K-pop band is a Winner

K-pop boyband Winner members (from far left) Mino, Yoon, Jinu and Hoony performing at The Max Pavilion last Saturday.
K-pop boyband Winner members (from far left) Mino, Yoon, Jinu and Hoony performing at The Max Pavilion last Saturday. PHOTO: YG ENTERTAINMENT

REVIEW / CONCERT

WINNER 2018 'EVERYWHERE' TOUR

The Max Pavilion, Singapore Expo/

Last Saturday

Despite having only a passing familiarity with Winner's songs, I enjoyed the South Korea boyband's concert last Saturday.

The four members of the group - Yoon, Mino, Hoony and Jinu - gave a confident performance to the 4,200-strong crowd, while giving glimpses of their personalities.

They ran around the stage, sat down to interact with the audience and, at one point, tried to squeeze a rubber chicken in tune to their song, making the concert fun to watch.

The set-list also gave each one a chance to show off his vocal talent.

Yoon pulled off climactic high notes and landed beautifully on softer parts of songs, maintaining a powerful voice throughout.

He also played the guitar in his solo performance and later sang an a cappella version of Troye Sivan's Youth.

Pink-haired Hoony flaunted his dancing chops to Ringa Linga (a tune by Taeyang of Big Bang) and Mino, wearing a dark red blazer, rapped his way through a sensual and sexy performance of Body and Turn Off The Light.

Jinu applied his sweet, airy vocals to his senior G-Dragon's ballad Untitled, 2014, a haunting and heartbreaking track for his solo.

The concert was well-produced. A high-quality Korean drama-like video segment showed the boys playing different characters, which fans loved.

The stage was separated into two levels, allowing the members to have different points of entry and several layers of lights were used for dramatic effects. One highlight was a downpour effect playing in sync with a song about rain.

The group were in crisp white and blue as they performed their more relaxed hip-hop tracks. They changed to brighter colours and busier patterns as the concert kicked into high gear with dance numbers later.

They also wore sequined skinny pants with aplomb.

However, a translucent turtleneck that Jinu wore at one point looked ridiculous.

But that was just a minor sticking point in an otherwise enjoyable evening.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on November 05, 2018, with the headline K-pop band is a Winner. Subscribe