SF9 Reunites with UK Fantasy with their LOVE DAWN Tour in London

Photo: Studio Pav Europe

SF9 reunited with their UK fans (known as Fantasy) on October 15, bringing their LOVE DAWN 2025 SF9 LIVE FANTASY #5 European tour to London's Indigo at the O2. While the stage presence and voices of some of the members were missed (with Dawon, Zuho, and Yoo Taeyang absent for different reasons), Youngbin, Inseong, Jaeyoon, Hwiyoung, and Chani excellently maintained the energy of a full group, with no obvious signs of bumps or difficulties as they took to the stage as an electrifying quintet.

Stepping out in vampiric red and black suit attires, the five members channeled sensuality and sophistication as they performed "Love Race," "RPM," and "Now or Never," each with an alluring rock concept twist added to the tracks. After greeting the fans and introducing themselves one by one, "Tear Drop" and "Trauma" followed with an extra touch of seduction, further exciting the crowd who had waited six long years to see SF9 embark on another headline tour. 

The K-Pop group last performed in London in 2022, as part of the HallyuPopFest day two line-up. But for a tour of their own, UK Fantasy had been patiently waiting since 2019 for SF9 to return, with the group having now fulfilled their promise. "I'm so happy to be back in the UK," said Jaeyoon, the most energetic member of the group–a member who never missed an opportunity to display a fun and playful side to himself during each one of the show’s talking stages (even allowing Youngbin to jump on his back at one point, much to the amusement of his members and Fantasy). 

After exchanging heartfelt yearnings of being reunited, SF9 then moved into the contemporary R&B "Cruel Love" followed by the enticing electro-pop "WARURU," before bringing the first stage to an end with the EDM-club banger "BIBORA."

During the first stage, SF9's appearance screamed ''Mafia Boss,” with the VCRs heightening this perception, as it showed the members in an acting sequence, dressed in the same suits worn on stage, but with cuts shown upon their faces and a gun prop featured in a scene. This VCR set a story of SF9 discovering different ways of raising their “love energy” with cheers roaring through the venue as each member appeared on screen. From self-love, to memories, to serenading and more, it was hearing the love and affection from Fantasy, as they screamed the venue down that gave SF9 a lot of encouragement and raised their “love energy” in the VCR, leading into the second stage of the show.

Youngbin kicked things off with a cute and playful solo performance of his self-composed track "Someday," with Inseong following Youngbin with a pop-rock cover of "On the Ground" by Rosé (of BLACKPINK). Casting a mellow tone over the energetic mood set by Inseong and Youngbin, Jaeyoon chose to serenade Fantasy with a mellow and elegant cover of "Birds of a Feather" by Billie Eilish, with Hwiyoung following suit, charming the audience with a suave cover of "back to friends" by sombr. Known for his effortless rap skills, this cover shone a light on Hwiyoung's vocal range, with him later admitting that he wanted to prove that he can sing songs in that particular style, to which Youngbin called him a “baby rockstar” for looking young like a baby but performing like a rockstar. 

Surprisingly, none of the members covered a song by a British artist, which tends to be a recurring theme during K-Pop solo stages when visiting the UK, but the members' solo stages were welcomed with open arms regardless. Instead, SF9 treated Fantasy to songs that reflected their own styles, musical preferences, and creativity. For unknown reasons, Chani was the only member to not perform solo during this segment, with him instead taking centre stage during the dance routines of some of the group performances. Although there were no British song covers, Jaeyoon and Inseong did treat us to their version of the British accent several times, with them saying sentences that included the famously mimicked word “water,” igniting laughter amongst the fans.

Once the solo stages were over, SF9 dived into a more playful set with a selection of genre-defying tracks and an outfit change into white and black angelic looks that contrasted the Vampiric, Mafia style looks from before. Here, they performed the ‘80s funk-synth-pop inspired "Just On My Way," followed by the tropical undertones of the relaxed dance-pop track "Round and Round," before breaking into their reggae infused dark pop-EDM hit "Enough." Each one of these songs emphasized SF9's compelling nature of creating versatile and eclectic tracks that are loved across the fandom, with the next track–the smooth, house influenced pop song "Good Guy" being solid proof of this. The song that gave SF9 their first-ever music show win in 2020, "Good Guy" instantly proved to be a fan-favorite, with Youngbin later expressing his happiness in being able to perform this song for Fantasy, revealing it to hold a lot of meanings for them as a group. 

With the show now coming to an end, Jaeyoon broke the unfortunate news to the crowd. This prompted Hwiyoung and Youngbin to playfully boo him with the crowd joining in before the show entered its last stage. Inseong promised to return to the UK as soon as possible, evoking a rupture of screams amongst the crowd, all hoping to not have to wait another 6 years to see SF9 on UK soil again. 

The infectious club beats of "Love No.5" opened the show's last stage, serving flawless vocals from each member and incredible dance breaks from Chani. Following "Love No.5’s" upbeat notions, the show ended on the beautifully melodic tones of the latin-influenced dance track "O Sole Mio," that conjured up many emotions for those in attendance, being a poignant, fan-favorite song that brought the concert to its bittersweet end. 

As the members left the stage, the crowd cheered and chanted for SF9 to return for an encore stage, with the members running back out (now wearing their official tour t-shirts) for an energetic and uplifting performance of "MAMMA MIA." Due to a wardrobe malfunction, Inseong left the stage as the rest of the group continued with their performance before returning at the end, prompting a re-do of "MAMMA MIA" much to everyone's delight. 

Taking the time to speak to the crowd one last time, each member expressed their love, happiness, and gratitude to their fans and, again, promised to return to the UK at some point in the future. For Inseong, being in the UK for the LOVE DAWN 2025 SF9 LIVE FANTASY #5 tour brought back sincere childhood memories of his time living in London, with him giving shoutouts to Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park, and popular British stores Tesco and Sainsbury's, as well as the primary school he had attended whilst living here. 

After taking a group photo, SF9 officially ended the show in high spirits with a performance of their energetic, retro-funk-pop, track "My Fantasia," before exiting the stage, waving and gesturing heart signals to those in the crowd. 

SF9's LOVE DAWN 2025 SF9 LIVE FANTASY #5 show in London was a fantastic night of music for UK Fantasy. With only five members present, the show allowed us to see and hear other sides to Youngbin, Inseong, Jaeyoon, Hwiyoung, and Chani, as they bravely and excellently covered song parts usually held by the other members. Of course, Dawon, Zuho, and Yoo Taeyang were sincerely missed, but with a tour promised for the future, Fantasy worldwide have everything crossed to see SF9 perform again as a complete set, with UK Fantasy already excited for SF9's return to London someday.