Anytime someone asks me about girl groups, I always mention that one of the first girl groups I started to listen to and think is underappreciated is MAMAMOO. My bias from that group is Hwasa and I finally got to see her live this past Tuesday in my home of Toronto, Canada. I was fortunate enough to see one of her members last year, but I will talk more about that, what I thought of the show, what could have been improved, and more in my detailed blog post review below. Before you read below, make sure you follow me on social media (YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook) as I post more concert/music content! For a preview of what to expect, watch the video below!
About
Hwasa is from Jeonju, South Korea, and is the maknae (youngest) of the K-pop group, Mamamoo. It’s ironic that the concert I attended right before this was Yugyeom, who is also the maknae of his group, GOT7. Similar to how I got to high-five and see his group member, BamBam, I also high-fived Hwasa’s fellow group member, Moobyul, at her solo concert last year (review coming soon). Hwasa is my bias from Mamamoo because she was the first person I knew of because of her fearless looks, incredible vocals, and always being authentic, which I truly believe allowed more female artists in the industry to be more comfortable with their outfits and embrace different styles of music. The reason why I love Mamamoo and always mention them when listing my favourite girl groups is because they sing live, and you can tell they genuinely love music. So yes, I was ecstatic when she performed a medley of Mamamoo songs at her concert.
My sister was the one who introduced me to them, and for a while they were the only girl group that I listened to. I really liked her songs Maria, I’m a B, Twit, and NA and the reason why her tour is called “Twits” is because that is her official fandom name. The name comes from her song Twit which refers to someone who is foolishly in love. What I also love about Hwasa is that she acknowledges that she doesn’t fit the “traditional” Korean beauty standards, but she embraces who she is and is stunning inside and out. Her song “Maria” is what made me a fan of hers and led me to listen to her other songs as well as other Mamamoo songs. I mentioned Maria and where she’s from because at the concert, she mentioned that when she was young and wanted to become a singer, people often said that it wouldn’t be possible given her location, how she looks, and more. However, she felt connected to iconic female singers like Beyonce, Madonna and more which is why she performed a “Diva Time” medley of their songs which added to Hwasa’s storytelling of how she was able to find her voice and style, which ultimately led to being able to tour solo in North America.
Venue and Tickets
Unfortunately Mamamoo didn’t come to Canada on their last tour, and Moonbyul only performed at Montreal (but I saw her in Los Angeles since I was already there). However, as a solo artist, she is signed to Psy’s (singer of Oppa Gangnam Style) P-Nation record label (I mentioned this in a video earlier this year). Therefore, when I saw Hwasa was coming to Toronto, I immediately signed up for her fan club and got tickets. When the tickets were released during the presale, there were only two options: general admission or VIP. Since my sister and I love Mamamoo and Hwasa we figured we might as well get VIP even though at the time of purchase, we never actually experienced any VIP tickets at a concert. I will talk more about that in a section below, but the venue for her concert was History, located at 1663 Queen St East. I saw Down With Webster there at the end of last year and the venue itself is not bad because it’s at the East End of Toronto in the Beaches Neighbourhood, not too far from Leslieville. It’s accessible via TTC and you can actually prepay for the GreenP parking lot behind the venue for $20 via Ticketmaster or through the app the day of. The sound at History is great, but personally, I am not a fan of general admission because it gets really crowded with some people not being respectful of personal space or holding their cameras way too high. There were seated tickets available afterwards that some people got and I found out through another pair of siblings beside us at the VIP line that you can ask if there is any vacancy upstairs to sit which one of them did after soundcheck. This might be worth trying if you plan on going to a show there and couldn’t get the soundcheck tickets or can do both. If I had the choice, I would have gone to the seated area because there are times where Hwasa would be on the floor and no cameras are displaying on the big screen, so you’re a bit lost on what was happening.
Merchandise
The merchandise was a little underwhelming with the limited options but I genuinely love the vintage style graphic t-shirt. I think it might be my favourite concert t-shirt ever (the only other t-shirt I will say that competes with it is NCT 127’s Momentum movie credit t-shirt) because I love how good it looks with the image, the colours, and the texture. They also had pins, towels, posters, and hoodies, but I wish they had signed albums (I did see some people waiting outside to get Hwasa’s autograph when leaving) and other merch options like Moonbyul’s concert had. The pricing was also kind of high since the t-shirt was $70 and the hoodie was $105 (which might be due to conversion). Nonetheless, I got the pin and t-shirt. Thankfully, the t-shirt did fit me, but it is more of a slim fit and not the baggy fit I was expecting.
