Lindsay

August 18, 2018

On August 17th, Wanna One performed at Hisense Arena in Melbourne for one night only, as part of their ‘<ONE: THE WORLD>’ world tour. It was their only concert in Australia, so fans flew from all over the country to attend this special concert! The night was a success overall, and definitely a night to remember for everyone!

Since there are 11 members in the group, here are 11 things that you NEED to know about their concert in Melbourne!

1. The countdown to the concert

Hours before the concert, fans had already started lining up, especially those in the standing sections. The atmosphere was already hyped up. Many fan projects were handing out banners and photo cards, which made fans even more excited to see Wanna One in person.

The atmosphere became even more energetic when the lights went out, indicating that the boys were going to appear on stage. The screens showed a galaxy background and a booming voice started counting down from 10. At this point, the audience also started counting down. When the countdown reached “one”, the lights went out again and the members appeared on stage. The audience went crazy as they started performing their first song, ‘Burn It Up‘.

2. The amazing solo stages

Almost every member had their own time to shine in a solo stage. Throughout the concert, there were various solo stages. The first solo stage was by Hwang Minhyun after the group performed ‘Burn It Up‘, ‘Never‘, and their debut song ‘Energetic‘. He danced while blindfolded, and fans started chanting “Hwang Minhyun!” The next solo stage was after Minhyun‘s stage and a VCR, which was by Bae Jinyoung. He also had a dance solo. Both members danced to instrumental tracks. Check both performances out below!

Kang Daniel‘s solo stage occurred right after Wanna One‘s performance of their title track ‘Beautiful‘. It happened towards the end of the song, and he finished off the song by himself. His solo dance stage was particularly memorable because he showed his abs to the crowd. As expected, the fans went crazy.

After showing another VCR following ‘Beautiful‘, Kim Jaehwan had his solo stage. His stage was the only one that involved singing instead of dancing. Since the formation of Wanna One, Jaehwan has been known as being the vocal powerhouse of the group. His powerful voice is stands out, as he can flawlessly hit any high note. This was clearly displayed tonight as he performed a slower rendition of his part in ‘I’ll Remember‘. This is the sixth track on their ‘0+1=1 (I Promise You)‘ album. Jaehwan was able to hit the high notes and move the audience with the emotion in his voice.

Woojin and Jihoon performed a stage together. Firstly, they individually danced at separate sides of the stage before coming together and dancing together. Both members are notable for being amazing dancers, which was definitely evident tonight.

3. The ballads and emotional songs

Wanna One dedicated a whole portion of the concert to their ballads and more emotional songs. Towards the middle of the concert, the group performed a few sentimental songs in a row. After Jaehwan‘s solo stage, the rest of the members came out and performed ‘I’ll Remember‘ with him. Then they performed ‘I Wanna Have‘ and ‘Always‘.

‘Always‘ has been a fan favourite since it was performed on the second season of Produce 101 in the last episode. It was performed by the remaining 20 contestants. This was the episode in which Wanna One was formed, so ‘Always‘ is a very emotional song for fans and the group alike. Leader Yoon Jisung shed a few tears during this song, which also made the crowd emotional. The audience sang back to the group as the members held their microphones out.

4. DJ Jisung (or DJ Hankki!)

Leader Jisung‘s solo stage was one of the highlights of the night. Everyone was shocked when Jisung started doing a DJ set with all his fancy equipment. He took centre stage as he started using the synthesizer to mix up songs and play amazing beat drops. The crowd started to get energised again as they started dancing to the beat. Jisung‘s DJ name is DJ Hankki, and his logo had a cute animation of chopsticks and rice.

Ha Sungwoon and Lai Guanlin also had their solo stages during Jisung‘s DJ set. They danced to American songs with a strong beat. Sungwoon performed on the right side of the stage, while Guanlin took the left side. Sungwoon danced first to a remix of ‘We Don’t Talk Anymore‘ by Charlie Puth and Selena Gomez. Guanlin then danced to ‘Freaky Friday‘ by Lil Dicky and Chris Brown. This was also particularly memorable, as although Guanlin‘s strength isn’t dancing (e.g. when he first appeared on Produce 101), he’s now improved so much that he earned his own solo dance stage.

