Opinion: LE SSERAFIM shows synergy in the second show of the “FLAME RISES” tour

The world is LE SSERAFIM’s oyster, which, since its debut in May last year, has proven several times that the members are great pearls of the k-pop industry. On Sunday (13), the CNN watched the live broadcast of the second concert day of their first tour, LE SSERAFIM TOUR ‘FLAME RISES’, which took place in South Korea.

The opening act began with “The World Is My Oyster”, which already sets the mood for the performance: with smoke and light play, the five members KIM CHAEWON, SAKURA, HUH YUNJIN, KAZUHA and HONG EUNCHAE appear with their expressions fearless – by the way, the name of the girlgroup is an acronym of I’M FEARLESS, or “I am fearless”, in Portuguese.

Until, suddenly, each one of them falls backwards from the raised stage, the screen “breaks” with a sound and visual effect of glass shattering and, finally, we hear the song that made the world know the girl group: “FEARLESS” .

As always, they are in sync and you can only tell they are singing live when you hear their breathing, so stable are the vocals. The complex choreography was delivered flawlessly.

The performance is even more impressive knowing that it is the group’s first tour, and probably one day they will look at the photos of this show on the 10th anniversary of LE SSERAFIM and think: “Do you remember that day?”.

Surely nervousness must have been there too, even if it didn’t show on stage. Even more experienced members like SAKURA, who already had 10 years of experience as an idol before becoming a member of SOURCE MUSIC’s girl group.

Born in Japan (yes, there are K-pop idols of various nationalities), she was part of the groups HKT48 and IZ*ONE – the latter alongside LE SSERAFIM leader CHAEWON.

The unique background of each member makes the group even more special. The Japanese Kazuha, for example, dedicated herself to ballet since she was three years old and was studying at the Dutch National Ballet Academy in Amsterdam, Netherlands, when she was selected by the k-pop agency.

He moved to South Korea with his face and courage, without even knowing how to speak Korean fluently. Today, the group’s choreography always brings a reminder of the artist’s years as a dancer – Kazuha’s flexibility is always something that many people try to imitate (and don’t always succeed). “Blue Flame” and “ANTIFRAGILE”, at the concert, showed this ability well.

YUNJIN is another interesting case. She was born in South Korea but grew up in New York, USA. She even took opera classes in Elementary School and played the character Carlotta from the Broadway classic “The Phantom of the Opera” in her school’s production. From time to time you will see her showcasing her vocal talent on variety shows.

But another skill he showed on the show was playing the guitar. She opened the performance of “No Celestial” playing the instrument. Instead of choreography, the five members started singing into pedestal microphones and outfits worthy of rock stars. When CHAEWON sang “I’m no freakin’ angel, I’m no freakin’ goddess”, it was possible to doubt whether, in fact, they are not “angels and goddesses”.

The youngest EUNCHAE is only 16 years old, but she already impresses with the size of her talent at such a young age. It was possible to see how the teenager has developed more confidence on stage since her debut in the music industry. The energetic personality increasingly comes to the fore – something that both her experience as a member of LE SSERAFIM as well as hosting the weekly music show “Music Bank” must have helped.

CHAEWON’s high notes are another highlight of the concert. Also with experience in the group IZ*ONE in her curriculum and even as a participant in the reality show “The King of Masked Singer”, the artist’s trajectory certainly collaborated so that one day she would lead LE SSERAFIM. At one point during the show, she confessed to her fans that she hopes to be a good person and influence for them.

The duality of the members is remarkable. In “Sour Grapes”, the scenography becomes a garden and they show more delicacy in the sweet melody of the song. As a surprise for FEARNOT [como se chamam os fãs], also sang a song that has not yet been released, “We Got So Much Love”, which talks about all the gratitude they feel for them. In “Flash Forward”, they descended from the stage to approach and interact with the audience.

After another quick costume change, the five artists came back with “ANTIFRAGILE”, a hit whose choreography took on the challenges of TikTok with the influence of reggaeton and a chorus that stays in your head all day. High point for the fact that in the end they started to scream “ANTIFRAGILE” with all their might. Fragile they have nothing!

In “The Hydra” it was impossible to even blink to see them doing a dance break on an elevated stage with several backup dancers. In the transition to “Eve, Psyche & The Bluebeard’s wife”, EUNCHAE did the symbolic act of biting an apple with an arrow through it.

The song has a long name for a reason: it references the stories of three women whose curiosity drove them to do something forbidden. Eve, who in the Bible ate the fruit with Adam; Psyche, from Greek mythology, who falls asleep after opening a box belonging to Persephone, goddess of the underworld; and Bluebeard’s wife, from a French story, who discovers the bodies of her husband’s former wives in a room he prevented her from entering.

“I’m a mess in distress, but we’re still the best dressed. No fear, say yes, we don’t dress to impress,” they sing. The group makes it very clear that they want to break society’s expectations, even if that means desiring something that’s forbidden, as these three women did.

It was only the second day of the show, but LE SSERAFIM looked confident and at ease. There was a balance of well-choreographed and powerful performances, and those with a greater focus on vocals, in addition to a lot of interaction with the audience – whether in person or online.

Upcoming dates will be in various cities across Asia. To the Brazilian FEARNOT, what remains is to hope that one day they confirm dates in Latin America! Is it dreaming too much?