Wow, where to even start for this concert at Brooklyn Bowl. From start to finish, I was in awe of what I was hearing and seeing. First of all, the concert had a fast lane line and a VIP line. Even though the show officially started at 8 PM, people had been lining up since 3 PM. Furthermore, the concert sold out at least a couple months beforehand, so only resale tickets were available. I had never seen the lines for Brooklyn Bowl wrap around past the corner, so I knew that the concert hall was going to be packed like never before.
The opener, Milena, easily filled up the stage just by herself. Dancing around in place and playing with her skirt, the audience was quickly and easily infatuated with her. Her soft vocals and enunciation eased the audience to get comfortable with her and not want her to leave. Her single “why do we fall in love?” was impressive not just because of the playful tune, but also because her voice and smile melted everyone’s anxiety while waiting for Wave to Earth. During this song, I seemed to forget that Milena was just the opener. Going through her album Foggy, Milena soothed the audience as they swayed with her while she sang “Oh Rosy” and “No Jam”. Although I didn’t know much about her, I feel confident in saying that she had much stage experience before this concert. I felt mesmerized by her repeatedly as she would maintain her eye contact with the audience while smiling. Although I think I heard some people singing along with Milena, it seemed that most of the audience was introduced to her that night. Even still, they gave her the biggest applause, deservingly. This supportive and interactive audience quickly created a welcoming atmosphere and maintained it throughout the whole night. Though nobody was ready for her to leave, as soon as she introduced Wave to Earth, the audience’s energy came through. I was surprised that Wave to Earth came out right after Milena left the stage because of how typical it is for there to be a break between the opener and headliner’s performances.
Wave to Earth is a South Korean indie rock band. They played in Nashville for one night before heading to Atlanta, Georgia and continuing their 0.03 tour. While generally following the setlists found online, the band surprised everyone by boasting their musical talent and instrumental skills in transitioning each of the songs and their intros. For example, out of nowhere, they played an instrumental cover for “Amazing Grace” as one of the intros, confusing the audience to think that the band was playing Star Spangled Banner. The band opened with “are you bored?” which is the first song on the album play with earth! 0.03. This was a good night to be a Wave to Earth fan. Thanks to the transitions, the songs they played seemed to go on, allowing the audience to keep feeling their feelings.
Throughout the concert, I was surprised by the respectful but passionate energy from the audience. Anytime Wave to Earth went quiet, no one screamed into the silence or tried to call attention to themselves. The crowd seemed to be in awe and waiting for the music. I wonder if this was brought on by the band not really bringing attention to themselves either. Make no mistake, the band put on a show, but they never seemed to bring attention to themselves or their appearances. The main form of crowd interaction had to be the bassist Cha Soon Jong, aka Potatoi aka John Cha, grinning ear to ear the whole night. In Korean, I would say 멋을 부리지않아; they don’t intentionally attempt to look cool. The minimalist outfits by the performers and scarce audience interaction was uniquely successful in letting the audience solely focus on the sounds filling the concert hall.
Now, to the performances themselves, the band put the audience in agony each and every second. The lead vocalist Daniel Kim, iconic for his completed look with either sunglasses or glasses, has a voice that aches for a love that’s experienced grief and desperation. His voice reminded me over and over of how blessed I was to experience the band’s music. Daniel Kim’s voice is so human and affectionate. His voice and the band’s lyrics made me imagine him standing far away from his lover, waiting until she’s ready to look his way, but until then, he will look at her with only love in his eyes and sadness in his heart. My heart was tearing apart during each song, especially “love.” from the album 0.1 flaws and all., as Daniel Kim would sing with his whole heart. Although he wrote “love.” as a love song, he stated in interviews that he sings it as a song in appreciation for his band. So, it was interesting how the band members, especially Potatoi, would warmly smile at Daniel Kim, almost in appreciation and awe of him too. The audience indubitably felt this. The girls standing next to me were singing with their bodies and souls pouring into each song. With the effort and passion shown by the band, how could the audience not fall in love with them and with life?
The night progressed with a constant high energy from both the band and audience. With no doubt, everyone was enjoying the concert. The band especially enjoyed when Daniel Kim jammed with either the drummer Shin Donggyu or the saxophonist Jeonmin to complete the outro of each song. When the band left the stage, everyone in the audience joined in to call them back out. Before playing more from their discography, each band member walked out one by one and played instrumental solos, making the encore so much more unique. All in all, this concert with Milena, Wave to Earth, and the audience was an unforgettable night reminding everyone of the beauty and power of music to connect people and to evoke an experience of love.
Listen to Wave to Earth here: