LEDApple visited Finland on August 24th as a part of their latest European tour. The event gathered a lot of local interest for a good reason: although Finland had seen Korean gigs of other genres before,
LEDApple was the very first K-pop group to perform in the country. As for their musical style, they can be described to bring together influences of both a pop rock band and boygroup choreographies. At venue Gloria plenty of audience were watching as members of the group gathered on the stage. Vocalists
Hanbyul and
Kyumin stood in the middle of the stage with their microphones, surrounded by guitarist
Youngjun, bassist
Gwangyeon and drummer
Hyoseok.
The setlist began with the song
Run to You, leading to the group's rockish world. The sound was exactly that, rockish, because although on their studio work
LEDApple sometimes sounds like a daydreaming boy group, with all the instruments backing up the songs the concert had such a sturdy sound that even the ballads got amplified to a more intense state. On top of that the concert included some wild instrumental parts between songs. The fact that the band got many sides to them is great, although one can imagine that someone who would enjoy a rock-influenced performance such as this wouldn't have known to attend based on
LEDApple's pop-oriented music videos. The vibe between their MVs and concert was very different. There still is, definitely, a groomed pop idol side to
LEDApple's show, seen in the smooth dance moves of
Hanbyul and
Kyumin. The two of them pulled off polished choreographies simultaneously, making fans scream out of happiness time and time again.
Hanbyul took care of the MCs thanks to his fluent English skills. When
Hanbyul was introducing the members of the band, he called
Kyumin the "sexy guy". That appears indeed to be the role
Kyumin seems to have ended up with. Having distinct roles is common in the world of pop, where labels and managements wish to offer fans a wide assortment of idol personalities, making sure everyone finds their favorite. Another point emphasizing
LEDApple's pop image are some of the lyrics. Instead of singing in third person - an indirect story about some girl or boy - these sort of sugary pop ballad lyrics often have "You" as the love interest.
LEDApple is versatile and they use that to their benefit. One great example of this is how well they use different genres. During the concert there were transitions from rock to ballads and to dance music, and especially at the end of the show there were also moments of rap. The audience was enthusiastic and sang along - and in the latin-style song
Bad Boys the group let the fans fill in the "livin' la vida loca" line. Interaction between fans and the band got a bit different in the last part of the show where
LEDApple played two unreleased songs. Since the fans were not familiar with the songs,
Hanbyul taught them how to sing
Kiss Me Darling before they perform it. First you sing K-I-S-S, letter by letter, and after that the full word "kiss". However, an alternative set of letters was suggested from the audience.
Hanbyul took note of it and sang them in time to the music: "F-U-C-K - fuck?" Immediately he "realized" what had happened and pointed out that the lyrics were wrong: "No!". This amused the fans to a great extent.
The other unreleased song was
Because of You, a pop song with a fast rhythm. It involves a slower chorus which didn't really seem to fit the song though. I could see what the composer has aimed for but to me it didn't sound fully functional at a first glance at least. It could be that the song requires some more listening. Fans were delighted at hearing the new songs, but there was something else as well. When
Hanbyul was introducing the last song, he first said "the last song for this year", yet corrected his words to "last song for this time". This mix-up made fans begin speculating right away.
Whether
LEDApple is soon coming back to Europe and Finland or not, they are definitely a band that manages to fuse the best parts of pop rock and idol pop into a balanced entity, fitting many different music tastes. This is why at it's best, a band like them could have the chance of infiltrating even the rock-oriented Northern Europe, and spread their music beyond just K-pop fans.
