This week, I was fortunate enough to attend the opening night for ONF’s first North American tour — or, to put it more accurately… Canadian tour. Brought to us courtesy of the newly established company J&B Entertainment , I’m hoping this tour does well enough to bring more artists into the Vancouver area. It’s a very convenient stop for me and it’s nice to be able to drive instead of fly to these events!
If you’ve been reading The Bias List over the past few years, you’ll know I’m a big fan of ONF’s music. In fact, they’ve topped my year-end singles lists twice since the blog’s inception — a record no other act has matched. I’ve never been able to see them live, so I was excited to finally hear some of these great songs in person.
Held in the historic Vogue Theater in downtown Vancouver, the show was modestly attended (as has become more common for touring K-pop acts not from enormous agencies). Tickets were divided between balcony and floor, with general admission getting you as close to the stage as you were willing to maneuver. We were about four people back at all times — close enough to see every little detail and every bead of sweat.
I think I’ve mentioned this before, but proximity really is a totally different experience with these K-pop shows. Appreciating the choreography from afar has its own merits, but seeing the exertion and precision up close makes everything feel more impressive. I’m always in awe of the skill and talent on display.
The show opened (smartly) with the gargantuan Beautiful Beautiful, which kicked off a blitz of bulletproof singles that kept the energy high. At our stop, E-Tion had some issues with his mic and the backstage repairs ended up taking quite awhile. This transformed the group’s introductory comments into a full (unexpected) twenty minutes. So early in the show, they were forced to vamp as poor E-Tion waited offstage for his mic to get replaced (technical troubleshooting didn’t seem to a a strong point for this venue…).
The guys turned this lemon into lemonade, spending some time introducing their “English” names: Sebastian for Minkyun, Kevin for U, Brandon for Hyojin, Chris for Seungjun, Tommy for E-Tion and Wyatt for… Wyatt. (If I got any of these wrong, please let me know!). This ended up being a reoccurring subject throughout the night with surprisingly funny results. In fact, the group overall were incredibly entertaining personalities. Their patter between each other (and their beleaguered translator) was often hilarious and always endearing. As the most confident English speaker, Wyatt led the charge with a palpable sense of charisma, but everyone worked together as a veritable comedy act. As much as I’ve loved their music, I’ve never felt a similarly huge connection when watching their variety. This show changed that in a great way, flipping my expectations on their head.
(At one point, Seungjun excitedly proclaimed “Fire!!” at the top of his lungs before being promptly scolded by all the members and attendees because that is not something you yell in a crowded indoor space! He clearly meant to say the show was on fire, or something along those lines…)
Of course, the comedy was just an added bonus. We were really there for the music, and the group didn’t disappoint (mostly). Their set was long and varied, delivering most of their title tracks alongside fan favorite b-sides like The Realist, New World, Moscow Moscow and Secret Triangle. Some of the songs hit especially hard. New World transformed the venue into a full-on rock-show, sounding incredible at concert volume. Goosebumps was another surprising highlight, arriving late in the show with a wallop of energy.
My biggest gripe around the show centers around the songs they didn’t perform. They pretty much ignored their pre-2019 material, including my number one ONF song Complete. They didn’t perform it, it wasn’t in the video interstitial, and it was nowhere to be heard in the pre-show medley. This felt like a major omission, making me wonder if the song is only beloved in my own head! I would also have loved to hear their debut track On/Off and standout b-side Original. During the encore, the guys sang a few lesser-known songs in the standard, walk-around-the-stage-giving-fan-service style. I don’t know why these couldn’t have been replaced by a couple older singles for us fans who have been their since the beginning.
With that said, it’s a testament to the strength of the show that I left feeling satisfied even without my favorite song rattling around in my head. I already knew ONF were immensely talented, but seeing it right in front of you brings things to a totally new level. I hope they’ll be able to extend this tour run to the States and other countries so fans from all over the world can enjoy.
