KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 8 — K-pop band Nu'est held their first concert in Malaysia, pleasing fans who had been waiting for Nu'est to fulfill an unofficial promise.
Nu'est member Aron had mentioned the possibility of performing in the country at the "K-Wave2" concert in 2017.
Ever since, Malaysian LOVEs (the name of Nu'est's fandom) or Malaysian “sayangs” as they call themselves thanks to another member Ren addressing them thus, have been eagerly waiting.
The concert which started punctually at 6pm, at Stadium Malawati last night, was the group's first performance in Malaysia as a complete group after a long time.
Nu'est's Minhyun had spent a stint with the temporary mega-group Wanna One so the rest of Nu'est was promoted as Nu'est W. The last time Nu'est had performed in Malaysia as five was in 2012 at a Sunway showcase.
Welcome nostalgia
Nu'est kicked off the concert with, fittingly, their song Hello.
The group's most popular song, it even shot up in the charts when it was revealed BTS' Rap Monster was a huge fan of the song, even singing it in the shower.
While Malawati Stadium is a fairly small and rather basic venue, the production team pulled off an impressive stage with lighting and props that almost made you believe you were in a larger concert hall.
As gorgeous as the play of light and colour was, they were merely a backdrop for the true stars: Nu'est's performances. The group is well-known for their impressive “live” vocals and intricate dance routines and are currently one of the top male groups in South Korea.
After Hello, Nu'est then followed with the lush mid-tempo Love Paint and the R&B/pop stylings of Overcome.
The group then performed their latest hit Bet Bet, that started off with a solo dance break for Ren. Bet Bet features some of their most challenging choreography to date with the trademark mid-air leaps that have had their main vocalist Baekho joke that he worries for his joints.
With the crowd properly warmed up, Nu'est took some time to greet the audience while using some creative Malay phrases with Aron getting plenty of titters when he announced Malaysia was panas (hot).
Polished from start to end
Nu'est were obviously pretty comfortable engaging with the audience, taking time to wink, wave and send the trademark Korean “fingerhearts” to fans throughout the show.
The setlist throughout the group's Segno tour which covers six countries varied very little but it wasn't a problem for fans who had made the effort to watch multiple shows, in different countries.
It's a good setlist that will please most Nu'est fans — running from the group's early songs Face and Action to a mix from various releases, including various B-sides that are actually really good performed “live.”
Two of those B-Sides, Beautiful Ghost and RLTL (Real Love, True Love) are different musically with the former being rock-influenced and the latter more standard R&B. But they both share in common choreography that is physically taxing, visually impressive and definitely crowd-pleasers.
The members also had the chance to perform individual solo numbers.
Baekho's deeply personal ballad Thankful For You was a simple, pared-down piano arrangement that highlighted a soft falsetto not often seen in the group's other songs.
Minhyun on the other hand charmed with Universe, a song he calls his personal message to LOVEs “wishing for their happiness.”
As for Aron, his jazzy rendition of the tune Good Love featured him charming the audience with nothing more than a microphone as he sang from his seat.
Ren, often called the moodmaker of the group, showed off his sensual side in his Paradise routine that featured flowy curtains, a giant bed and a dance routine involving a lot of swishy scarves.
Nu'est leader JR performed a gritty, rock-infused song I Hate You, that better highlighted his impressive skills as the group's main dancer.
After performing 25 songs, without displaying any flagging of energy or enthusiasm, Nu'est bid farewell to their Malaysian LOVEs and again made another promise: Of returning again.
Judging from the audience's cheers, they can hardly wait.