5. The speeches

Wanna One had their first speech after their upbeat performance of title track ‘Boomerang‘. They first introduced their group with their greeting “All I Wanna Do! Wanna One!” before introducing themselves individually. A few of them attempt to speak English, which fans found cute and funny. Sungwoon and Lee Daehwi even introduced themselves in an ‘Australian style’ by saying “G’day mate.” They also talked about how Melbourne is cold at the moment, compared to the hot summer that South Korea is experiencing right now.

The second speech involved more talking as some of the members were asked questions. First, the boys talked about how touching it was to have the fans singing along with them. Before Ong Seongwu and Daehwi left to prepare for their stage, they were asked how they would react if they came out of the shower and looked at themselves. Their reactions were hilarious as they both continued to mutter “Wow”.

In their third speech, the group mentioned about how the city is cold, but the energy from the crowd warmed them up. Both Jisung and Sungwoon specifically said so. Guanlin also surprised their Australian fans by speaking English. Daniel and Jaehwan arranged a kangaroo family at the front of the stage (fans had thrown stuffed kangaroo toys onto the stage).

The last speech was the saddest as it was during the encore stage before the end of the concert. Park Woojin said “No” cutely in Korean and then in English, which fans absolutely adored. Each member talked about their experience in Melbourne, before proceeding to perform the last song of the night, which was title track ‘I Promise U‘.

6. The reenactments

After Seongwu and Daehwi left during the second speech, Jisung, Daniel, Jinyoung and Minhyun were asked what they would do if they had one day in Melbourne with Australian Wannables. They were also asked to reenact it, which involved funny actions and gestures from the members. Jisung said that he would drive around, Daniel would go to the zoo and take pictures with kangaroos, Jinyoung would eat steak and Minhyun would go surfing. It was entertaining to see how the boys would enact this.

7. The VCRs

Throughout the concert in between songs, there were various VCRs that were shown. One memorable VCR showed Jihoon, Minhyun, Jaehwan and Guanlin in suit and tie, and it definitely gave off boyfriend vibes to the audience.

The next VCR portrayed Jinyoung, Sungwoon, Daniel and Seongwu, involving the theme of dreams. The VCR after this was by far the most interactive VCR. Daehwi, Jisung and Woojin took on the role of doctors in this cute and funny VCR. Minhyun also made a special appearance. It was interactive, as it golden streamers exploded over the audience, showed the audience on camera, and tested how loud the audience could scream. They also rated the screams based on a score of 1 to 100 (100 being the maximum). This was done in a succession of scores of 40, 70, and finally 100.

The last VCR was displayed during the encore stage. It showed all 11 members as they thanked Melbourne for a final time. The screen also displayed all their names on the screen in order from oldest to youngest. This made fans emotional as it signalled the end of the concert.

8. The unit stages

The special album released in June ‘1÷χ=1 (UNDIVIDED)‘ contains special unit songs as each unit collaborated with a different artist in the industry. Before each unit stage, a VCR depicting those members of the unit was shown. The first unit was ‘Number One‘, which contains Jinyoung, Guanlin and Park Jihoon. The next unit to have a VCR was Jisung, Sungwoon and Minhyun; ‘Lean On Me‘.

The ‘Number One‘ unit performed a particularly sexy song that involved a lot of visually appealing choreography. The members also take their jackets off, which made the fans go crazy. The ‘Lean On Me‘ performance involved a lot of confetti as well as powerful vocals from the three members.

Daehwi and Seongwu‘s unit, ‘The Heal‘, sang a memorable performance of ‘Sandglass‘. This was particularly emotional as Daehwi started out playing the piano, while Seongwu had a mini solo dance stage. During this performance, a VCR of Daehwi and Seongwu‘s journey, from winning on Produce 101 to debuting in Wanna One was shown. It was extremely touching for fans to witness again, which gave the song a lot of meaning.

