Rookie, international acts take spotlight at diverse Weverse Con 2024

Weverse Con 2024 showcased new and international acts, expanding beyond HYBE to feature solo and rookie performers alongside established groups.

Tomorrow X Together performs at Weverse Con at Inspire Arena in Incheon on June 15. [2024 WEVERSE CON FESTIVAL]

YEONGJONG ISLAND, Incheon — In the minds of K-pop fans, Weverse Con has long centered around HYBE. The conglomerate famously organizes the annual music festival, which initially served as a showcase for its own stars.

HYBE’s 2024 has been eventful, to say the least, with its executives tied up in a public legal battle over the management of subsidiary label ADOR and the majority of its megastar boy band off completing military service. But the conspicuous absence of BTS and ADOR’s NewJeans at Weverse Con 2024 did little to dampen spirits among fans who attended Saturday’s festivities at Incheon's Inspire Entertainment Resort.

It served instead as an opening for up-and-coming groups, independent artists and even international performers to take the spotlight for the first time — culminating in a musical celebration that has, visually and philosophically, grown beyond its creator.

The festival was, for the second year running, held in two parts.

The morning event, dubbed Weverse Park, mirrored an outdoor music festival. Fans crammed onto a sunlit field at the resort’s Discovery Park, crowded under umbrellas, to watch performances from solo singers Lee Sung-kyoung and 10CM — neither of whom are signed to HYBE.

BoyNextDoor and &TEAM, also on the evening’s roster, performed four songs each, while Tomorrow X Together, the evening’s headliner, sang five. The segment culminated in an energetic set from singer-songwriter Xia, which saw the audience jumping up and down, swinging unlit light sticks beneath the blazing afternoon sun.

10CM performs at Weverse Park at Discovery Park in Incheon on June 15. [2024 WEVERSE CON FESTIVAL]

Weverse Con, the indoor concert, began at 6 p.m. in the 15,000-seat Inspire Arena.

A visibly anxious ILLIT — the rookie girl group at the center of HYBE’s public spat with its subsidiary label — opened the show. Members Yunah, Minju, Moka and Iorah danced lightheartedly to “Magnetic,” “Midnight Fiction” and “Lucky Girl Syndrome” while Wonhee performed seated due to an ankle injury.

“We were a bit nervous,” Yunah said onstage, pausing here and there as if to take in the scene. “But you’ve welcomed us with loud cheers. Thank you so much.”

ILLIT's Wonhee performs at Weverse Con at Inspire Arena in Incheon on June 15. [2024 WEVERSE CON FESTIVAL]

The hours that followed showcased promising newcomers, with rookie artists TWS joining the festival for the first time and Japanese boy band &TEAM, part of last year’s Weverse Park, debuting on the evening stage.

BoyNextDoor, a 2023 debut, performed four songs, including recent lead track “Earth, Wind & Fire,” in jeans, baseball caps and loosely wrapped ties.

Multiple non-HYBE acts appeared as well, including J-pop duo Yoasobi, which played four songs, including its TikTok-viral “Idol” (2023), to much fanfare. Park Jin-young, also known as J. Y. Park, of JYP Entertainment performed a series of group numbers featuring BoyNextDoor, ILLIT and TWS, with the backing of a bombastic jazz band and neon-esque billboards evoking the early 1900s. Boy band The New Six delivered an intense set of red flames and blaring strobe grids, including its booming tracks “Love or Die” (2023) and “FUEGO.”

Confetti and fireworks abounded throughout — it was the rare number in which something didn’t, at some point, explode over the crowd. But the audience was the center of the night, as each band led the onlookers through chants, cheers, waves and screaming contests during their sets.

Le Sserafim performs at Weverse Con at Inspire Arena in Incheon on June 15. [2024 WEVERSE CON FESTIVAL]

The night’s two headliners — Le Sserafim, followed by Tomorrow X Together — drew by far the loudest cheers.

“Although we are up here on the stage, we can see your faces and feel your emotions,” Le Sserafim’s Sakura said to the screaming crowd. “It looked like you were really enjoying the stage.”

The girl group loomed larger than life on the Inspire Arena’s giant screens while performing its six-song set, including recent chart-toppers “Easy” and “Perfect Night” (2023). After drawing controversy for the quality of their live vocals at April’s Coachella music festival, the members sang into hand microphones at this performance with choreography well-controlled.

Park Jin-young and ILLIT perform ″When We Disco″ (2020) at Weverse Con at Inspire Arena in Incheon on June 15. [2024 WEVERSE CON FESTIVAL]

The full stadium was on its feet for the duration of Tomorrow x Together’s concluding portion, from recent lead track “Deja Vu” to debut-era hit “Blue Hour” (2020) to which the audience shouted every word — a reminder that at the center of all feuds between corporate labels lies music, and a group of fans who love it.

Yoasobi vocalist Ikura performs at Weverse Con at Inspire Arena in Incheon on June 15. [2024 WEVERSE CON FESTIVAL]

For those fans, some of whom had flown in from around the world, the day was as much about discovering new artists as it was about seeing the veterans they loved.

Elizabeth, a fan from Germany who had come to see Tomorrow x Together at Weverse Park, ended up watching the full performance after falling in love with the solo artists she saw.

“A lot of people were here for — I don’t know how to pronounce his name,” she said, referring to Xia. “But I stayed until the end of his set. I really liked his vibe.”

Harua of &TEAM performs at Weverse Park at Discovery Park in Incheon on June 15. [2024 WEVERSE CON FESTIVAL]

Weverse Park’s Sunday lineup includes sets from solo artists Kim Jae-joong of JYJ, imase and Chuu; BOTB’s Seo Eun-kwang and Lim Hyun-sik, performing as a duo; girl group Billie; and boy bands Enhypen and Just B. Seventeen will headline the evening show alongside boy bands Enhypen and TWS, girl group fromis_9, solo singer JD1 and virtual band Plave. Park will also reprise his appearance.

Tomorrow X Together performs at Weverse Park at Discovery Park in Incheon on June 15. [2024 WEVERSE CON FESTIVAL]

By MONICA CHIN [monica.chin@joongang.co.kr]