Last night, I attended my first K-pop girl group concert at a venue I had never been to before. In this blog post, I will talk more about the group, what I thought of the concert, the venue, recommendations, and more so you know what to expect if you are going to this venue or seeing Itzy live for the remainder of the Born to Be tour. See below for more info and pics from the show as well as some clips hyperlinked which have been posted on my social media (TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook) so make sure to follow there to not miss out on more concert content! For a visual POV and a preview of what to expect in this blog post, check out this video below!
About
Itzy is a K-pop girl group that debuted in 2019 consisting of members Yeji, Lia, Ryujin, Chaeryeong, and Yuna. Fun fact: Although Lia was born in South Korea, she lived in Toronto for three years. This group is under JYP Entertainment, a major K-pop record label known for groups like Twice and Stray Kids. Itzy themselves have built a name for themselves within a short period and Born to Be is their second world tour. What drew me into Itzy was their performances as I felt they could all dance but they also had catchy songs that were easy to vibe with. The group name Itzy is a reference to a Korean phrase (있지) that means ‘to have’ which alludes that Itzy has got everything fans are looking for. Their fanbase name, Midzy is play on the Korean phrase (믿지) which means trust or believe.
As I started to listen to them I started to notice different characteristics of each of them. The first person that caught my eye was Ryujin, who has some iconic dance moves but also a very distinct and sultry voice. She also reminded me of BTS‘ Jimin. Lia is listed as a rapper but I was drawn in by her soft voice. Yeji, the leader of the group has a fierce stage presence and is a clear definite leader in the way she carries herself, delivers high notes, and great dance sequences. Chaeryoung has been a trainee for several years and it shows, but to me, her dancing has really been eye-catching. Lastly, the maknae (youngest) I find hilarious in the clips I see but she also has a natural stage presence that you don’t always see and brings in a lot of energy.
Unfortunately, for this tour, Lia announced that she will be on hiatus for health reasons and she has gone on hiatus before for her mental health. I was looking forward to seeing Lia on this tour but I am happy she is prioritizing her mental health because I can only imagine the toll the idol lifestyle takes on one’s physical and mental health. Fortunately, the girls always say Lia is part of the group and looking forward to having her back and coming back to Toronto with her. In this concert, each member has a solo stage to perform their song in their Born to Be album (which you can see above). My personal favourite solo songs and performances are Ryujin (bias) and Yeji (bias wrecker).
Tickets & Venue
When getting tickets for the show was brutal, especially because I was trying to get tickets for their first night (Friday, June 28) but everything kept disappearing or the only ones left were the ridiculously overpriced platinum tickets. Thankfully, they announced a second date (Saturday, June 29) where I was able to get tickets for a more reasonable price. For me, I was more annoyed about the platinum prices because I know a lot of younger kids want to attend with their parents (which I did see). I got these tickets back in February and I sat in the grandstand row E for $150 CAD each. Frankly, I do think this was a bit pricey given the the average ticket price I have spent on other K-pop events, especially because this venue is very new for Toronto concerts.
The concert was held at The Theatre at Great Canadian Toronto which is known for its casino (formerly known as Woodbine Casino). This venue is in the Rexdale area in the Woodbine racing track which is located at 1133 Queen’s Plate Dr, Toronto, Ontario. There is a lot of free parking here and accessible via public transit. The venue looks like it is still going through overall renovations but is still operational and pleasant inside. I believe they had their first concert a few months ago and the seating reminds me of theatre production shows so that is something to consider when purchasing tickets. I genuinely had a great view but I did have to stand up a few times because the person in front of me was really tall. The staff working at the venue were really nice but I did wish there was more air conditioning inside since it was getting really hot during the show. Something to keep in mind is that there is a bag policy (small and clear bags) and to give yourself enough time to go to the washroom and to your seats since there was a long line to get in. The only benefit of this was it gave time to get some gifts from other Midzy as I purchased a small fundraising gift from Midzy raising money for a non-profit as well as a special photo card package and a cute bracelet a young Midzy made. They also had banners available for you to collect and show during the encore stage.
Merch & Food
Thankfully, what worked great to beat the heat was the M Cha Bar’s popup inside the venue which was there exclusively for the concert as they had exclusive Itzy menu items. I’ve had M Cha Bar before as they are a boba shop with a few locations in the GTA. I ended up getting the pistachio gelato and the passionfruit fruit tea. After tax, the two items came up to $14.67 CAD which is pricey, but it looked like all the food options were because the Pizza Pizza truck outside was selling slices and pop for $10 CAD but inside the venue, a small bag of chips was $3.50 CAD and a bottle of water was $5… Therefore, I highly recommend you eat before you come.
In terms of the merch, there were a few options available as it looked like some options sold out after day one. Personally, I wasn’t interested in any of the merch options because it didn’t have Lia which is why I wore a custom Itzy shirt. Nonetheless, the prices seemed like regular K-pop concert merch prices and the baseball cap in my opinion looked the coolest.
Performance and Overall Thoughts
The show started promptly at 8 and went on until 10:23 p.m. It was highly energetic and fun from start to finish. I felt like the girls really did do a lot of songs within a short time (roughly two hours) and they spoke briefly near the end. In terms of performances what really elevated this concert was that in addition to their lively choreography was that they had a live band that had so much charisma paired with a very vibrant and talented group of dancers. I felt that all of them really loved performing and knew how to bring out a lot of energy from the crowd and appreciated Ryujin always trying to speak English when talking to the crowd. Ryujin gave a beautiful message to the fans about a quote she heard which is something everyone will appreciate hearing, especially during tougher days.
For me, I really enjoyed seeing Untouchable, Born to Be, Mr. Vampire, Killshot, Loco, Not Shy, and the iconic Wannabe shoulder dance live! The only drawback I had was that at times I felt that the backtrack was too loud and you couldn’t hear the members sing live. Nonetheless, it was a great time and I really enjoyed the concert and I doubt anyone in the audience could have had a bad time. Hopefully, next time I will be able to see Lia join them, especially in Toronto. Let me know if you attended any of these shows or going to attend one of their upcoming shows in the comments below or on social media. Make sure to follow on TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook for more Itzy, K-pop, and Toronto concerts!
5 Replies to “REVIEW + WHAT TO EXPECT: ITZY – BORN TO BE WORLD TOUR”