ATEEZ
THE FELLOWSHIP: BEGINNING OF THE END TOUR
The Texas Trust CU Theatre at Grand Prairie
January 27, 2022
words by Bethany
On January 27th, 2022, I was lucky enough to attend ATEEZ’s sold-out show in Grand Prairie, Texas at The Texas Trust CU Theatre. K-pop concerts are always more than just the concert, usually, this extends to an all-day event and in this case, it was no different!
Early in the day, I attended a cupsleeve event for ATEEZ at Dragon Boba in Carrollton, Texas! A cupsleeve event is an event that celebrates anything from an artists’ birthday to their anniversary. This even in particular was celebrating ATEEZ’s World Tour in Dallas. There were vendors set up with a plethora of merchandise that I was able to browse while waiting for my boba, and once I received my boba I was able to claim my cupsleeve and enjoy the atmosphere!
I arrived at the venue plenty early, wanting to be involved in a fan project called “Project Kaleidoscope.” This was a project created by ATINY (ATINY are the fans of ATEEZ!) for us to decorate our lightsticks (lightiny with stick-on butterflies! A few people were handing out hundreds of butterflies that had been bought via donations. The colorful butterflies made the lightinys look so cute, and nearly everyone I sat by during the concert had a couple.
And of course, I arrived early enough to spend some money on merch. There was conveniently a merchandise booth outside with a fairly short line. It was super convenient and easy to get through – kudos to those workers!
While the line to get in was long, it went fairly quickly, and to be honest, this was the perfect time to look at the fashion of ATINY attending the event! I can’t tell you how many HALA HALA hats I counted or the number of facemasks with chains (we love staying healthy!) but I will say everyone looked amazing and I’m fully convinced there could’ve been a runway show for these fits.
As with all K-Pop concerts, once inside the venue ATEEZ music videos were playing up until they came out. This moment is one of my favorite because it gets everyone psyched up and it’s so much fun to sing along and do fanchants with thousands of other fans who are there for the same reason as you.
After a small delay, lights went out and a short VCR began to play before the curtain was falling to reveal the 8 members – Hongjoong, Seonghwa, Yunho, Yeosang, San, Mingi, Wooyoung, and Jongho! The venue was filled with screams of excitement and joy at finally getting to attend a concert that had been delayed for over two years.
With an “Attention!” from the leader, Hongjoong, they went right into a fan favorite, “WONDERLAND (Symphony No. 9).” Seonghwa finished off the song holding a sword up high before swinging it down. Their first performance set the tone for how energetic and powerful the rest of the concert was going to be and this was highlighted by many performances such as, “SAY MY NAME,” “HALA HALA,” and “Fireworks (I’m The One).”
Before moving on to a new song, ATEEZ had their ments (in K-pop this indicates the time when those on stages give speeches and speak to their fans), taking a moment to breathe and introduce themselves. They were sure to let us know they were just as excited to see us and it was the “end of a long wait” as said by Hongjoong.
The three-hour show was interspersed with high energy performances, interacting with the audience (who doesn’t love doing the wave with their lightstick?) and ments, such as Seonghwa telling ATINY “you are the light of the star,” Jongho being asked to sing by the members and belting out an incredible rendition of “When I Was Your Man” by Bruno Mars, and of course, Wooyoung saying “yeehaw” during the photo ops but always ending it with a cute noise.
ATEEZ decided to end the concert with lighter songs rather than the heavy-hitting ones, “Eternal Sunshine,” “Dancing Like Butterfly Wings,” along with “Star 1117,” the latter song being an emotional moment not only for the audience but ATEEZ as well. After heartfelt endingments, the concert ended with Turbulence, a song from their latest album ZERO: FEVER EPILOGUE that closed out the show perfectly.
The 8 members signed off with a bow and “Eight makes one team!”
ATEEZ showed they know how to command a stage, their 27 song setlist with intense choreography and live vocals proved it. With this only being their second world tour, the first in 2019, ATEEZ proved they’ve grown and will continue to do so in the future.
