P1Harmony “Killin’ It” For Sold Out Show at Kia Forum

Words by Greg Poblete | Photos by David Gabriel

June 16, 2024 — The K-pop group, P1Harmony put on an explosive show including pyrotechnics, flashing lights, giant balloons, and of course, incredibly catchy tunes. Selling out the Kia Forum for the North American leg of their “UTOPIA'' tour, the group expressed how significant of a moment it was to be performing on this very stage in Inglewood, California. The year prior, the group performed at the Forum as part of iHeartRadio’s Jingle Ball showcase alongside artists such as Olivia Rodrigo and Sabrina Carpenter. And since their performance, P1Harmony has only gotten evidently bigger selling out of one of their biggest shows to date. 

The “UTOPIA” tour felt like the group demonstrating their confidence through their synchronized dancing, musicianship, and overall showmanship as they connected with fans and brought them the best show anyone could have ever asked for. Members Keeho, Theo, Jiung, Intak, Soul, and Jongseob all perform very fluidly together as they fly across the runway stage in their flashy outfits while also giving each other their time in the spotlight to shine. 

Before we continue, it is important to clarify that a K-pop concert is like no other concert one would attend. Yes, there is cheering, singing along, the typical rituals one may participate in when attending a concert for say, Dua Lipa or any other modern pop star. However, the audience at a K-pop concert, specifically a P1Harmony concert, are on another level (in a good way). 

For one, the audience at this concert were probably the loudest audience I have heard since the Eras Tour. Before every song, the audience would cheer, when a new member started to sing their verse during a song, the audience would scream, and even in the interlude video when any member would pop up on screen, the audience would lose their minds. This enthusiasm and excitement for one particular group was almost foreign to me in comparison to the concerts that I usually attend. But being among this many P1eces was actually very wholesome and I did not feel out of place once. 

A bit of a shameless plug, but attending this concert was a full circle moment for me because I had the opportunity to interview P1Harmony back in 2022 when they first released their “Doom Du Doom'' single. The interview was done over Zoom, so I never actually got to see the group perform live until this Kia Forum performance, but it was so worth the wait. 

In the interview, I asked the group what the main difference between performing concerts in the U.S. and Korea is, and they said that fans in Korea know the “fan chants” while audiences in the U.S. mostly just cheer and dance the whole time. The fans at the Kia Forum were a little disorganized in regard to their applaus breaks, but they were synced up during parts of the show with all the colorful lightsticks that they brought. 

There was no opening act, so right as the clock struck 7:30PM, the boys popped out on stage with a ton of energy for the first song of the set, “Street Star.” An absolute banger from the new album, Killin’ It, the group wasted no time getting the crowd out of their seats. They played a handful more from the new record before performing a few classics such as “Heartbeat Drum” and “Butterfly.” Up until this point of the show, the boys have been putting in work on stage dancing nonstop, singing their hearts out, and of course, looking fly while doing it. 

One of my personal favorites and definitely a memorable tune during their concert was “Back Down.” Even if one is not familiar with P1Harmony’s music, you could easily get these songs stuck in your head from the catchy choruses and the little “ra ta ta ta” parts in the lyrics. The group found a songwriting formula that works for them that is able to reel in first time listeners and keep them hooked until the very end. 

After they performed “Back Down,” there was a bit of an interlude with a very dramatic video playing on the screens with the boys walking in the desert as a voiceover explained that their “Utopia” is anywhere they are all together. Cute. It was a sweet message that made it clear that P1Harmony truly find endless joy in performing for their fans. The group can see just how much love the P1eces give them, and P1Harmony do whatever they can to show that love right back. 

For the next part of the concert, each member had the opportunity to perform their own mini show. First up was Theo playing the guitar and performing a cover of Stephen Sanchez’s hit song, “Until I Found You.” The crowd illuminated the stage with their cell phone lights as Theo had a very intimate moment with the crowd. Even for a cover song, it was amazing to see that the entire audience participated in singing along to a song that wasn’t even a P1Harmony song. 

Up next was Intak’s solo where he covered Victoria Monét’s “On My Mama.” It was an absolutely feral performance with sexy backup dancers, getting the ladies all worked up. Jongseob’s solo was a hyped rap performance covering A$AP Rocky’s “Praise the Lord (Da Shine).” These solo performances were a great way to show the group’s diverse taste in music and the styles that influence their creative output. 

Soul’s solo performance was a freestyle dance with a lot of krump inspired moves. A bit biased, but my favorite solo performance was Keeho’s cover of “Kill Bill” by SZA because he wore a Dodgers jersey as he held a sword while walking around on stage. The final solo performance was from Jiung who covered “Baby” by Justin Bieber. And hearing this song felt like a blast from the past to when times were a lot more simple than they are today. 

After the solo performances, there was still plenty more of the concert left which was impressive that the group can perform for so long without even breaking a sweat. P1Harmony performed more hits from “BFF (Best Friends Forever),” “Doom Du Doom,” and “JUMP.” With each song, you could tell how much hard work the group puts into learning the choreography, singing and rapping every lyric, and putting on a great show for the crowd. Sure there are tons of flashing lights, confetti, fire, and other production techniques to keep the crowd engaged. But at the concert’s core, the six members of P1Harmony demonstrate their dedication to their craft as well as to their fans. There are very few people in the music business working as hard as Keeho, Theo, Jiung, Intak, Soul, and Jongseob. 

After performing “Countdown to Love,” the group disappeared from the stage, making it seem like it was the end of the concert. However, judging from the crowd’s reaction it seemed like they knew the group was not finished performing. After a couple minutes passed, the instrumental from the last track off of Killin’ It, “I See U” began to blast through the speakers. There was slight confusion looking at the empty stage, only to discover the boys popped out from the back of the arena, returning to the stage through the crowd. As P1Harmony headed back to the stage, they took pictures with fans, exchanged hugs, received gifts, and really showed their appreciation for every single person that showed up to this concert. 

Once the group made it back on stage, they again expressed their gratitude for selling out the Kia Forum, and played a few more songs such as “Siren” and “AYAYA.” And as the concert concluded, I would say that I was completely blown away. I was thoroughly entertained throughout the entire show, there were countless songs I instantly loved, and the group were unequivocally charismatic and skilled. Even for someone who is not too familiar with the K-pop scene, I had an amazing time and would not hesitate going back to see P1Harmony kill it once again. 

If you ever have the opportunity to see P1Harmony perform, you are in for a wonderful show. To keep up with any future tours and other news regarding P1Harmony, check out their Instagram. And don’t forget to check out the latest album Killin’ It available on all streaming platforms now!