CIX Delivers Their Beginning, Middle, and Present in London

With slogans over the barricades and nightsticks at the ready, fans prepared themselves before the lights switched off in the O2 Kentish Town venue. Being the third stop on the tour, London CIX fans had seen on social media what to expect at the show; however, members BX, Seunghun, Yonghee, Bae Jinyoung, and Hyunsuk made sure to bypass any expectations, performing as if it were there first performance as a group. 

The excitement erupted among the London crowd as the lights went down, and CIX took the stage, rolling their shoulders back before getting into formation for opening song “Numb.” The members maintained eye contact with each other before the lights came on, the track’s familiar sound of a can being cracked open starting off the beginning of the set. The formations of the opening song allowed members to entice the crowd, as Bae Jinyoung did his signature head tilt calling for screams. 

Although this served as the group’s first Europe tour, CIX visited London back in the summer of 2022, where they performed at K-Pop festival HallyuPopFest. After their performance at the festival, many people got to know the group and anticipated a tour from them. Choosing to open their show on January 20 with “Numb” was refreshing to most as they hadn’t performed this during their last time in the capital. They began afresh, greeting fans with a new performance to fall into.

As the crowd thought they could take a breather after “Numb,” the descending scale of the second song on the set “What You Wanted” began, and one could physically feel the venue’s energy shift. When asking fans prior to the show what song they were most excited to see, “What You Wanted” was a reoccurring answer. The R&B track is part of their debut album and is a fan favorite for a reason, from the intensity of their choreography, to the addicting, “What you want, what you want” ad lib in the chorus. The fan favorite kept the tension up as the second song of the set. 

The show was divided into three sections: the opening set, solo stages, and the final push of the concert. Save me, Kill me serves as the group’s first Europe tour since making their debut in 2019. Since then, the group has released over nine EPs – including their Japanese singles. The pandemic’s halting of live shows didn't stop CIX from creating more music, but allowed them to virtually show their growth, which is why to many fans' surprise, CIX’s setlist consisted of a majority of their 2021 and earlier releases. The group performed four of the five tracks from their debut album HELLO Chapter 1: Hello, Stranger, which gave fans the opportunity to see stages they thought they missed the opportunity to see. 

From “What You Wanted,” they performed their first comeback title track “Jungle,” which fans who managed to catch them in the summer got to see for a second time. The atmospheric track paired with the lightsticks allowed for the build up in the song to be felt with the synergy in the air. The slight change in its second chorus with the addition of a thumping bass pad made the song feel bigger, and the crowd got amped up just in time for BX and Hyunsuk’s rap in the bridge. The funky basslines and beats of “Imagine” and “Off My Mind” switched the energy, and the addicting “We should get it started” added a fun element that made the crowd want to dance along. When speaking to fans in the crowd, one thing that they said makes the group stand out compared to others is that CIX never misses any part of the crowd. Whether you find your place right at the barrier, or you’re on the balcony, or in the sea of fans in the standing area, CIX do not miss the opportunity to interact with everyone that shows up to see them.

Another track which fans expressed excitement in seeing was “458." From the distorted beat to the piano peaking through, then mixed together with their vocals, “458” is the perfect blend of what CIX’s concepts show. They’re capable of working on top of every sort of beat and can make a song their own by stretching their abilities, both vocally and choreography-wise.

After the first chapter of the show ended, fans were greeted with short videos in between to let members rest and prepare for their solo stages. BX kicked off this portion of the show with his cover of 22-year-old singer-actor Marteen’s “Sriracha.” Its catchy chorus allowed BX to be playful around the stage and allowed him to provide a chill performance that everyone would enjoy. BX told the crowd that he prepared this song because he wanted to provide a fun and exciting atmosphere, and that the next time CIX perform in London he’ll prepare a stronger rap performance.

Yonghee was the second member to make the venue his own crowd and prepared “i’m so tired…” by Lauv. The track let the 22-year-old’s voice be heard in a different light as there have not been many chances for him to share his solo covers amidst schedules. This served as his second Lauv cover after releasing a cover of the American artist’s “Never Not” back in July 2022. Yonghee shared that he prepared this song knowing that its popularity warranted that many of the crowd would sing along with him. His song choice was a success, as the crowd were singing back to him as if the emotions spoken in the lyrics were their own. 

Following Yonghee, Bae Jinyoung took the stage with his hoodie up and head down as he held onto the mic stand. For his solo song, he covered the acoustic version of Justin Bieber’s “Nothing Like Us.” The emotive track prompted fans to wave their hands and lightsticks side-to-side, being one with the member’s voice in the space of his cover. Bae Jinyoung has expressed his liking for Justin Bieber over the years, but it felt refreshing hearing his voice to a slower track such as this.

Hyunsuk followed the same emotive theme of the last performance and followed up with his cover of James Bay’s “Let It Go.” Hyunsuk shared with the crowd that as he was performing in the UK, he wanted to cover a song by a UK-based artist, and James Bay’s song felt the most fitting to his voice. As the youngest member sang, fan’s shared that it made them feel proud seeing him sing such a song with it’s full meaning as if he was feeling it himself.

Seunghun’s solo clip was the last show, and London fans had heard online that his solo performance of “TEETH” by 5 Seconds of Summer, which he had performed in other cities, would be changed. As he took the stage, his stance changed and suddenly a brighter sound could be heard as the instrumental of “Cake By The Ocean” by DNCE could be heard coming from the speakers. Seunghun’s playfulness showed through this performance as his vocals mimicked the teasing nature of the original. After the last two of the solo performances left fans feeling touched and proud, Seunghun’s version of “Cake By The Ocean” invited the crowd to dance along with him before moving on to the last segment of their show.

The five members reunited on stage in new double-denim outfits as they took on the last third of their show. They joined back with fan song “Without You,” singing their sincerity through the lyrics and smiling through them as they realized fans were singing back to them. Although their choreography for that track was intense, their tension never failed to carry on until the end. They followed “Without You” with “Bend the Rules” which featured in the same 2022 EP OK Episode 1 : OK Not. They ditched the choreography in order to interact with the crowd more for these last few songs, which they also did for “Change Me.”

The beginning of their track “Rewind” had the tension back up as the distorted bass in the rap verse had everybody stank-facing and dancing along with the members. The tension was built up as they moved onto their debut title track “Movie Star,” which people often call one of the best fourth-generation K-Pop debuts. People sang from the beginning to the end, and many reminisced to 2019 when the five members performed this for the first time. 

The members began saying their goodbyes, which could’ve fooled me, before “Here For You” brought the members back on stage. The last push of the set began here. This was the first time for many to meet CIX in person, and fans were reminded that in this moment, the group were singing this for them. Before the official end of the concert, the group performed one of my favorite songs by them, “Cinema.” I couldn’t help but feel emotional being in the crowd seeing them perform this live; the members were having fun, whipping camcorders out and filming the crowd as if creating their own movie for their own cinema. CIX concluded their hour on stage with “The One,” using this last song to truly say their last goodbyes to fans before departing the stage. 

At some point during the night, CIX hinted at their interview for Buzzfeed UK, which they seemed very fond of after spotting the Buzzfeed UK team in the crowd. Overall, the group shared their fondness for London, and fans can expect to see them again sometime in the future. 2023 marks CIX’s fourth year together as a group, and despite the pandemic temporarily halting international activities, their fanbase in the UK stayed strong and waited for this moment to see their favorite group live on their first Europe tour. The group ended their London Save me, Kill me show with smiles on their faces before taking on the last few shows in Europe.

Be sure to catch CIX in the U.S. later this year as they take this tour to North America.