Concert review: Promising start for K-pop boy band Zerobaseone at first concert here

2024 Zerobaseone The First Tour Timeless World In Singapore

Singapore Indoor Stadium
Sept 28

A band commanding a Singapore Indoor Stadium crowd just a year after their debut is no mean feat. Yet, Zerobaseone have accomplished this.

The South Korean boy band managed to fill their 2½-hour-long concert with 25 original songs, a testament to what can be achieved in a short time through hard work.

Billed as the first fifth-generation K-pop group, they are on their Timeless World tour, which kicked off at Seoul’s KSPO Dome on Sept 20. Singapore is their first overseas stop, and the tour is slated to visit other cities such as Macau and Yokohama.

Zerobaseone were formed through the South Korean reality competition show Boys Planet (2023), with their nine members selected from the show’s 98 contestants.

There is leader Sung Han-bin, and members Kim Gyu-vin, Kim Ji-woong, Matthew Seok, Han Yu-jin, Zhang Hao, Kim Tae-rae, Ricky and Park Gun-wook.

Aged 17 to 25, the Gen Zers showcased many bright and upbeat numbers to the 8,000 fans at their show, accompanying the performance with warm and friendly banter. It was a promising start for the nonet, who have mostly never set foot in the Lion City before.

Here are three interesting facts about the new group.

1. Their debut EP set a record in sales

Released on July 10, 2023, Youth In The Shade became the first K-pop debut album to sell over one million copies in a day. Fans got to groove along to five of the work’s six tracks.

Cheery lead single In Bloom was performed against a flowering field animation with feel-good choreography. With air kisses and heart-shaped gestures, the group gave off a wholesome, boy-next-door vibe with this number, which samples the main riff of Norwegian band A-ha’s classic Take On Me (1984).

The aptly titled New Kidz On The Block was another standout number, opening with the group gathered in a huddle, before dispersing to all corners of the B-stage, hopping energetically to its optimistic and upbeat lyrics.

And in the sweet and breezy Am I, members donned cute accessories such as fuzzy cat ears and a fluffy white hat.

2. Before Zerobaseone, several members were active in the entertainment industry

Kim Ji-woong was a member of boy band INX from 2016 to 2017, going by the stage name Jinam. He was also part of K-pop groups Ateen in 2018 and B.I.T from 2019 to 2020, using the stage name King. All three groups have been disbanded.

Kim Tae-rae was a contestant on the singing reality show Top 10 Student in 2020, but did not make the finals.

Park Gun-wook competed in the singing reality show Wild Idol in 2021, in which trainees entered an extreme outdoor boot camp. He was eliminated in the final episode.

3. Two members are Chinese

It is not often that a K-pop group has a Chinese member. But Zerobaseone have two.

Shanghai-born Ricky, 20, was the youngest K-pop idol from China when the group debuted. Having attended school in Los Angeles, he said in fluent English during the show: “I am so happy that I am able to sing, dance and do the job that I love with you around me. You make my first Singapore visit the best one. We want to keep showing our sincere love to Zerose (the band’s fans), and make great music for you guys.”

Zhang Hao, who was the crowned champion in Boys Planet, is the first foreigner to place in the top spot in a South Korean idol reality show. Born in Xiamen, a city on China’s south-eastern coast, he was also the only member to perform a solo number on Sept 28 – the R&B ballad Always.

The Fujian Normal University graduate said in Mandarin during the show: “In the past, it was always you who travelled to South Korea to find us. I have wanted to come to Singapore for so long. And I hope that in these few short hours, you have been very happy.”