MCND Welcome Fans Into The Ice Age on Their First U.S. Tour
Photos by Jean Libert
Starting their first ever U.S. tour, MCND touched down in New York City at the famous Webster Hall on Saturday, August 28, 2022.
After the pandemic derailed their previously scheduled tour, putting it on hiatus, fans were extremely excited to get the opportunity to meet the band. Debuting a month prior to the outbreak of COVID, MCND is often referred to as a group that blew up during the pandemic. Many of their fans were new to K-Pop, and with their highly addictive track “ICE AGE,” fans were captivated by the singing, dancing, and the appeal of Korean music.
Opening the tour with recently released song “#MOOD,” the crowd erupted in screams. With K-Pop, many groups have fan chants and point dances; in MCND's case, they have a point lyric. The entire crowd went absolutely wild screaming, “flash, flash, cheese!” along with the group, and that alone cemented the vibe for the night. Keeping the energy up, the group continued into the song “Movin,” which, corny enough, did have the crowd movin’. There was a section of girls doing the choreography perfectly, and the members even pointed them out once or twice.
Before going further into the show, the members took a second to introduce themselves with the group doing their introduction, “Don’t move, Freeze! We are MCND!” that was met with a response full of love from the crowd.
Bringing the energy back up, MCND prepared to perform “TOP GANG,” hands-down one of my favorite tracks from the group, and the crowd couldn't have yelled louder. With Castle J’s opening “TOP GANG,” you could feel the venue shake with how loud people were rapping along with the lyrics. Refusing to bring the energy down by any level, the group continued straight into “REASON” followed by “Bumpin.”
Catching their breath, each member shared how excited they were to be in New York. All members shared similar sentiments with the exception of member Castle J, who noted he had once came to New York when he was in high school but that coming as a performer was a different feeling. Members Bic and Win talked about how they, “wanted to see a lot of things in New York but [Gems] were the best things,” they could see and they were ready to, “create memorable memories tonight.”
Shifting the vibes a bit, MCND came back with “Spring,” an energetic, upbeat track about following your dreams, a message that comes up a lot during their show. Finishing “Breathe,” the members took a second to tell fans how they had anticipated this tour and had a special surprise for the audience. Dedicating a song to U.S. Gems, MCND announced they would perform a cover of Post Malone and Doja Cat’s “I Like You,” which they had been practicing for months for this specific occasion. With the lyrics on the screen, fans were able to sing along with the members and enjoy the moment together. At the, “I like you, I do,” portion of the song, each member pointed to someone in the audience, creating a cute interaction between fan and idol.
Leading back into their music, they performed “Beautiful” and “Cat Waltz,” two fun songs that had choreography to match. At one point, the members joked around on stage while performing “Cat Waltz” and fans got to see the personality of the members shine.
After exiting the stage, a short VCR played where the members did a contest to see who could guess the most K-Pop songs in the shortest amount of time. The competition turned into vocal line versus rap line, and vocal line won by a single point. When the members came back on stage, they performed “Back to you” and “LOUDER,” which are two vastly different songs. “Back to you” is very heartfelt and loving, while “LOUDER” is the traditional intense music you would expect from MCND. Funny enough, the group mentioned that they are a hip-hop performance group and they usually show more intense sides to themselves, but with this tour they were excited to show their fun and energetic side.
They had another short speaking portion where as a punishment for losing the K-Pop game against the vocal line, the rap line had to do a specific mission for each member. Castle J started and had to do an aegyo show followed by Win who performed his “sexy dance,” Minjae performing “Love Shot” by EXO (though not a part of the punishment), and Huijun danced to “God’s Menu” by Stray Kids.
Past the halfway point in the show, fans were still filled with energy and ready for what was next. After a lively VCR and game session, Gems were excited to see what songs would be coming up. Performing “Hey You,” “nanana,” “Galaxy,” “Play Pungak,” and “H.B.C,” the energy in the venue was through the roof. Playing back to back energetic songs had the crowd dancing for a good 10 minutes straight. Exiting the stage, a final VCR played; similar to their previous one, this time the members had to do the choreography along with the song they guessed. The VCR was a fun way to get the crowd involved as we tried to guess the songs along with the members and a few audience members even did the choreography. Returning once again, MCND performed their debut song “ICE AGE” and once again we felt the venue shake with the yells from the crowd. One of the hypest debut songs in my opinion, “ICE AGE” is truly a song you have to experience live. Followed by track “JUICE” from their most recent album, it was time for the show to come to a close.
Lining up in order, the members took their time to thank fans in their own special words to convey the same heartfelt message: “Thank you always, Gem.” Starting with leader Castle J giving his thanks to Gems for coming out to support them, Bic followed and noted this was his first time in New York and thanked fans for making it fun. Next, Win told fans, “Being here with you guys, all I could focus on was having fun instead of doing well,” which received a chorus of screams from the crowd. Minjae responded similarly to Bic, saying that it was his first time in New York and he’s always wanted to come, so he hopes next time they can have an even bigger show. Finally Huijin took his time to say, “We exist, our dreams exist, because of you. Thank you for making our dreams come true. Please continue to make our dreams come true.”
In true K-Pop concert fashion, no concert ends after the final ment, and the group instantly went into their final four tracks: “W.A.T.1” , “Outro”, “Not over” and “Crush.” Closing out their show with four intense songs showed how MCND starts their show on a 10 and carries that energy all the way until the end to give fans a show they will always remember.
Edited by Rashelle B.