The ‘Triple Position‘ unit consisting of Woojin, Daniel and Jaehwan seemed to be special since the song was ‘Kangaroo‘ and they were performing it in their only concert in Australia. The song was really upbeat and definitely kept the crowd on their feet. It ended with Daniel giving Jaehwan a piggyback ride, which was cute for fans to see.

9. The members

The highlight of the night was definitely how interactive and fun the members were. Wanna One‘s members are loved just as much as their music. Australian Wannables were excited because they got to be in such close proximity to their idols.

Jihoon and Sungwoon both sported red hair, but Sungwoon‘s hair was a lighter shade of red. They had various outfit changes, especially during the unit stages. Most of the time, they wore a simple white blouse and black pants. During the encore, the group also wore new baseball jerseys that said “Wanna One” at the front and their name and favourite number on the back. Many members chose numbers that represented the year that they were born in. Their makeup was also on point – most members wore red eyeshadow.

10. (Literally) Lit songs and choreography

Wanna One literally lit up the stage with their upbeat songs and remarkable choreography. During some of the songs, sparklers went off at the stage, and smoke wafted into the air. The first three songs definitely made the crowd energised for the rest of the concert – ‘Burn It Up‘, ‘Never‘ and ‘Energetic‘ are all upbeat songs that allow the members to showcase their dancing skills.

‘Day By Day‘ was by far the sexiest performance of the night. They had black ties wrapped around their necks, and the choreography involved a lot of hip movements. Fans went crazy during this particular performance.

Their performance of ‘Beautiful‘ garnered a lot of attention due to it being one of their biggest hits. The special effects on the screen showed rain. Furthermore, the dance involved a lot of touching between the members as they hugged during the dance. ‘Twilight‘ and ‘Gold‘ were also fun performances as the audience sang back to the group, and the crowd energy was really high.

Since ‘Boomerang‘ has strong EDM vibes, the audience had a lot of energy due to the powerful beats of the song. The choreography was also fun to watch as it involves complex movements. ‘Wanna Be (My Baby)‘ seemed to have a special meaning since Wanna One were singing to Wannables. The VCR during this song showed the English translated lyrics as it took on a comic book format. ‘Pick Me‘, the theme song of the second season of Produce 101, was also particularly memorable since it was the first song they learned on the show. Performing it during the concert shows how far they have come as a group since last year. The crowd danced along to the song with them, which made it even more special.

11. The encore

After performing ‘Gold‘, the group left the stage, but the arena remained dark. The crowd started demanding for an encore, and soon enough, the members came back on stage. First, they performed their most recent title track ‘Light‘. The crowd got excited again as they realised that the concert was not over yet. Furthermore, ‘Light‘ is an upbeat song that fans could dance to as well.

They made their final speech before they performed their last song, ‘I Promise U‘. Before they started the song, they yelled out “I”, and the crowd responded with “Promise you.” Fans were sad to see them leave; the whole crowd was waving while the group were making their final bow after performing ‘I Promise U‘. This is most likely the last time that Wanna One will be performing as a group in Australia since their contract is due to expire early next year. After this, the group will disband, and members will return to their original companies and groups. Due to this, their only concert in Australia tonight was extra special.

Check out these group pictures that Wanna One took backstage in Melbourne!

All Australian Wannables tonight definitely had a night to remember. The boys performed spectacularly and put on an amazing show in Melbourne. Wanna One themselves will also always remember Melbourne’s concert as the crowd was thoroughly energised throughout the whole concert. They definitely had the experience of a lifetime in Melbourne, and so did all those who attended tonight’s concert.

Special thanks to IME AU and YMC Entertainment for giving Officially Kmusic the opportunity to cover this amazing event!

What did you think of Wanna One‘s concert in Melbourne? Let us know in the comments below!

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Writer: Lindsay

Editor: Carmel-Lee Skinner

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