“My dream is to be a grandmother who fills stadiums by the time I’m seventy-one, and I don’t think this song will be off the set list until then.”IU
On the afternoon of Mar. 10, the venue lights slowly dimmed as South Korea’s 31-year-old singer IU, also known as Lee Ji-eun, took the stage at the KSPO Dome of the Olympic Gymnastics Arena in Songpa-gu, Seoul. As the first notes of her signature song ‘Through the Night,’ which begins with the word “tonight,” played, the green cheering rods of the 14,000 fans fluttered in unison like fireflies mentioned in the lyrics, as if to declare, “We will fill this place until we are in our 70s.”
The kickoff event for IU’s first world tour, ‘H.E.R,’ was held at this venue at 5 p.m., marking 16 years since her debut. Starting with the Seoul concert, with ticket prices ranging from 132,000 won to 165,000 won, on Feb. 2, 3, 9 and 10, IU will perform in 18 cities across 12 countries, including Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, Indonesia, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Malaysia, the United Kingdom, Germany, Thailand, and the United States. This marks her first solo concert tour in the English-speaking world outside of Asia. The six-city concert series in the U.S. offering 106,000 seats sold out immediately after tickets were released.
IU’s world tour is expected to serve as another benchmark for the global music community’s appreciation of K-pop, given that she has long been considered one of the most iconic K-pop artists internationally. In January of last year, IU (No. 135) and BTS’s Jung Kook (No. 191) were the only K-pop artists featured in ‘The 200 Greatest Singers of All Time’ by the American music magazine Rolling Stone.
Rolling Stone placed IU ahead of eight-time Grammy Award-winning singer Lauryn Hill, who is ranked 136th, and commented, “Since her 2010 breakout hit ‘Good Day,’ which garnered deserved praise for its magnificent three-note climax, IU has become one of the most highly regarded vocalists in South Korean music.”
“Despite having a soft voice, she has a wide range, a powerful delivery, and a versatility that’s allowed her to move easily from bossa nova to nineties chamber pop and from jazz to ballads.”
The setlist for IU’s world tour reflects this acclaim. Over approximately 4 hours and 20 minutes, IU performed 32 songs, ranging from her debut hits to new tracks from her latest album ‘The Winning’ released last month, including ‘Love Wins All,’ ‘Holssi,’ ‘Shopper,’ and ‘Shh...’, showcasing her versatility across pop, hip-hop, jazz, bossa nova, blues, and rock.
The concert was structured into five segments: ‘Hypnotic,’ featuring ethereal songs like ‘Jam Jam’ and ‘Obliviate’; ‘Energetic,’ packed with lively pop tracks like ‘Celebrity’ and ‘Blueming’; ‘Romantic,’ highlighting crowd favorites such as ‘Meaning of You’ and ‘Friday’; ‘Ecstatic,’ focusing on her latest releases, and the encore segment ‘Heroic.’ With English titles for each part, this segmentation was a strategic move to appeal to international fans.
The innovative stage, offering a 360-degree view, was adorned with symbols from her new songs, such as the spores of ‘Holssi’ and boxes from ‘Love Wins All,’ creating a cohesive visual experience that began and concluded with ‘Holssi’ leaving a lasting impression.
