Fan Chant: How ATEEZ Crushed Their Coachella Debut and Converted an Audience of Non-Believers
The post Fan Chant: How ATEEZ Crushed Their Coachella Debut and Converted an Audience of Non-Believers appeared first on Consequence.
Welcome back to Fan Chant, a weekly column for K-pop fans, stans, and newbies alike. This week, we simply have to discuss ATEEZ crushing Coachella. Plus, if you haven’t already, you can always subscribe to my companion newsletter to get Fan Chant delivered right to your inbox each week!
ATEEZ made their Coachella debut this past weekend and, personally, I handled it really well and felt super normal about the whole thing.1
There’s something so incredibly fun and satisfying about watching strangers across the country experience something you’ve personally walked through. I’ve written in the past about how I became an ATEEZ fan, or ATINY for those in the know — I was invited to their show, walked in with no prior knowledge, and left ready to follow them directly into battle forever. I’ve said this on the internet, and I’ve said this to their faces. As a performance-forward K-pop act, Hongjoong, Seonghwa, Yunho, Yeosang, San, Mingi, Wooyoung and Jongho don’t just put on a set; they put on a show, complete with theatrics, set pieces, and sometimes even a storyline or two.
Since I wasn’t able to attend Coachella in person this year, I’ve been tuning into many sets online, and even through the shaky camerawork and lackluster livestream, I could tell that ATEEZ absolutely crushed their first appearance at the festival. These guys have a great discography and, somehow, an even better attitude; the structure of the set appealed to a crowd they knew would largely be unfamiliar with their work, a choice that effectively represented the diversity their K-pop.
They threw out any worries of domestic popularity within their discography and instead chose to lead with songs like “GUERILLA,” which ends with an earth-shaking chant anyone can participate in. The cocky confidence of “Say My Name” is electric; “BOUNCY” is irresistible through and through. The live band onstage underscored the wild intensity woven into their music and performance style. From the onstage group whiskey shot during “ARRIBA” to that breath Jongho took before crushing the challenging vocal leap at the end of “WONDERLAND,” I had to believe the heart-pounding performance undid a few expectations in the audience of how K-pop can look, sound, or feel.
One Coachella attendee named Molly tells me how she became a victim of the ATEEZ Effect. “I’ve had a few friends tell me they were the best of anyone they had seen live, so I knew I had to go check them out when I saw they were on the lineup at Coachella,” she explains. “It completely rocked me.”
In an ideal world, Molly emphasizes, festivals are about embracing the unknown — they’re a place where you can see your favorite artist and stumble upon an act you’ve never heard of but end up obsessed with all in the same day. “I go to a lot of festivals, and music discovery is my favorite part,” she shares. “I’ve never been hit so hard by a band.”
Throughout the weekend, social media was flooded with additional reactions from fans and newly converted ATINYs alike. It feels like word of mouth helped bolster the number of eyes on ATEEZ’s set; one fan encouraged a friend to go, and he wrote, “Dude, that ATEEZ group is fire. That don’t sound like the K-pop I’ve heard.”
“I’m not even into K-pop like that but these guys are so cool,” wrote another viewer. “WHO IS THIS MAN? His high notes are crazy,” posted one X user named Gaby, frantically circling Jongho on her screen, which is some extremely understandable energy.
ATEEZ have always had a global mindset, despite their humble origins in a smaller company, a hurdle that makes it especially difficult for K-pop acts to build an audience. They were wise to embrace their overseas appeal from the jump, and the approach to the Coachella set speaks to a self-awareness that feels beyond their years. And get this: We still have their set at Weekend 2 to enjoy.
See you on the next livestream, ATINY — and, if we’re lucky, maybe at a concert this summer. I’m waiting for those tour dates to drop, too.
1I love lying!
Song Rec of the Week:
I have been physically unable to shut up about this song since I heard it. It’s impossible! Give me Britney Spears Y2K Cheetah Girls fantasy all day, ladies.
Fan Chant: How ATEEZ Crushed Their Coachella Debut and Converted an Audience of Non-Believers
Mary Siroky
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