmi introduced the next song as a special track that has yet to be released.
“Borderline” was a raw and intense song that was performed mostly in English, and was a special treat for fans who attended the concert as they got a sneak peek of what is to come in the future of Sunmi’s musical releases. Since that’s a special part of the concert she shared with fans, no spoilers!
“Noir” came next, her latest popular release that she explained further in detail in her next ment. “Full Moon” came in after “Noir,” much to the delight of fans of her older work. The next ment followed where Sunmi described her character in the video as an attention seeker, someone who often gets totally sucked into social media to the point of it being a poison. After having a quick discussion on that and chatting with the audience, a VCR was played to allow a costume change in preparation for the second portion of the show.
The tone of the performance definitely shifted as she returned to the stage with a powerful rendition of “Addict” before jumping into fan favorite “Gashina,” earning roars and verbatim sing-alongs of the lyrics. She then went on to perform two cover tracks, “Georgy Porgy” by Toto and “I’m Not in Love” by 10CC. Both songs are considered oldies these days, but the Toto song in particular is an extremely obscure deep cut that even I was surprised to hear the singer perform. It was a nice surprise, adding a new, enjoyable element to the show. Older fans and even parents of kids who were dragged to the show were surely caught off guard and totally mesmerized by the amazing covers of these classics.
As about two-thirds of the show had concluded, Sunmi didn’t slow down, performing “Secret Tape,” “Heroine,” and super hype tracks “Hey You” and “Burn.” The last third of the show felt more like a club scene, with intense EDM beats that never ceased and strong choreography from the soloist. With her goodbye ment and a promise to return back to D.C. in the future, Sunmi left Washington with a performance of “Siren” and encore of “Gashina,” featuring the dancers switching roles.
All in all, the concert was a treat to experience. Whether or not you’re a huge fan of Sunmi, it’s impossible to deny her charm both while performing or just simply being herself, as the crowd would often comment about how cute she was during her ments. Her vocal talents filled up the entire theater from start to finish, and the two-hour show flew by in the blink of an eye between enjoying popular hits to experiencing new songs. With the U.S. leg of her tour concluded, Sunmi has proved her strength as an artist in her ability to enrapture the audience for her solo show.