Seventeen has thirteen members. Lets just get that out of the way now. Even when they debuted it was with thirteen members; if you wanna know why then google it. That being said, thirteen members is still a lot of idols in one crew. Larger groups present a lot of complications like dissonant personalities, more likely that jealousy will set in because there’s a limited amount of stage space and words in a song and even getting the chance to spend time together to form better bonds. That’s not even getting into how expensive it must be to travel, house, tour and train. So from the get go these guys had a more difficult road to traverse than your typical Kpop group. They’ve survived eleven years, if you can believe that. Actually they’ve more than survived, Seventeen has thrived.

A key to their success is all the work that goes into creating a cohesive unit both personally and professionally. In the industry they’re known for their precision and synchronicity. Imagine the amount of work it must take for that many people to be in tune. I mean if you’re a fan of Kpop at any level you know how hard every idol trains, so the mind boggles how these guys manage it. Every ounce of that work, trust and kinship amongst the group shows when they come out on stage.

Tacoma Dome was literally filled to the rafters last Saturday with a crowd just buzzing for them to hit the stage. I had a pretty damn good view of the show so I can tell you that it was a crowd pleaser. Just like a lot of male Kpop groups, as they start reaching their mid-to-late twenties, they have to start thinking about how to deal with members entering their mandatory military service (each male in Korea has to serve for 18 months in the military). This can be devastating for an idol group; what if fans wane or move on to put their energy toward another, younger group; what if they lose interest altogether? This has been a real issue since the first wave starting back in the late 1990’s. With the third wave of Kpop groups getting to that age, there’s been a lot more forethought and prep and we’re starting to see evidence of this from groups like BTS (non-stop content released while they were all serving) and a push for more solo work. Seventeen has shown signs of this as well with more solo songs in their most recent album. So with the remaining nine members (four have entered their service already) they showed what they were capable of as solo artists.

Now, just because they’re pushing for more solo work doesn’t mean they don’t want to come back together as a group. However, with a crew as big as Seventeen, this does offer a unique opportunity for the members that aren’t serving yet (or won’t be going at all in the case of a few of them who aren’t Korean nationals). It allows a little more face time with fans and on stage. That’s not to say they would rather be solo artists, I don’t think that’s the case at all for many of these groups, but it does offer these guys a chance to get a little more love and a chance to show us what they’re made of… there’s nothing wrong with that. The solo songs that really stood out to me personally at this “New_ World Tour” were by two of the rap line members. First Mingyu walked down the stage like a model straight out of the Matrix, long draping shiny trench coat, sunglasses and a strut that would knock anyone out. You couldn’t take your eyes off him while he performed his new song “Shake It Off” (definitely not to be confused with Swift’s song but just as booty shakin’). Follow that up with S. Coups’ (or “Scoops”) “Jungle” and your legs were jelly.

Though each member had their featuring moment, it’s not like there was a lack of full-group or unit performances. With a massive thirty-three song set list every fan had a chance to hear their favorite song or at least a selection from their favorite album even though this tour was meant to highlight their most recent release Happy Burstday. Favorites like “Clap”, “Left & Right” and “Very Nice” filled the twelve song (!) encore leaving us all breathless and wanting more.

While not all the members are together right now, which may put you off from heading to your city’s stop, they make it well worth the price of the ticket and much more. If you’re a Carat, you’ll support them either way, but being only a casual fan I still had an incredible time and so will you. Not only do you get to spend time with other Carats outside the venue before the show starts, but just being in the room while some of your favorite songs echo to the roof and back is a joy you don’t get to experience that often. Speaking of the experience, if you haven’t shown up a couple hours before the doors open for a Kpop show, you’re missing out. Spending time with other fans, exchanging freebies, watching dancers re-enact choreography and excitedly chatting is all part of the fun.