Girl group XG makes fans howl at first Korean solo concert

Girl group XG shook eastern Seoul’s Yes24 Live Hall on Thursday night with a concert proving just how little labels matter, as long as you are born to rule the stage.

Girl group XG during its first solo concert in Korea on July 12 at the Yes24 Live Hall music venue in eastern Seoul [XGALX]

Is it K-pop, J-pop or just pop? It doesn't matter, especially when it's done it so well.

Girl group XG shook eastern Seoul’s Yes24 Live Hall on Thursday night with a concert proving just how little labels matter, as long as you are born to rule the stage.

“Are you ready to enjoy the night? Then I want you to howl!” Chisa shouted out to the crowd.

Instead of asking the audience to holler, as is customary for most K-pop concerts, XG heated up the crowd with its very own howl to mark “The First HOWL“ world tour, which has given the septet its first solo concert in Korea.

“We’ve been living together in Korea and taking part in Korean television shows, but to be able to perform like this for our world tour is just such a big honor for us,” said Juria.

Girl group XG in Seoul on July 11 [XGALX]

“Performing in Korea really is special for us,” Hinata said, echoing her bandmate.

XG kicked off “The First HOWL” world tour in May with two concerts in Osaka followed by two in Yokohama in the same month. “The First HOWL” marks the septet’s first world tour since its debut in March 2022, and the Seoul concert was its first solo concert in Korea.

The whopping 140-minute concert indeed stayed true to its title with a wolfish theme that gave an exotic and cosmically wild energy, the kind that XG has been pushing ever since its first day on stage. Filling the two hours were the best tracks from the group's two-year discography, ranging from upbeat hip-hop dance tracks “Mascara” (2022), “TGIF” (2023) and “Woke Up” to harmonic R&B tracks that show off the group's vocal finesse, such as “Winter Without You” (2023) and a cover of the song “Just Stand Up” (2008).

XG also added a special touch to the concert with musical rearrangements of “Shooting Star” (2023) and “Left Right” (2023) only for the Seoul performance. The three vocalists of XG put the cherry on top by performing ballads by esteemed Korean singers. Juria sang Park Hyo-shin’s “Breath” (2016), Hinata covered Baek Yerin’s “Bye bye my blue” (2016) and Chisa performed Yoonmirae’s “As Time Goes By” (2001).

Girl group XG during its first solo concert in Korea on July 12 at the Yes24 Live Hall music venue in eastern Seoul [XGALX]

“Listening to the members perform the songs in Korean almost put me to tears, too," Jurin said.

XG is certainly a unique band from head to toe. The group consisting of seven Japanese members — Jurin, Chisa, Cocona, Hinata, Maya, Juria and Harvey — debuted in March 2022 after training for five years together under an American-born, Korean Japanese producer named Sakai Simon Junho who debuted himself as a singer in Korea in 2009.

Instead of proclaiming itself as either J-pop or K-pop, XG opted to label its music in a genre of its own called X-pop. It has since proved itself as a representative X-pop act by topping Billboard’s Hot Trending Songs by Twitter chart with “GRL GVNG” (2023) and Billboard Japan’s albums chart with “New DNA” (2023).

XG will release its second EP within the second half of the year. One track of the album, “Something Ain’t Right,” will be released on July 26 and then later included in the full album.

The band will continue “The First HOWL” tour with a concert in Taipei on Saturday, followed by stops in Singapore on Tuesday, Bangkok on Aug. 4, Kuala Lumpur on Aug. 7 and Shanghai on Aug. 20. The U.S. leg will start in October followed by the European leg in November.

BY YOON SO-YEON [yoon.soyeon@joongang.co.kr]