It’s hard to believe that P1Harmony only made their debut in 2020. Travelling the world and already onto their second concert tour, Keeho, Theo, Jiung, Intak, Soul, and Jongseob are no strangers to Australia, performing at Sydney’s 2022 HallyPopFest only last year. Returning to our shores for their own headlining tour, proudly presented by Live Nation Australia, ‘2023 P1Harmony [P1USTAGE H : P1ONEER] Live Tour’ marked their first ever performance in Melbourne.
With Aussie ‘P1ece’ lining up from 10am the day before, it wasn’t long before the lines curled around outside the venue. If you were lucky enough, there were some fan made Melbourne concert memento tickets and photocards available to collect, something I really love about K-Pop as the fan freebies and sense of community is second to none.
After holding an intimate soundcheck session for the lucky patrons that managed to procure special VIP tickets, it wasn’t long before Festival Hall filled. Despite official lightsticks not being available for purchase at the event, the venue was well lit thanks to the dedicated fans that managed to obtain their own lightsticks prior to the show. I could feel the tension in the room with everyone hanging with anticipation and ready to erupt the moment P1Harmony would walk onto the stage.
Appearing in matching black leather jackets and silver chains, P1Harmony had a commanding stage presence from the start with the appropriately titled ‘Look At Me Now’. Accompanied with flames and pyrotechnics, the energy in the room transformed from a quiet hall into one big party, with fans extremely animated and jumping around in delight.
Through a total of three wardrobe changes, P1Harmony were happy-go-lucky and extremely interactive with their fans for the entirety of the concert. They honestly looked to be having just as much fun as everyone else in the venue while remaining their charismatic selves.
Highlights of the night included very cute interactions during ‘Do It Like This’ when the group would make a move or gesture and the audience would copy it immediately. ‘Gotta Get Back’, a collaboration song with Pink Sweats, provided chilled-out vibes and calming moments with the P1Harmony members all sitting down on the stage to wave at fans and display cute hand choreography that looked very adorable and quite easy for patrons to follow along to.
Showcasing excellent vocals, dance skill, and choreography, P1Harmony shone just as brightly individually as they did together. Keeho was well spoken and displayed stellar vocals, Soul’s smooth dance moves were jaw-droppingly exceptional, Jiung’s was wonderful with his beaming mischievous smile and undeniable charm, Intak was irresistibly suave and super cool with his artful rap ability, Theo was very lively, affectionate and quite funny, and Jeongsob was exceptionally chatty, friendly, and really sweet.
With a genuine love towards their fans, I appreciated P1Harmony checking in to see if everyone was okay, even stopping the show at one point to ensure this, each member providing water to those in the crowd that needed it. This something that they did not have to do but the fact that they did made me love, appreciate, and respect them more as artists.
My favourite performances of the night would be when P1Harmony performed ‘Doom Du Doom’ which is admittedly the song that enticed me to their music, ‘JUMP’ when they literally had everyone in the room including those up in the seats jumping, ‘Love Me For Me’ which was a cute song with equally enchanting dance moves, and ‘Follow Me’ which had everyone hyped up and dancing. The song even had streamers and confetti released into the audience, and this was only half-way throughout the concert!
My only criticism is that during the second video interlude which showcased a cute little segment of the P1Harmony members playing a Jumanji style board game, part of the video did not have subtitles. Considering this content is for a world tour, there should be subtitles for every moment of the video including the narration and not just when the members were speaking.
As an endearing surprise for fans, the show concluded with P1Harmony going down to the audience via the pit barrier and splitting up to make sure that every side of the stage received their affection and attention. The joy the audience contained was so infectious, you would have been hard pressed to find anyone in that moment not pumped and elated.
It is clear that this 6-member K-Pop boy group really have something special. Everything from P1Harmony felt sincere, their talents were off the charts, and the concert itself was a lot of fun. P1Harmony have passionately provided Melbourne P1ece a wonderful show in a supremely exciting and successfully entertaining first visit. With Australia learning to embrace more Asian music, including K-Pop, Let’s hope that this visit to Australia and specifically to Melbourne, won’t be their last.
P1Harmony performed in Melbourne on Wednesday the 20th of September at Festival Hall. Unfortunately, the Australia and New Zealand leg of the 2023 P1Harmony [P1USTAGE H : P1ONEER] Live Tour has now concluded. However, for more information on P1Harmony, their music and future events visit:
https://www.fncent.com/P1Harmony/b/introduce/45597
https://www.livenation.com.au/artist-p1harmony-1427864
https://www.instagram.com/p1h_official
Photography by Grant Alexander.
