“I’m so, so happy I can’t stop smiling,” Yechan exclaimed, revelling in the buzz of the London crowd. To kick off the Europe leg of their TRICKY HOUSE : FIRST ENCOUNTER world tour, xikers took the beautiful O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire on an evening of excitement, with it being their first concert appearance in the continent. The young boy group has been gaining a steady amount of attention since their debut last year, branding themselves as solid performers wherever they go, and London was next on their hit list to be graced by the level of performance KQ Entertainment’s idols have been gaining a reputation for.
The strongest takeaway of anyone who attended xikers’ show is that the energy was ever-present. Delighted smiles adorned the members’ faces as they grooved along to the choreography, emitting a genuine joy in giving it their all to their fans. The dances at times seemed to tell a story, as seen during “Doorbell Ringing”, where Junmin appears to be resurrected by some collective power (friendship, probably) from the other boys, amongst others.
Though the venue’s low stage restricted the view of some fans on the floor, the boys made sure to make up for what was not seen by what was heard. For a group this early into their careers, they’ve got a ton of charisma, brought to life in particular by the main rappers when accompanied by a snappy beat. A sea of arms in the pit could be seen swaying along, various lightsticks in hand: the K-Pop fan’s highest sign of approval.
After diving backstage for a brief VCR showing, the boys reappeared in breezy pink and white outfits, emanating a relaxed yet confident aura when handling various dance covers of their industry seniors, including NewJeans’ “Hype Boy”, BTS’ “Dynamite”, and, impressively, NCT 127’s “Cherry Bomb”, which involved a difficult floor-drop move that the boys pulled off with effortless style. For an ensemble of boys that typically put out power-pumped music, they also did well at emulating the energy of girl groups when covering their dances (and we dare say they were even better at those than other covers, with Jinsik and Hunter in particular beaming happily throughout).
Whatever they’re performing, xikers have their heart in it. Though their discography has yet to be filled to the brim, the boys put their all into every song on the relatively short setlist. By the end, the members seemed reluctant to wrap things up, elongating their goodbye speeches with bittersweet remarks about not wanting the moment to end.
Eventually, though, the time came for their very last song, “ROCKSTAR”. The thumping bass combined with fans’ enthusiastic foot-stomping was enough to send those in the seats upstairs flying, but xikers weren’t swallowed by such headbanging volume. Instead, they stayed atop it, surfing the wave of a song that needs enormous levels of energy and control to pull off. That’s what xikers are all about.
