MUSIC

Joy Ruckus Club Brings the Long-Awaited K-pop SuperFest to Life

by Sena Ho posted on June 24, 2021
Give it up to Joy Ruckus Club for hosting its first K-pop SuperFest virtual concert that brought in performances from many iconic Korean acts. Artists like Rain, who planted the seeds for what K-pop has become today, appeared on the same stage as rookie artists like Cravity and woo!ah! The industry has evolved in so many ways, and this event helped audiences primarily in North America who do not get to view Korean promotions have a glimpse of the fun for themselves. Every artist was eager to talk to their fans and read messages from the chat. After almost every performance the artists paused on stage to speak with one another and interact with the viewers.
Starship Entertainment

Give it up to Joy Ruckus Club for hosting its first K-pop SuperFest virtual concert that brought in performances from many iconic Korean acts. Artists like Rain, who planted the seeds for what K-pop has become today, appeared on the same stage as rookie artists like Cravity and woo!ah! The industry has evolved in so many ways, and this event helped audiences primarily in North America who do not get to view Korean promotions have a glimpse of the fun for themselves. Every artist was eager to talk to their fans and read messages from the chat.

Give it up to Joy Ruckus Club for hosting its first K-pop SuperFest virtual concert that brought in performances from many iconic Korean acts. Artists like Rain, who planted the seeds for what K-pop has become today, appeared on the same stage as rookie artists like Cravity and woo!ah! The industry has evolved in so many ways, and this event helped audiences primarily in North America who do not get to view Korean promotions have a glimpse of the fun for themselves. Every artist was eager to talk to their fans and read messages from the chat. After almost every performance the artists paused on stage to speak with one another and interact with the viewers.
Rocket3

Many performances and videos in the K-pop world nowadays are pre-recorded, which sever the connection between fans and their artists. In addition to this, there have not been many physical fan signs excluding the ones that artists have with an exclusive Korean audience. The amount of international support towards K-pop acts has increased, especially since BTS’s “Dynamite” reached number one on Billboard’s Hot 100 last summer. As I sat through the event and read each message one by one, many viewers also thanked Joy Ruckus Club for organizing the live stream and giving international fans a somewhat one-on-one performance with their favorite groups or solo artists. 

The event had two hosts, AleXa and Kevin, both of whom performed that night. The K-pop SuperFest lineup had fourteen acts spanning a time period of seven hours. Fans who supported a specific group could buy tickets from the Sessions website for twenty dollars and join the live stream at any time they pleased. At the event, woo!ah!, AleXa, GWSN, Lovelyz, Golden Child, Cravity, Momoland, AB6IX, The Boyz, Ailee, Bloo, Jessi, Rain, and DJ Soda each showcased their own talents and songs for the world to see. They picked the tracks that best represented their identity as a group. Still, the artists wanted to have fun and relax with their fans, so they valued communication over everything else. Every single group practiced long and hard to refine their live singing abilities in conjunction with energetic and complicated choreography to serve fans the perfect stage. Some of the most well-rounded groups were Cravity, Momoland, The Boyz, and Lovelyz. They all had great chemistry with one another, both on and off stage. Also, these performers knew which parts to put emphasis on, what facial expressions would best suit the song, and how to control their singing while moving across the stage. 

Give it up to Joy Ruckus Club for hosting its first K-pop SuperFest virtual concert that brought in performances from many iconic Korean acts. Artists like Rain, who planted the seeds for what K-pop has become today, appeared on the same stage as rookie artists like Cravity and woo!ah! The industry has evolved in so many ways, and this event helped audiences primarily in North America who do not get to view Korean promotions have a glimpse of the fun for themselves. Every artist was eager to talk to their fans and read messages from the chat. After almost every performance the artists paused on stage to speak with one another and interact with the viewers.
MLD Entertainment

Lovelyz and Momoland sang iconic songs like “Ah-Choo” and “Boom Boom” which got audiences dancing and singing along in their seats. Meanwhile, Cravity, Golden Child, AB6IX, and The Boyz performed hard-hitting, bass-dominated tracks. Even while the SuperFest was going on, Cravity went trending on Twitter as #1 in the K-pop category. Each unit lit up the stage in its own way and left a lasting impression. The artists admitted to missing their fans and hoping to see them at an in-person concert soon. 

As a fan of nearly every artist that performed at the SuperFest, I was surprised at how fast one performance moved onto the next. Each artist was given a time period to perform, some of the longest being Lovelyz and Ailee. They both have a long history of music in the industry and had many famous tracks to perform. All I felt was nostalgia sucking me into my childhood. Although bright and cheerful songs were appreciated, many bittersweet tracks and ballads took the stage creating a more meaningful, lasting impact. Performing “Ah-Choo” by Lovelyz seemed like second nature to the girls, and I was reminded of the time period at which all girl groups followed the cute, innocent girl concept. Lovelyz is one of the last groups standing that continues to follow this theme throughout all of their comebacks. Gfriend, who unfortunately disbanded, was known as the queen of this genre. Their music is very similar to Lovelyz, and in turn, many listeners were reminded of a simpler time in K-pop once their show ended.

Although fourth-generation K-pop groups are still seen as rookies in the K-pop world, so many fans forget that artists such as Golden Child, GWSN, and The Boyz have nearly three years of experience under their belt. Some of the songs they performed like “Like it Hot”, “Burn It”, and “The Stealer” were executed perfectly. Each group added their own flair to the dance movies, interacted with other members on stage, and worked together like one fully functioning machine. Other, more recent artists, like woo!ah! And AB6IX performed with more pizazz and confidence than typical rookie artists do. Cravity fans were over the moon after their long performance, which was jam-packed with five tracks in a time slot of around half an hour. Fans were proud of what these groups could accomplish, especially after being put under such pressure due to Covid. For some groups, they debuted during the pandemic and have never truly performed live in front of a studio audience. Nevertheless, everyone that day put in maximum effort and received positive feedback from old and new fans alike.

Last week, Joy Ruckus Club held another festival called “I Hate Being Hated” dedicated to combating the increase in anti-Asian violence that has spurred this past year. The organization is dedicated to educating others on Asian culture through music and artistic performances. Joy Ruckus Club’s intentions behind the K-pop SuperFest were to, “showcase K-pop’s most celebrated artists.”

Give it up to Joy Ruckus Club for hosting its first K-pop SuperFest virtual concert that brought in performances from many iconic Korean acts. Artists like Rain, who planted the seeds for what K-pop has become today, appeared on the same stage as rookie artists like Cravity and woo!ah! The industry has evolved in so many ways, and this event helped audiences primarily in North America who do not get to view Korean promotions have a glimpse of the fun for themselves. Every artist was eager to talk to their fans and read messages from the chat. After almost every performance the artists paused on stage to speak with one another and interact with the viewers.
P Nation

People from all across the world tuned in to the event, as some commenters were revealing when they were watching it. Some were streaming as early as 4:00 AM while others started at 6:00 PM. It was a surreal experience that helped me understand the pressure K-pop stars have to deal with.

Currently, Joy Ruckus Club has short clips of the SuperFest’s performances on its Instagram account. If you missed the event and still want a snippet of your favorite artists, definitely check their profile out. They are also active on Twitter, currently reposting the tweets from artists who attended the concert.

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