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With examples like “The Warped Tour”, “Lilith Fair”, “Ozzfest”, the 1990s and early 2000s were the heyday of the multi-group, multi-city traveling festival. For the price of one ticket, fans were able to see up to 20 different acts in one day. The crew would then pack the show up and travel to another city to perform a day later.
This style of tour has slowly evolved and disappeared over time. Yet, Leo Presents, a tour operator out of Minneapolis, isn’t afraid to try new things… even if it’s a throwback to this exact concert model. With the “KPOP Breakout Tour“, Leo Presents bought together four groups and embarked on a 28-city tour throughout the U.S.
While girl group ICHILLIN’ and boy group TRENDZ had never toured the U.S., they were traveling with soloist U-Chae (formerly DaJeong from PIXY) and CRAXY, who previously performed on similar tours around the States. Fans even wore shirts and carried lightsticks from those 2023 performances.
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After an intimate fan sign and soundcheck, the “KPOP Breakout Tour” started off with a bang as soloist U-Chae expertly worked the stage and crowd. She performed various songs from her debut album “AWAKE”, including ‘One Sweet Day’, ‘Wait for You’, and ‘Alright’. It was her title track “AWAKE” that was most memorable for the crowd. “Baby, let me be yours,” she sang as the crowd sang along to its international audience-friendly English lyrics, “Keeping me awake.”
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ICHILLIN’, the seven-member girl group under KM Entertainment, continued the high-energy vibe left by U-Chae. Starting off with their pop-punk hit ‘KICK-START’, the group was able to show off its diverse talents by covering Meghan Trainor’s ‘Me Too’ as well as Whitney Houston’s ‘Saving All My Love for You’.
The group also performed most of their singles (‘Draw’, ‘On My Lips’, ‘Alarm’) from their discography, with the bass-heavy ‘DEMIGOD’ leaving the crowd waving their hands in the air. The group finished their high-energy set with their debut single ‘La Luna’.
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KCON veterans CRAXY were the next group up. Even though the group were guests at KCON 2023 and 2024 in LA, they were finally able to perform a full set for their U.S.-based fans. With 90s-style hip-hop synths intermixed throughout, the group ran through the highlights of their four-year career, performing ‘CRAZY RACER’, ‘STUPIDZ’, ‘NO LIMIT’, ‘NUGUDOM’, ‘MASQUERADE’ and ‘DAISY(03/06)’.
The group stunned the ground with their expert dance covers, their performance of SHINee TaeMin’s ‘Move’ leaving the crowd speechless, and their bouncy cover of Chappell Roan’s ‘HOT TO GO!’.
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While TRENDZ was the last group to go on stage, the seven-member boy group came out swinging with English versions of their singles ‘VAGABOND’ and ‘TNT (Truth&Trust)’. After performing the crowd favorite ‘NEW DAYZ’, the group reflected on their long journey to the United States, as well as led the crowd to sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to the group’s member YoonWoo.
TRENDZ blended in various covers from BTS, ATEEZ, and Stray Kids throughout its original songs, ‘WHO [吼]’, ‘GLOW’, ‘ㅁ (BE MY LOVE)’, and ‘MY WAY’ before ending the night with encore versions of ‘FOREVER MORE’ and ‘NEW DAYZ’.
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The night ended with fans able to take group photos and selfies with every member of each group. None of the performers showed any signs of fatigue, with the final attendee leaving the venue at midnight, nearly seven hours after they first went on stage.
Despite the late hour, the tour’s crew packed the stage up and continued onward. The next performance was just 18 hours from when the final rigging was loaded into the tour vans, in a city 120 miles away.
While it was only the sixth stop on this multi-city tour, it’s not even close to being the last. The tour continues, with stops throughout the U.S. and Canada, and finally concludes on Sep. 29th in Seattle.
