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P1HARMONY
@ Festival Hall, Melbourne
20th September, 2023
(Live Review)

Review by Stephanie Tang

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K-pop’s popularity has swelled in the last decade. It’s also a main contributing factor to the surge in tourism South Korea is receiving, and P1Harmony is a K-pop group fuelling this surge. No longer containable to Korea or even Asia, P1Harmony’s blend of melodic pop hooks and infectious dance beats are igniting worldwide.

Only performing two Australian dates on the Pioneer tour, excitement around the room is barely containable. A super gender diverse crowd is present tonight, with a quite a few parents content to hang at the back.

No other genre has more dedicated fans than K-pop. Warrior fans will battle for their stans, weather they are right or wrong. There are hand-made signs everywhere in both Korean and English, and interestingly light up globes. When the music is on, it’s a sea of dizzying, spinning lights. A fan explains she’s holding a P1ece siren. A stick which a top sits a shining globe with silver ring. It is a symbol of the P1ece fandom, and each fandom usually has their own light stick.

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Huge flaring flames announce the member’s stage entrance. To ear piercing screams, each member of P1Harmony appear one after another, as if summoned by fire. Standing in a line they start the first song strong with steely expressions and powerful vocals. Decked out in black leather jackets emblazoned with crystals, glimmering light is thrown in all directions whenever they move. There is no lacking in visuals tonight.

Keeping within the Korean custom of respect, the guys introduce themselves and take turns greeting the audience. It is so incredibly humbling to see these megastars speaking English despite it not being their native tongue, to connect with their Australian fans. When one member stumbles over his grammar, Keeho who is Canadian-Korean helps him out, and tells the crowd how proud he is of his members, as they’ve been practising their English a lot.

Debuting in 2020 P1Harmony has dominated airwaves and socials, performing worldwide in festivals, and on headline tours. However, like many other K-pop groups, members have gone through gruelling years of intensive dance, rap, and vocal training before being selected to debut. That’s how they master their intricate dances and pitch perfect vocals.

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It’s not easy dancing so energetically, keeping in sync and singing in tune but these guys did it for nearly two hours. Masters of vocal annunciation even from the back of Festival Hall I could hear every accent, vocal run, and clear phrasing. There is a lot of popping and dynamic arm movements in the dances. As Jiung takes a break to wave and flash a dazzling smile at the crowd, you can see the sweat glistening on his face and neck. Clearly the physicality of their performance is intense.

P1Harmony know how to put on a performance. Keeping the crowd entertained with short skit videos between costume change, it also lends for a smooth transition to each segment of the concert. There’s a moment where the six-piece split on stage and asks the crowd to do the same. A confused rock enthusiasts wonders if this a K-pop wall of death. No, it is a cheering contest like no other. Imagine a hall of thousands cheering and frantically stamping their feet whilst waving their P1ece Siren simultaneously.

Pyrotechnics, flares, glistening streamers, confetti this show had it all. Blasting out from cannons to the beat, the special effects integrated seamlessly with the music. A good performance captivates the crowd, a great performance makes the audience think they are part of the show. This was an extraordinary performance. They took someone who had never listened to their music before and made them feel like they were up on stage with them.

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P1Harmony’s songs are so catchy you won’t be able to get them out of your head. Streaming their tracks after the concert, it’s unbelievable they sound exactly same live. “Jump” and “Do It Like This” are spinning the entire way home and first thing morning after. Call me a P1ece.

Filled with endearing warmth the boys closed the concert with arms held high. Super down to earth to see the members come out wearing their merch, taking photos with fans, and even coming out into the crowd to sing their encore with fans. However, they announce there’s one thing they want to do, before they depart the stage. The group wants to chant Aussie, Aussie, Aussie with the crowd. Delighted laughter ripples through the hall as the crowd responds with oi, oi, oi.

Like their fandom represents, the fans who are single beings along with the group combine to become one united P1ece. The next time P1Harmony returns to Australia, they will be playing stadiums guaranteed.

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Follow P1HARMONY
Instagram – Twitter

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Press Release 4th July 2023 (below) HERE

P1HARMONY
announce 2023
LIVE TOUR
[P1USTAGE H : P1ONEER]
in Australia & New Zealand

– Sydney, Melbourne and Auckland
dates confirmed for September

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AMNPLIFY – DB