DAY6’s Triumphant Return to the U.S.
Photo: JYP Entertainment
A lot can change in five years. For DAY6, their careers in 2019—the last time they toured—and 2025 feel like day and night. 2019 DAY6 had just won their first music show award for then-new song “Time of Our Life” and were on a slow rise in popularity, and the band seemed to be riding a fresh wave of adrenaline because of it. 2025 DAY6 sees them as Korea’s top band, topping charts left and right and amassing awards, titles, and critical acclaim like its child’s play at this point.
Those five—nearly six—years saw the band go through uncertain hiatus periods, experience drastic lineup changes, and start their military enlistment period. But they also saw the band release six albums among other projects, pursue successful solo careers, and come back together, stronger than ever, to embark on a new journey.
Forever Young is the name given to this new chapter in DAY6’s career, and it’s one aptly given as the band’s recent show in Los Angeles, their first in half a decade, proves that they’re still the same wonderful, wonderful band they always have been.
If you’ve followed any of the articles I have written over the last years, or associated with me in any way, you would know that there are few things I wished for more than a new DAY6 tour. Their GRAVITY tour is what carried me over all these years, and it left me with impossibly high standards for what a concert should be; imagine my surprise when they opened Forever Young with the exact same song, “Best Part.” As Young K instructed the crowd to raise their hands and clap in unison to the beat, it was clear that the band was here to bridge the gap between then and now, picking right up where they left things half a decade ago.
Since their last tour, DAY6 has gained fame as being Korea’s go-to festival band: they know how to control a crowd and “Best Part” couldn’t have done a better job getting the whole of YouTube Theater to lock in, as the audience sang right along with the band. They kept the momentum going with “Better Better,” a 2017 B-side that packs quite the vocal punch before moving onto “Healer,” a cut off 2021’s The Book of Us : Negentropy - Chaos swallowed up in love. The band, notorious for their sometimes cringe-worthy dance moves and being a little behind-the-times when it comes to trends, even created a dance challenge for the song, which Young K happily danced along to as they played.
Photo: Kelly Sipko
If you know one song by DAY6, it’s likely “Time of Our Life,” a track that has since become an anthem of sorts for the Korean general public. It led to the resurgence of the band in 2022 when Young K, Wonpil, and Dowoon went viral for coming together to perform the song on a military special of Immortal Songs despite serving in different branches. At 2019’s GRAVITY, it was DAY6’s newest track, but the present day had the venue absolutely vibrating with the volume of the crowd as they sang along to DAY6’s biggest hit.
With the crowd as hyped as possible, the band finally introduced themselves to raucous cheers. They quickly made it clear this was a show for fans new and old as they lamented that it had indeed been five years (“and seven months,” added Wonpil) since they’d seen U.S. My Days (their fandom). Not wanting to lose momentum, they quickly kicked off the next portion of the concert with “She Smiled,” a newer release from Band Aid that was crafted with crowd interactions in mind.
“She Smiled” moved into the groovy “How to love,” followed by older hits “Pouring” and “Say Wow,” off their MOONRISE and SUNRISE albums respectively. Despite running jokes about the members getting older, the band stayed true to the Forever Young name of the tour. It was only now that things would start to wind down, eight high-octane songs into their setlist, but not before the rest of the band teased Sungjin for not knowing about the “barking” trend that’s grown in prominence since their last time in the States. Unfazed by his members’ antics, Sungjin continued by hinting that the next part of the concert would have fans adopting labelmate TWICE’s famous “TT” pose.
The next part of the concert was indeed tear-inducing, as the band kicked things off with their viral ballad “You Were Beautiful.” Even though I’ve heard it live numerous times, on top of hearing everyone in the K-Entertainment industry cover it, this song will never get old. It was particularly moving when the members pointedly forewent singing the second chorus, urging the audience to sing in their place. “You Were Beautiful” was followed by the equally poignant “I Loved You” and “Letting Go,” before closing the section out with their all-time classic debut song, “Congratulations.”
It would be impossible to cover all the music DAY6 has released since their last tour, so the band did their best to cater to fans by singing random snippets of songs not on the setlist. The songs chosen by the members for the first night in L.A. were “I Like You,” “When You Love Someone,” “I’m Serious,” and “Somehow,” the last of which perfectly led into the next portion of the show.
