Leave it to SEVENTEEN to make the same impact with their performances in an empty stadium and through one’s computer screen as if they were physically in front of a crowd at a sold out show. The K-Pop Performance Powerhouse held the first show of their two-day online concert via streaming platform VenewLive on November 14. With the feature of multi-view offered to official fanclub membership holders, fans were given the selection of four different screens to switch between and enjoy the concert from specific angles and zoom levels.

Earlier this year, the 13-member group introduced their 2021 project with a concept trailer titled “Power of Love.” The concert, which inherited the same name, aimed to showcase a variety of performances that depict different forms of love. The cleverly-crafted setlist of the first installment featured songs from their discography that included the word “LOVE” in the title—”Ready to love,” “Crazy in Love,” “Network Love,” “Imperfect love,” and “All My Love.”

Putting the “POWER” in Power of Love

With Day 1’s theme being “POWER,” SEVENTEEN lived up to the concept’s name within the first 30 seconds of gracing the stage. Performing “Crush,” off of the newest mini-album Attacca, as the opening number, main vocalist DK’s powerful and punchy “You're my crush'' line marked the start of the three-hour concert livestream. An unofficial tradition in the fandom is to expect several members to debut a new hair color or hairstyle on stage at every concert. Carats quickly noticed that member Jeonghan transitioned from blond to silver hair, and member Wonwoo rocked some silver front highlights. Following “Crush” was another well-loved B-side released earlier this year, ”Anyone.” Main vocalist Seungkwan belted an impressive high note during the bridge that led to an intense dance break— something SEVENTEEN is known to frequently do and always excel at.

The lights dimmed for a short moment to be greeted by the shadows of the group’s three respective unit leaders: S.Coups, Woozi, and Hoshi. Woozi, who stood on the highest platform on stage, performed an electric guitar solo—proving once again that the group’s main producer and vocal unit leader is indisputably multi-talented. The rest of the members joined the leaders for a dance break that was accompanied by grand pyrotechnics and ultimately transitioned into the fan-favorite anthem “CLAP.”

After a fiery opening sequence, SEVENTEEN welcomed the audience with their group and individual introductions. In line with the theme of “LOVE,” the members each ended their individual ment with a unique autotuned version of “I LOVE YOU.” The autotune trend, which was started by member Hoshi and his signature phrase “Horanghae” at past concerts, saw the members being playful as ever with each other on stage and with the audience tuning in online.

 Members Jun and The8, who were unable to join the rest of SEVENTEEN after announcing that they would be focusing on Chinese activities for the rest of the year, also made an appearance through video call to greet Carats. The duo assured fans and the members that they are doing well and are supporting the 11 members to successfully carry out the concert in their absence.

The Many Forms of LOVE

After demonstrating the “Power of Love'' fanchant that they prepared just for the concert, the group wrapped up their introduction and segued into performing a trio of “LOVE” songs— “Ready to love,” “Crazy in Love,” and “Network Love.” In the first-ever live performance of “Network Love,” only two out of four members in the song’s unit were physically present on stage. With members Jun and THE8 in long distance from the rest of SEVENTEEN, the unit took the chance to further emphasize the message of the song, which is about the connection made between people despite not physically being together. Throughout the performance, Vernon and Joshua danced on stage while pre-recorded videos of Jun and The8 singing were shown on the LED screens.  

A VCR of the three SEVENTEEN leaders had fans hoping for a leader line stage like “CHANGE UP,” but the performance of “Fast Pace” came just as much of a surprise. With its last performance dating back to as far as 2017, the revival of the song saw a more mature SEVENTEEN nailing the slightly-tweaked choreography with the support of female backup dancers. The alluring stage of this 2016 release was arguably one of the most talked about of the night. The performance was then followed by Wonwoo and Mingyu’s duet “Bittersweet,” the initial release that launched the beginning of the Power of Love project earlier this year. 

“I Wish” and “Home” came right after, to alleviate the solemn mood previously set by the duo with songs that conveyed an abundance of warmth towards Carats. 

The warmth soon became pure heat as the members changed into army green to perform the intense and high-energy track “HIT.” 

Unit and Solo Performances

Any quintessential SEVENTEEN concert can’t be without performances from the group’s three respective subunits: hip-hop, vocal, and performance. As the performance unit was missing half of their headcount, Hoshi and Dino showcased solo performances instead. 

Kicking things off was the hip-hop unit with their upbeat stages of mixtape track “Check-In” and hyperpop-influenced “GAM3 BO1.” The quartet, composed of S.Coups, Wonwoo, Mingyu, and Vernon, took the stage dressed in bright outfits that some fans said resembled the Power Rangers and the Teletubbies— certainly a 180° vibe change from their “Back it up” stage in another online concert, In-Complete, at the beginning of the year. 

Often referred to as the “Future of K-Pop,” youngest member Dino unveiled the first performance of his new solo track “Last Order.” Passionately delivering lines of the rap track, the group’s maknae exuded as much energy as a 13-member grand-scale performance. The intense and music-isolated vocals during the final verse of the song left a strong, lasting impression and left everyone, including myself, speechless.

To slow things down, the vocal unit—consisting of Woozi, Jeonghan, Joshua, DK, and Seungkwan—performed the hearteningly tender “Pinwheel” and “Imperfect love.” While SEVENTEEN as a collective group is best known for their synchronization and dancing skills, separating them into their respective units gives members a chance to highlight other artistic abilities like the vocal unit’s breathtaking voices and harmonization. 

As the mood switched again after the vocal unit’s two-song set, the camera panned to a fierce Hoshi sitting on monkey bars—the main prop for his impressive choreography to solo mixtape track “Spider.” SEVENTEEN’s performance leader impressed with technical acrobatic moves, striking vocals, undeniable stage presence, and a dance break that further asserted him as a top-class performer. The solo stage perfectly transitioned to the group’s performance of “Fear.”

With another outfit change into bejeweled denim outfits, the group performed a medley of healing songs including “My My,” “Heaven’s Cloud,” “BEAUTIFUL,” and their most recent title track “Rock with you.” The songs provided a much-needed serotonin boost to Carats watching from all over the world— especially those who stayed up at a late hour to tune in. The members also gave a heartwarming shoutout to their fans by uttering “our Carats” before singing “Beautiful.”

“LOVE” Transcending Distance

Reaching the encore, the group dressed down in the concert’s merchandise to perform “To you,” “Thinkin’ about you,” “Left & Right,” and closed off the first day with “All My Love.” The ending ment saw members expressing gratitude to fans for helping the group endure this year through the love they received. Alluding to the possibility of a world tour in the near future, many members yearned for their next concert to be offline during their final speech. "I really hope this will be the last online performance, I love you and I really want to see you soon,” said Seungkwan. 

Through 26 colorful stages with a mix of old, new, and never-performed songs spanning over three hours long, there is no doubt that SEVENTEEN truly shines the brightest when they’re on stage. It’s a bummer that it has been almost two years since the million-seller group last performed in front of their fans, after the last few dates of 2019 World Tour Ode To You was ultimately cancelled due to COVID-19 in February of 2020. With K-Pop groups like TWICE, ATEEZ, and NCT 127 recently announcing tour dates and resuming overseas schedules, it’s very likely that SEVENTEEN will follow their footsteps to start performing offline again. Corresponding to the group’s biggest wish, hopefully Carats will be able to hear SEVENTEEN’s “say the name” in person instead of through their computer screen in no time.