YasminMulticoloured lightsticks, fierce performances, stunning vocals and a giant inflatable Moon – these are just some of the aspects seen at ATEEZ’s 2023 Madrid concert.
K-pop sensation ATEEZ kicked off the Europe leg of their Fellowship: Break The Wall World tour earlier this year and took to Madrid’s WizInk Center on February 28. This was their second time visiting the city after the group sold out 2 days at the Palacio Vistalegre for their Fellowship: Beginning of the End tour in 2020. Their fans – known as Atiny – filled out the 17,500 capacity arena to see the band perform.
About ATEEZ
The 8-member band – consisted of Hongjoong, Seonghwa, Yunho, Yeosang, San, Mingi, Wooyoung and Jongho – are known for their explosive performances and jaw-dropping vocals and rap which have captured the hearts of international fans outside of their origin country, South Korea. The group debuted in October 2018 under KQ Entertainment. Before their debut, ATEEZ – then going by the name KQ Fellaz – uploaded three performance videos, all of which quickly went viral in the US and overseas. All eyes were on them as the K-pop community were eager to view their debut, which did not disappoint. Their immediate and immense popularity overseas led to them kicking off their first ever World tour successfully only four months into their career, shocking the community and sparking more attention from overseas news and eventually the South Korean government, who appointed them as the 2020 Korea Overseas Culture and Information Ambassadors. Their popularity only grew as they released more music, allowing them to continue to tour successfully around the world.
The concert – consisting of 22 songs regulated by “ments” (K-pop terminology for a break in performance where artists converse with the crowd) – was filled with light shows, firework displays and amazing energy. Member Wooyoung, who did not attend the group’s last concert stop in Madrid due to an injury, showed his regret of not being able to showcase his performance back then, although he was quickly reassured by fans who chanted “it’s okay” in Korean.
During the ments, the members took turns to speak in English, however they also spoke words in Spanish which thrilled fans. Member Wooyoung specifically sang one of the most popular lines from the group’s 2020 song Thanxx, which contained the word “gracias” as a shout-out to the Spanish crowd. Fans applauded their consideration and effort to communicate with the crowd on a more detailed level.
In the run-up to the concert, a pop-up store was held in the Spanish capital on February 25-27. Lines wrapped around the store with eager fans hoping to get their hands on exclusive tour merch. Merchandise included t-shirts, hand-held fans, bags, lightsticks, badges, standees, and even pillow cases.
ATEEZ [THE FELLOWSHIP : BREAK THE WALL]
🇪🇸MADRID POP-UP INFO🇪🇸
Today is the last day of Madrid pop-up❤️
See you at the pop-up🥰📌Address
Avda. General Perón, 38-40
Semiesquina Pº Castellana 95, 28020, Madrid#ATEEZWORLDTOUR2023 #ATEEZ #ATEEZinMADRID#CREATEJUMP pic.twitter.com/4Wk9C7PHF9— Create Jump 크리에이점프 (@createjump) February 27, 2023
Interviews with fans
I spoke to some fans who attended the concert and got their insight on their experiences and their love for ATEEZ.
Q: How long have you been a fan of ATEEZ? What do you enjoy about them and who is your bias?
A: I started being a fan after watching Kingdom :Legendary War and when they performed Wonderland from that day I decided I would become their fan, so I learned their names and listened to all their music. ATEEZ is a genuine and hardworking group. My biases are Wooyoung, Hongjoong, Yeosang and Mingi.
A: The first time I listened to their music was around July 2022, but I became a fan around December 2022. Before the concert, my favourite member was Seonghwa, mostly because he is the most visual member for me and caught my eye. After the concert, my favourite member is Mingi, I really like his voice in live performance.
Many fans travelled from different cities and countries to see them in Madrid. Travelling is a very common
Q: Did you travel for the concert?
A: Yes, I travelled from Menorca to Madrid.
A: Yes, I travelled from Barcelona.
Q: How was your experience at the ATEEZ concert and did it live up to your expectations?
A: It was an amazing experience. It was my first K-pop concert. I would definitely repeat it! All my expectations were met and raised, they are even better live.
A: It was a great experience, they had a great selection of songs and gave 100% of their energy.
Many members of the same fandom share the same interests and therefore may carry a friend/familial attitude with one another despite not knowing each other. This social phenomenon is strongly present within K-pop fandoms specifically, who may garner a connection with their favourite artists for themselves and their personalities rather than just their music.
At the concert queues outside the venue, fans who had never met each other prior were holding conversations as if they had been friends for years. ATEEZ now becoming the middle man and opening doors to friendships and acquaintances – their impact proving to be more than just their music.
Q: Did you make any friends at the concert?
A: Yes I did. I got to meet some lovely people and we exchanged social media.
A: I really enjoyed the environment in the queue! I had a great time chatting with other fans, they explained so many things about the band/members that I did not know before.
Q: What was your favourite performance?
A: My favourite performance was My Way. The song has helped me through hard times and being there singing my lungs out made me feel like I could do anything.
A: I really enjoyed Sunrise!
“Break The Wall”
Nearing the end of the concert, group leader Hongjoong teased the audience with claims they were closing the concert with their title-track Guerrilla. However, he proposed the idea that if Atiny chanted as loud as they could during the title-track, they would come back and perform more numbers. This idea especially excited fans as Guerrilla was a very popular song to chant on tour due to its’ punk-rock metal screamo dance break that consisted of the name of the tour, “Break The Wall“. Fans on social media began a light-hearted contest on which stop could chant the Guerrilla dance break the loudest, which only added to the excitement. As the dance break neared, lightsticks synchronised to the colour red and the arena erupted. (Flash warning for the video below)
BREAK THE WALL #ATEEZinMadrid pic.twitter.com/XdOXRKEt1V
— 니크 🩵 2y 우영이 🖤 (@hongsnik) February 28, 2023
Therefore as promised, the group performed three more songs and fans were delighted. Their final song, The Real (Heung Version) is also a popular song during concerts thanks to its energetic traditional Korean-influence dance break where one (sometimes two) member takes the floor in a solo freestyle per stop. At the end, string confetti and fireworks lit up the arena as fans revered in the final moments of the experience.
ATEEZ have since successfully completed their Fellowship: Break The Wall World tour, their Europe leg consisted of performances in Amsterdam, Berlin, Brussels, London, Madrid, Copenhagen and two dates in Paris – and the boyband have met over 100,000 fans on this leg alone.
Since completing the tour, ATEEZ have announced they are holding encore concerts for Fellowship: Break The Wall in Seoul, South Korea on April 28-29, Tokyo, Japan on May 2-3 and Kobe, Japan on May 6-7. The group are releasing their second Japanese single Limitless on March 22, you can watch the teaser here.
