The Wiltern Los Angeles, CA
Contact: Taylor Funari - Trend PR, [email protected]
Web: kard-official.com
Players: BM, vocals; Somin, vocals; J. Seph, vocals; Jiwoo, vocals
Material: With flashing lights around the stage, and a streaming backdrop of colorful psychedelic videos throughout the evening, four-piece co-ed K-Pop band KARD performed a non-stop show combining Latin, EDM, and hip-hop flavors at the Los Angeles stop of their U.S. tour. Performing for over 90 minutes with selections from Hola Hola, You & Me, Ride On the Wind, Take You Down, Red Moon, and latest release Re, the group delivered coordinated hip thrusts and sharply choreographed dance moves to a young, bubbly crowd who sang, swayed, and screamed along enthusiastically to every word.
Musicianship: The foursome has clearly dedicated serious time to their vocal training and dance choreography, moving almost nonstop for the entire performance, sitting only once to focus on the tight harmonies in “Break Down”: a theme song for a generation using their voice to speak out. Reggaeton-feeling bubblegum pop-song “Go Baby” added chanting from the crowd on refrain “go baby girl,” with the singalong continuing on “GunShot.”
Performance: Opening with a heavy Latin flavor, including sensual hip thrusts and smooth choreography (“Oh NaNa” and “Dimelo”), the group added crowd favorites “Hola Hola,” “You In Me,” and “Moonlight,” sharing some breakdance moves before morphing into a tribal energy EDM bop, similar to the vibe in “Bomb Bomb.” “Dimelo” added some slow, sensual dance choreography between the performers, with “Dumb Litty” bringing heavier percussive energy and punctuated angsty lyrics. The Latin energy and heavy choreography returned for evening closers “Ring The Alarm” and “Ride on the Wind.”
Summary: The members of KARD are clearly comfortable on stage and each possesses incredible stamina, moving easily while demonstrating great vocal command and confidence, even sharing Chris Brown’s “Take You Down” (JiWoo solo cover) and great vocal harmonies in their cover of Camilla Cabello & Ed Sheeran’s “Bam Bam” (performed as a duet between J. Seph and Somin). They showed continuous crowd connection through bilingual (English-Korean) banter, with J. Seph even sharing his mum’s Instagram handle and encouraging fans to message her with videos of the evening. Adding intermittent motivating decibel checks, KARD shows a clear commitment to their sea of screaming fans with their upbeat, booty-swaying show.
– Andrea Beenham
