[REVIEW] ENHYPEN delivers powerful first solo concert in Indonesia with ‘FATE PLUS’

By Lee Gyu-lee

JAKARTA, Indonesia — When K-pop boy group ENHYPEN first performed in Indonesia at the Golden Disc Awards in January, the seven-piece act was met with enormous excitement from Indonesian fans.

This fervor was confirmed months later when they returned for their first solo concerts in Indonesia since their debut, titled “ENHYPEN WORLD TOUR ‘FATE PLUS’ IN JAKARTA,” showcasing the country’s deep affection for the group.

The two-day shows, held at ICE BSD City Hall 1-2 on Aug. 17 and 18, attracted a total of 21,000 fans from across Indonesia, selling out quickly. It was part of the group’s “FATE PLUS” world tour, which took off with two days of Seoul concerts in February with stops in 12 cities worldwide, including Oakland, Calif., and Tacoma, Wash., in the U.S. and Hiroshima in Japan.

As the group was gearing up for the second show in the Indonesian capital on Sunday, fans gathered around the venue in a festive mood, highly anticipating the three-hour show.

Two 19-year-old friends, Leisa and Laurent, shared their excitement about watching the group’s live performance for the first time, wearing the band’s baseball jerseys with their favorite members’ names.

“I’ve been a fan of ENHYPEN for two years and this is the first time I’m watching their concert (in person),” Leisa told The Korea Times. “(I became a fan) because ENHYPEN made our lives more colorful.”

Laurent added that the group introduced her to the world of K-pop. “This is the first time I’ve become a fan of K-pop. Because of ENHYPEN, I’ve gotten into K-pop,” she said.

Some ardent fans, despite not being able to secure tickets, still gathered around the venue to soak in the atmosphere and participate in fan activities, demonstrating the communal spirit of K-pop fandom.

Aprisya, 17, said she traveled two hours to come to the site, although she couldn’t get the ticket for the show, enjoying a mini self-made photo decoration made by the group’s fan community in Indonesia.

“I’m not here to see the concert but I just came here to play around and feel the ambiance,” she said.

Another fan, Dinda, 21, explained that this was the case for quite a number of the fans.

“Many people hanging outside are not watching the actual concert but they are here to feel the vibes of the concert, have fun and hang out with other ENGENEs (ENHYPEN’s fandom),” she said, adding what the group means to her.

“I’m a figure skater and Sunghoon was a figure skater. I watched him all day and I liked him and decided to start skating because of him. It’s been a year since I started. He has inspired me a lot.”

Making the dramatic entrance with a rain of confetti, ENHYPEN members — Sunghoon, Jungwon, Jake, Heeseung, Jay, Sunoo and Ni-ki — appeared on stage, flaring baroque-style patterned black-and-white suit jackets. They opened the show with powerful performances of “Drunk-Dazed,” a single from the band’s second mini album, “Border: Carnival” (2021), and “Blockbuster” from the first full-length album “Dimension: Dilemma” (2021).

“It’s nice to meet you,” Sunoo greeted the fans in Indonesian, drawing tremendous cheering and screaming from the audience. Other members, Heeseung and Jungwon, also showed off the Indonesian expressions they learned for the concert, saying, “ENGENE, are you ready to have fun today?”

Sunghoon added in Korean: “We’ve prepared our best to be with ENGENEs. I’m really looking forward to the second day’s performance in Jakarta. Let’s enjoy ourselves today too.”

The group picked up the performance with two of its reggae-inspired pop songs “Let Me In (20 CUBE)” and “Flicker,” followed by two R&B-style songs, “FEVER” and “Still Monster.”

Sporting silver and white wind track jack, the group moved on to its hip-hop songs, “Future Perfect (Pass the MIC),” from the third mini-album “Manifesto : Day 1” (2022), and “Blessed-Cursed” from “Dimension : Answer” (2022).

After having another costume change into street punk style, ENHYPEN rocked the fans with “Attention, please!,” where Jay pulled a small stunt shadowing and throwing an electric guitar, followed by “ParadoXXX Invasion” and “Tamed-Dashed.”

About midway through the three-hour show, the group split into two units. Jay, Jake, Sunghoon and Sunoo performed “TFW (That Feeling When),” with Jay’s acoustic guitar sound, whereas Jungwon, Heeseung and Ni-ki sang “Just a Little Bit,” accompanied with Heeseung’s piano performance.

For its performance of “One and Only,” the members were joined by six Pikachu characters on stage, one of which was dressed in traditional Indonesian batik, paying homage to the Southeast Asian country’s culture.

“We wanted to do a special performance for ‘FATE PLUS,’” Jay said as they were about to introduce their cover of One Direction’s “What Makes You Beautiful” in a schoolboy look with cargo pants.

After changing into black suits with red stain-like patterns, Ni-ki started off “Chaconne” with a brief solo dance performance, before being joined by the rest of the members.

The group wrapped the show with hit songs “Fate” and “Bite Me,” but came back for an encore.

“We made a lot of good, fun memories. Through these concerts, I realized how great the energy of the Indonesian Engene is. I’ll definitely come back,” Jake said.

Other members shared their emotions as they bid farewell to the show and the audience.

“Thank you for giving such great support. I promise to come back again. I haven’t cried much lately, but I got a bit choked up,” Sunoo said. “Hearing so many people cheering, there was something resonating in my heart. I hope you’ll keep all this energy, the cheers and everything until I return.”

Sunghoon added: “Next time we’re back, we’ll have a bigger venue so we can be with more fans. I’ll return with an even better performance. See you next time.”

The group performed a total of 26 songs, including the three encores, wrapping the show with another performance of “Future Perfect (Pass the MIC).”

The hashtag “#EN_WORLDTOUR_FATEPLUS” trended in Indonesia on X, formerly Twitter, over the weekend, seeing 50,100 posts as of Monday.

Following the Jakarta concerts, the group is scheduled to make two last stops in Japan — Portmesse Nagoya in Aichi on Aug. 24 and 25 and at Sekisui Heim Super Arena in Miyagi on Aug. 31 and Sept. 1.