While known for their soaring vocals and beautiful lyrics, let’s not forget that DAY6 knows how to go hard. Amping up the guitars and kicking things into high gear, the band brought out heavy hitters “How Can I Say” and “I Wait” before debuting “Love me or Leave me” on U.S. soil. The next song, however, was easily a highlight of the night: “Shoot Me.” The track was notably taken off their GRAVITY setlist and I personally felt it would never see American light again, given the political climate. I first heard “Shoot Me” live on DAY6’s 2018 Youth tour and few things have compared since—but hearing it live in 2025 blew the previous time out of the water. “Shoot Me” is already an incredibly powerful song, but the energy cranks up tenfold live. Paired with a whole audience doing the “BANG! BANG!” fanchant? It was concert bliss.
The band used the high from “Shoot Me” to showcase some of their individual skills, which are nothing to be scoffed at. Sungjin in particular grabbed the spotlight as he wailed away at the iconic “Shoot Me” guitar solo.
Photo: Kelly Sipko
The concert then drifted into more somber territory, with Young K explaining the next songs were about loneliness. “Monster,” a song the bassist penned about the alienating feeling of being unable to speak the language when moving abroad as a child, was easily my most anticipated song of the night; to hear such a personal song from an artist you so deeply admire feels like a gift. They followed up with 2020’s “Zombie,” and to my pleasant surprise sang the original Korean version instead of opting for the English one they’d released alongside it.
Newest hit “Melt Down” brought the serotonin levels back up before going full-force with “HAPPY.” Despite its carefree energy, the upbeat song is actually quite sad, and it’s this dichotomy that has spoken to so many people around the world, making it DAY6’s most successful song thus far despite its status as a B-side. In a similar vein was “Wish,” an older cut off their sophomore release DAYDREAM that’s been moving Young K to tears as of late, and the first night in L.A. was no exception.
After newer bangers “Help Me Rock&Roll” and “Shxtty Game,” the band caught me off guard when they played their two signature encore songs “DANCE DANCE” and “Freely.” From there, it felt like all bets were off the table as the band left the stage and let My Days showcase their karaoke skills to several songs, including the entirety of “Days Gone By.” Most artists would switch out this segment for something more foreigner-friendly, but for DAY6 to trust their international fans just as much as those that speak their same language speaks volumes.
After fans proved their vocal prowess, the band came back onstage donning the usual encore merch outfits. As the opening chords of “My Day” began to play, I found myself speechless. My first article for this outlet was covering DAY6’s 2017 show in Detroit, where I pointedly was moved by the fact that “My Day” played over the speakers post-concert. It was a new song then, as was the fandom name, and since it more or less marked the start of my journey as a My Day, it’s been my dream to hear it live. Sungjin’s high note in the end would have made any casual concert-goer misty-eyed, but to me it was confirmation they were finally back and I was still just as much their fan now as I was then. Those five years spent waiting for them to return were worth every second, if just to hear this song.
Though my tears were far from dried, the boys continued on with “Sing Me” and a grand finale of “Welcome to the Show” and “First Time,” both of which made for perfect closers as the crowd sang along boisterously. As voices ran hoarse and confetti rained down, DAY6 said their goodbyes and made their exit, for all intents and purposes finishing their set.
And then they did something I’d never witnessed before: they actually came right back onstage, cheekily greeting the crowd once more, before picking up their instruments and playing a second rendition of “Best Part.” As I said before, this was already the song that had bridged the gap between the then and now for me, so to have them play it once more felt like they were personally telling me, “Yeah, you’re not dreaming. We’re back. We’re really finally back.”
I’ll likely tell you any DAY6 concert is perfect, but I really, truly mean it with Forever Young. It’s not easy crafting a concert for old and new fans alike, but the band somehow found the ideal blend of new music, pandemic releases, and older hits; whether you were a seasoned fan or it was your first time seeing the band live, DAY6 had something for you.
Admittedly, it did take some time for the band to warm up to their first U.S. audience in years. With the combination of nerves, jet lag, and the first time performing stateside with their new lineup, it’s no surprise it took them a moment to find their stride. With the help of My Days, however, it all fell into place quite effortlessly. (The usually quieter Dowoon just straight up shouting “AHH!” into his microphone during “DANCE DANCE?” If that doesn’t tell you how confident they got, I don’t know what will.)
After all this time, nothing beats DAY6 live. Their energy, talent, and music is just as infectious now as it always has been. Having the chance to finally see my favorite band again feels like beating the odds, and it’s proof that things only get better with time, even if the wait can seem unfairly long sometimes. Welcome back, DAY6. Can’t wait until the next one.