World Tour Finale with 100,000 attendees at Seoul World Cup Stadium on the 21st and 22nd
‘2024 IU HEREH World Tour Concert Encore: The Winning’ to be held
Top singer and actress IU (Lee Ji-eun) is wrapping up her ‘Story of Victory’ that she has been writing for about 7 months.
According to her agency EDAM Entertainment on the 20th, IU will hold the ‘2024 IU HEREH World Tour Concert Encore: The Winning’ at the Seoul World Cup Stadium (Sangam Beol) in Mapo-gu on the 20th and 22nd with an audience of 100,000 people.
This is the finale of the ‘2024 IU HER WORLD TOUR CONCERT IN SEOUL’, which started at the K-POP Dome (formerly the Gymnastics Arena) in Olympic Park, Seoul in March, following the release of the 6th mini-album ‘The Winning’ in February.
The Seoul World Cup Stadium is a symbolic space comparable to the Olympic Main Stadium in Korea. It can accommodate 40,000 to 60,000 people. As the Olympic Main Stadium is undergoing renovation, domestic stadium artists will visit the Seoul World Cup Stadium for the time being.
Previously, Korea’s established ‘cultural president’ Seo Taiji, as well as Big Bang, G-Dragon, Psy, Seventeen, and Lim Young-woong, performed here. IU will be the first solo female singer to perform here. IU was a guest on stage at G-Dragon’s solo concert held at Seoul World Cup Stadium in June 2017. IU has already performed at the Olympic Stadium in September 2022.
With this concert, IU becomes the first female musician to enter both of Korea’s largest concert halls, Jamsil Stadium and Seoul World Cup Stadium.
In particular, this concert is the last of a tour that has been held in 18 cities over 5 months. IU is the first Korean female solo artist to meet this number of audiences in cities including Asia, Europe, and the Americas. IU, who is considered a national singer in Korea, has confirmed her global popularity through this world tour.
They created a buzz not only in Asia but also in Europe, having successfully completed a six-city tour in North America, their first stop. They visited Yokohama, Taipei, Singapore, Jakarta, Hong Kong, Manila (Bulacan), Kuala Lumpur, London, Berlin, Bangkok, and Osaka before finally entering North America.
There were many reactions that it was difficult to gauge how popular IU was in North America, especially since she didn’t sing songs categorized as K-pop, but this tour confirmed that she has a strong local fan base that would allow her to continue holding concerts. Tickets for this tour sold out within 10 minutes of opening for sale.
In particular, Patty Kim, a Korean original diva who lives in LA, visited the site during the LA concert. Patty Kim was in charge of the special narration for the blues-based track “Shh…” from IU’s 6th mini-album “The Winning” released in February. After IU finished her performance of the song during the concert that day, she expressed her sincere respect towards the direction where Patty Kim was sitting.
Another person who received attention during this tour was Mr. Zev Latet, known as the ‘American Yuana (IU fandom) grandfather’. Latet attended the Auckland concert with his wife.
Due to this reputation of IU, she also gained fame during this album and tour. A representative example is the recent issue of the Seoul World Cup Stadium grass, which was triggered by the poor performance of the national soccer team, and which was then spread to her.
IU’s side said that they are putting all their efforts into managing the grass, as a large crowd will gather at the venue on the day of the concert. In addition to strictly following the ground usage manual provided in advance, they are also providing advance education to all staff members on precautions and codes of conduct that they must be familiar with and follow.
Lee Dam said, “We will proceed with the same-day seating arrangements and removal immediately after the Sunday performance. At this time, we will install grass guards with holes for ventilation and watering, and we are actively cooperating and continuously consulting with various relevant officials to maintain the best condition within the performance hall.”
In addition, IU’s side recently gifted volume-based noise envelopes to all residents of a large apartment complex in Mapo-gu, Seoul. Approximately 3,700 households live in this complex near Seoul World Cup Stadium. Since Seoul World Cup Stadium is an outdoor concert venue, they took this measure out of concern about some of the noise being transmitted to nearby areas.
The problem on the first day of the performance is the heavy rain. The day before, IU’s concert team had a hard time setting up the stage set in the heavy rain. Fortunately, according to the weather forecast, the rain will stop this afternoon. The heavens are also helping IU for her historic moment. If it really doesn’t rain, IU will become a “Hareonna” (はれおんな·晴れ女). Hareonna is a nickname for a woman who is blessed when the weather is likely to be clear on an important day when she has to do outdoor activities. A representative example is the main character “Hina” in Makoto Shinkai’s animation “Weathering with You” (2019), who stops the rain when she prays. There is no rain forecast for the performance on the 22nd.
In fact, IU emphasized ‘victory’ when explaining this album. That is possible because she knows defeat and downfall. Popular music has actually served as a consolation by looking at the expressions of those who have failed in life. In doing so, it has raised the question of what kind of life is better. IU, who debuted in her teens and overcame various prejudices and difficulties in her 20s to become Korea’s representative female singer-songwriter, firmly believes that good songs sing while looking back at the standards of everyday values. Even with the same message, it is about portraying the world in a different way, and she will show the proof in this encore.
[서울=뉴시스]
2024-09-21 21:44:06