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IVE
‘Show What I Have’ Tour
@Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney
28th July, 2024
(Live Review)

Review by Celine May

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Photo – Aaron Leslie

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Kpop is out in full force this year and I’m all for it! IVE, a 6 member group composed of – Yujin, Gaeul, Liz, Leeseo, Rei and Wonyoung – are in the midst of their first world tour. Their ‘SHOW WHAT I HAVE’ tour boasts over 20 shows across Southeast Asia, Eastern Asia, North America, South America, Europe, the U.K., and Australia. Given the group formed in 2021 and were all born in the early 2000s, their live performance was all the more impressive. IVE brought charisma, versatility, great stage production and crowd engagement. At the beginning, I was concerned that they would overdo their cute personas (coined ‘aegyo’ in South Korea) though they soon changed the atmosphere with darker songs, lighting, and outfits, showing they could definitely do both!

The crowd’s energy was ear piercingly high and many of their outfits were just as fun and dazzling as IVE. IVE took to the stage with white, crystal embellished outfits and glowing makeup as they opened with I Am. The backing audio cut out towards the end of the song but they handled it well and let out a few laughs. They formally introduced themselves, and spoke about their time in Sydney; visiting the Opera House, the Zoo and each naming each other after an Australian animal. They got stuck into Royal, Blue Blood (personal favourite, love the middle eastern instrumentals), Blue Heart, Cherish and viral hit ELEVEN. Backup dancers were introduced here, and were interwoven throughout the show, as well as mini challenges among the six members.

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Photo – Aaron Leslie

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Photo – Aaron Leslie

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I love that the stage production of every song was carefully curated and noticeably shaped the atmosphere; fiery red for Royal, blue backing for Blue Heart, and instagram-style for Cherish. It is the first I’ve seen venue screens used in this way, and also for each screen acting as its own element of Instagram; one presented as if IVE’s performances was being live streamed in the app, 1 scrolling through their account profile, and another being a DM chat with the lyrics presented as back-and-forth messages.

The second set slowed things down as they sat on chairs to perform the sentimental ballad ‘Shine with Me’, which beautifully highlighted their vocals and harmony, amplified with purple and blue hues. Throughout the course of the show, different combinations of members were on the stage at different times – I assume to allow for a break and to change clothes. Australian-based conversation filled the spaces as they spoke about aussie snacks, Coles vs Woolies, and winter vs summer. Honestly, kudos for their knowledge on our Supermarkets!

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Photo – Aaron Leslie

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Photo – Aaron Leslie

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Lips, Mine and Off the Record proceeded – Lips highlighting their aegyo, Mine using umbrella-based choreography, and catchy Off the Record which overlaid sweet border frames on the venue screens.

The next set of performances were solo or duo stages which showcased each member’s talents and tastes, from Ariana Grande’s 7 Rings to Spice Girls’ Wannabe and Little Mix’s Woman Like Me – this kicked off the heavier, darker, second half of the show as they also changed to black, leather outfits. Won’t lie and say I’m not biased towards this genre. I was actually surprised by the VCR introduction to Hypnosis and Accendio, very cinematic and spine tingling, almost a thriller film.

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Photo – Aaron Leslie

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Photo – Aaron Leslie

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The crowd was very hyped up for the rest of the set as they performed a string of hits – dreamy LOVE DIVE, Kitsch, Baddie, After Like, and HEYA. The energy and volume of the crowd noticeably turned up. Following a few departing sentimental speeches, call for a crowd photo, and crowd camera time, IVE left and came back on stage in casual denim, working every inch of the stage as they performed OTT and all-english song All Night. It was quite funny and fun that they sang All Night about 5 times, ‘We could do this all night, everything is alright’, echoing for a while. Cheeky.

IVE indeed showed what they have on the SHOW WHAT I HAVE TOUR which was a wonderful balance of genres, cover performances, conversations, video interludes, and back up dancers. I would have perhaps liked the hit singles scattered throughout the show, particularly earlier, as it seemed they followed each other one after the other in the second half. Nonetheless amazing and creative production value, and sweet, young artists who I’m sure we’ll be seeing more of!

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Photo – Aaron Leslie

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Photo – Aaron Leslie

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Follow IVE
Website – Facebook

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Photo – Aaron Leslie

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About IVE

‘Gen MZ’s WANNA-BE ICON’ IVE (ANYUJIN, GAEUL, REI, JANGWONYOUNG, LIZ, LEESEO) ranked first on the domestic charts just seven days after the debut of their first song ‘ELEVEN’ (13 award wins) which was released on December 1, 2021. In April 2022, they released their second single ‘LOVE DIVE’ (10 award wins) which also topped the charts in Korea, and ‘After LIKE (14 award wins)’ which made IVE a ‘Million Seller’ for the first time. These 3 title songs gave IVE a total of 37 award wins across various Korean music shows.

In 2022, IVE won Best New Artist for their debut song ‘ELEVEN’ and Best Song of The Year (Grand Prize) for ‘LOVE DIVE’ at the Melon Music Awards. They also won Song of the Year (Grand Prize) at the 2022 MAMA Awards and 2022 Asia Artist Awards, Digital Song of The Year (Grand Prize) at the 37th Golden Disk Awards, and Best Song Award at the 32nd Seoul Music Awards.  At the Golden Disk Awards, which has been running for 37 years, IVE made history by receiving the Rookie Artist of the Year Award, the main award for Digital Song of the Year, and the Grand Award for Digital Song Division. In addition, IVE’s Executive Producer and Vice President of Starship Entertainment, Hyun Joo Seo, was also honored with receiving the Producer Award at two award shows.

In 2023, IVE’s first full-length album sold more than 1.1 million copies in the first week and their title songs ‘Kitsch’ and ‘I AM’ went on to win 11 awards domestically (‘Kitsch’ 2 wins / ‘I AM’ 9 wins), sweeping various major music charts in Korea. has sold more than 1.6 million copies and became a ‘Million Seller’ for the third consecutive time. Title tracks ‘Baddie’, ‘Off The Record’, and ‘Either Way’ have shown their strength by making their way into the top of the Korean charts.

About Live Nation Entertainment

Live Nation Entertainment (NYSE: LYV) is the world’s leading live entertainment company comprised of global market leaders: Ticketmaster, Live Nation Concerts, and Live Nation Media & Sponsorship. For additional information, visit livenationentertainment.com.

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Press Release 22nd July 2024 (below) HERE

IVE
1st World Tour
‘SHOW WHAT I HAVE’
finishes here in Australia
this week

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AMNPLIFY – DB