Uhm Jung-hwa and Le Seraphim’s ‘Ending Credit’ during the Weverse Corn Festival tribute stage. 2023.06.10. (Photo = Provided by Hive) photo@newsis.com *Resale and DB prohibited
Reporter Lee Jae-hoon = “You and my movie is over / The audience leaves one by one / Only you and my credits remain / Filling the black frame / Another movie has started / The audience enters one by one / You and my Only memories remain / Comfort me” (‘Ending Credits’)
One of the stages that attracted the most attention at the ‘2023 Weverse Con Festival’ held by HYBE on the afternoon of the 10th at KSPO DOME (formerly Gymnastics Stadium) and 88 Lawn Yard in Seoul Olympic Park was the ‘Tribute Stage’. Tribute Stage)’.
I was thrilled when Uhm Jung-hwa, the ‘Korean Madonna’ who inherited the genealogy of female dance singers in Korea, and five members of ‘Le Seraphim,’ the 4th-generation K-pop girl group, crossed their arms and walked to the front of the stage.
The six members, whose clothes were matched in a soft pink color, showed a performance of ‘Ending Credit’, one of Uhm Jung-hwa’s representative songs, as if they had become a team. Uhm Jung-hwa, who recently reached her ‘Nth heyday’ with the title role in the JTBC drama ‘Doctor Cha Jeong-suk’, was still active on stage.
Members of the 4th generation K-pop signboard boy group ‘Tomorrow X Together’ (TXT, Tubatoo) presented a sensual performance reinterpreting ‘Invitation’, one of Uhm Jung-hwa’s iconic songs. It was possible because of the aura of the original song, but the TOMORROW X TOGETHER members also performed well.
Kim Junsu of XIA, the representative idol of the 2nd generation K-pop, personally introduced the Uhm Jung-hwa tribute stage. Regarding Uhm Jung-hwa, he said, “She is the main character who has made her own movie with her love and passion for music over the past 30 years.”
(Seoul=Newsis) TOMORROW X TOGETHER’s ‘invitation’ during the Uhm Jung-hwa tribute stage at the Weverse Corn Festival. 2023.06.10. (Photo = Provided by Hive) photo@newsis.com *Resale and DB prohibited
The ‘Tribute Stage’ is a signature stage that has been continuously presented at the ‘2021 New Year’s Eve Live’ and ‘2022 Weverse Con (New Era)’, the predecessors of the Weverse Con Festival.
Select musicians who have influenced the history of Korean popular music and share their music. In ‘2021 New Year’s Eve Live’, the late Shin Hae-chul, a pioneer in the pop music world realized with augmented reality (AR) technology, was selected as a tribute artist, and in ‘2022 WeverseCon New Era’, ‘Culture President’ Seo Tai-ji was selected as a tribute artist.
Although they have the icon of the era, BTS, Hive’s genealogy of K-pop idols actually starts with the 3rd generation idols. Now, Hive, which has become a ‘K-pop famous house’ in name and reality, goes back to before the 1st and 2nd generations of K-pop, such as Shin Hae-cheol, Seo Tai-ji, and Um Jung-hwa, and is finding a place in the deficit by inheriting the cultural heritage of Korean popular music.
At the center is Hive’s global fandom platform Weverse. One of the biggest differences between the Weverse Corn Festival and Hive’s previous music festivals is that artists who are not affiliated with Hive Labels will also participate on the stage. If you have a store on Weverse, you can appear in this festival, so it is a ‘Weverse Con’. It is inevitably different in character from joint concerts with other K-pop agencies that emphasize familyship.
In fact, the affiliation of Uhm Jung-hwa, the protagonist of the tribute, is irrelevant. However, Kim Junsu is not affiliated with Hive. By the way, he is communicating with fans through Weverse. Hyolyn, who performed that day, is also not affiliated with Hive, but she is on the Weverse platform. Among the teams participating in the performance on the 11th, BTOB and LIGHTSUM are also not affiliated with Hive, but are active on Weverse.
Weverse Corn Festival. 2023.06.10. (Photo = Provided by Hive) photo@newsis.com *Resale and DB prohibited
In this way, Weverse creates a structure in which everyone, beyond the agency, becomes one. It’s not just Hive’s Weversecon Festival, it’s a Weversecon Festival in our pop music world. As various artists are scheduled to enter Weverse in the future, the WeverseCon lineup can build a lineup comparable to that of large overseas music festivals in the future.
In addition, a new Japanese girl group ‘Moonchild’ appeared on the same day, and American singer-songwriter Jeremy Zucker performed on the 11th, showing a spectrum that encompasses both Japan and the United States.
The fan base was also diverse. First of all, the percentage of teenagers was quite large compared to other music festival audiences in their 20s and 30s held in the Olympic Park area. According to Interpark reservation statistics for this ‘Weverse Corn Festival’, those in their 20s accounted for the highest share at 41.6%, followed by those in their teens at 25%. There were many parents who came with teenagers. As proof of K-pop’s global popularity, fans of various nationalities and races were also quite noticeable. Cafes and restaurants around Olympic Park were also crowded with foreigners.
Louie, a Japanese woman in her 20s who claims to be a fan of BTS, said, “While planning a trip to Korea to mark the 10th anniversary of BTS, I wanted to see a Weversecon where BTS members do not appear, but many juniors from the agency appear.” It’s fun meeting people and saying hello.”
This Weverse Corn Festival is different from other festivals in that it is held in a different atmosphere during the day and evening. ‘Weverse Park’, a daytime stage where singers performed on the 88 Lawn Courtyard, gave off an outdoor music festival atmosphere, and ‘Weverse Con’, performed at K-Pop Dome in the evening, was reminiscent of a large-scale K-pop concert.
Weverse Corn Festival. 2023.06.10. (Photo = Provided by Hive) photo@newsis.com *Resale and DB prohibited
In particular, on the first day of WeverseCon, various lineups were formed, from rookie groups such as Boy Next Door, soloists such as Minhyun Hwang and Junsu Kim, hot girl groups such as Fromis 9 and Le Seraphim, and headliner idols of large festivals such as TOMORROW X TOGETHER.
In addition, this Weverse Corn Festival also felt concerns about the convenience of visitors. ‘Weverse Queue’, a service that allows you to easily apply for a queue for each booth at the festival site through Weverse, was a representative example.
Participatory events such as ‘Weverse by Fans’, a service that allows you to decorate and easily create your own official Merch without installing a separate program, and a photo booth where you can leave precious memories of the festival in four pictures, were also noticeable.
The Weverse Corn Festival will be held once more on the 11th. Enhyphen, New Jeans, and Zico appear.