RIIZE raises the roof of Peacock Theater

The K-pop band wrapped up its first tour in Los Angeles with flashy choreography.

By ANNA XIE
K-pop boy group RIIZE gave an energetic performance with impressive choreography and vocals to match on their “RIIZING LOUD” tour. (Anna Xie / Daily Trojan)

With booming music reverberating across hundreds of seats, six men stood center-stage under flashing lights as they high kicked and spun into a dance formation, mics in hand and ready to rumble Tuesday night.

K-pop boy group RIIZE finished off the United States leg of their tour, “RIIZING LOUD,” at the Peacock Theater, turning the sad reality of their last American show into a celebration of promise and fun.

The tour name was a play on their group name, being a combination of “rise” and “realize,” and promoted the release of the band’s debut album, “ODYSSEY – The 1st Album.” The show’s set list featured all 10 songs from the new album — from the hip-hop beats to the emotional ballads — as well as popular tracks from their past releases. And there are a lot of popular tracks.


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“Their music is just really good,” said LJ Isorena, a master’s student at Rossier School of Education studying multiple subject teaching and a BRIIZE, the term for fans of the group. “It’s really uplifting. I always listen to them when I just want to smile.”

The group currently consists of six members — Shotaro, Sungchan, Anton, Wonbin, Eunseok and Sohee — and Tuesday night they dazzled the crowd, singing and dancing their whole way through a two-hour set.

The show began with “Ember to Solar,” an energetic and fierce song from the new album. Full-blown choreography with jumps, turns and formation changes helped the group fire up the crowd during most of their songs. The songs that followed, “Odyssey” and the emotional punk ballad “Combo,” demanded skill and energy from the performers.

“RIIZE specifically, they always have a good choreo, and I love a really good choreo,” Isorena said. “Every title they release, I just love the choreography they do. It’s really challenging, and they’re singing up there, and it’s really awesome.”

Not only did choreography hype up the crowd, but it also gave the idols a chance to infuse their own energy and personality into the music.

One of the audience members at the concert, Angela Cordova, has been a BRIIZE since their debut, following some RIIZE members since their time in other bands and staying in the fandom because of the current members. She runs a K-pop freebie account on Instagram, where she designs stickers and customized merchandise to exchange with and gift to fellow K-pop fans at events and concerts. After being a part of so many K-pop communities, RIIZE still sets itself apart, offering a vibe and experience unlike any other.

“The [member] who kept me in [RIIZE] was Sohee, because he’s just a ball of light,” Cordova said. “Seeing him up there doing his best to get the crowd hype, doing his best to communicate with us, it made me know that it’s a good decision to stick around.”

In between the songs on the album, RIIZE performed fan favorites from previous mini-albums and comebacks.

“I love the whole concert, but I think I really wanted to hear ‘Love 119’ because I think that song has just stuck with me since it came out,” Cordova said. “I was at the last concert, too, and I could really hear how much they gained their confidence from their first concert here.”

Loving the crazy choreography, though, doesn’t mean that RIIZE only has energetic and dance-heavy songs. The next pieces after their introduction, including “Memories,” “Lucky” and “Midnight Mirage,” were slower with little to no choreography, where the members got to wander around the stage and interact with their audience more closely.

For many BRIIZEs, including Amariz Garcia, who has also been a fan since their debut, this concert was a chance to see how much their favorite band had developed both as performers and as musicians. Between the new album and big tour, fans got to hear RIIZE’s new sweet and slow love songs and experience their idols being more than just a viral dance challenge or catchy title track.

“I’m kind of a sucker for a slower song,” Garcia said. “So ‘Another Life,’ I think, lyrically and musically is really special. I think everyone should come to their concerts to see the B-sides and those types of songs more.”

The slower songs also gave the audience a chance to get to know their idols as personas and not just performers. Picking biases and identifying with specific members sustains the RIIZE fanbase.

“My favorite is Anton, because I like how he’s a well-faceted musician,” Isorena said. “I just like how soft-spoken he is.”

RIIZE was able to switch from high-energy dances to cutesy, chill songs, pulling off both vibes, much to the audience’s excitement.

“Their dynamic is something really special, and every time I see them on stage, it really shows,” Garcia said.

As the concert came to an end, RIIZE waved goodbye with the sweet love song “Inside My Love,” making promises of returns, and audience members strolled out with their heads held high in hope and happiness. The “RIIZING LOUD” tour left fans hungry and hopeful for more.

“I really would love to see them again here,” Cordova said. “I love concerts. It’s really hard to go [to the concert] financially, but I really do think that RIIZE is a really worthwhile group for me to come see.”

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