VIP and Soundcheck
As mentioned before, this was the first time I decided to get a VIP package and wasn’t sure what to expect or compare to but since then, I did have my first VIP experience at Yugyeom’s concert in March. This VIP experience was organized by VIP Nation / Live Nation, and they sent the details only the day before. I remember when I got the tickets, I wasn’t too sure what it included besides soundcheck but when we went to the venue, there was already a line for VIP, and we did check in around 4:30 p.m. to receive a wristband, lanyard and a Hwasa/Twits branded gift package that consisted of an orange transparent Twits travel case, a compact folding Twits hand fan, a Hwasa/Twits sticker sheet and a Hwasa photocard. Although we weren’t too far in line, they had already run out of the small plastic bags to hold the VIP gift. The VIP tickets included this gift package, early merch shopping, and entrance to the venue for a potentially better view of the stage, as well as soundcheck.
Personally, I think the VIP tickets were a bit overpriced, not because of Hwasa but because of the organizers. The tickets were $322 each, which is really expensive, and although soundcheck was cool, still in my opinion, this is not something I can see myself doing again especially because there wasn’t a photo or hi-touch aspect of it. Nonetheless, I am really privileged that I was able to get the gift and see Hwasa up close during soundcheck, which I think went from 6:30 to 7 p.m.. During the soundcheck Hwasa talked about her love for Canada’s Lays ketchup chips, asking what’s a cool way to say Toronto (she actually made sure to pronounce it properly by not saying the second t) and any bad words. To be honest, I didn’t really shout out any suggestions because I was really cold, but I also didn’t know what I would suggest. She performed a few songs, but one that was really cool was SZA’s Snooze, which she performed here and during her concert. Although it’s not her song she sings it so well regardless of where she is.
Performance
After the soundcheck was done there was a little while before the actual concert started. Hwasa came out at 8:30 and completed her second encore stage around 10:30 p.m. Although my body was really stiff and sore because I knew I couldn’t leave where I was standing, the moment Hwasa came out, I felt rejuvenated. Hwasa exploded onto the stage with great energy and star power, reminding people that they were in for a show with her flawless vocals, high-energy dance sequences, and overall fun and charming charisma throughout her songs. Of course, she had ballads and very emotional moments in the concert, which gave me chills and even more admiration for her. I was a bit surprised she performed several covers because she does have so many great songs of her own. Although she didn’t perform “I’m a B” she performed other great songs like Twit, Maria, Hwasa, NA & more!
Hwasa had a few VCR moments, including her time spent in Toronto checking out 7/11 and Ozzy’s Burgers (will try soon) in Kensington Market as well as her doing a special kind of makeup and then showing some behind-the-scenes of preparing for the tour, including a special cameo by Psy. These videos gave her enough time to change and prepare for her other stages and were engaging. Although the layout of History is pretty much a big open floor with a balcony, Hwasa still managed to interact with fans on the side and back as she was walking right in front of them and engaging with them as she made her way to the stage for her first encore. During her second encore, she felt even more energized somehow while still being so casual and free. She knew how to bring out the energy of everyone, and sure, it might have been a bit louder for the Mamamoo tracks, but believe me that we were singing loudly for “I love my body” and “NA”.
Overall
All in all, I am so happy I finally got to see Hwasa live on stage after all these years of listening to her. She did not disappoint and reminded me of how she truly does deserve more recognition for her talent and free-spirit personality that is very refreshing to see from a k-pop idol! Although I would not purchase another VIP package unless it’s more affordable and/or has more interactive perks, I still had a great time because of Hwasa! If you can see Hwasa and Mamamoo members in the future, definitely do so because you will get to see singers who truly care about their music and do the best they can for their fans. I hope this blog post helps you learn more about Hwasa, or if you plan on seeing her in the future. If you went to the show, let me know your thoughts, or if you saw her in another city. Don’t forget to follow me on social media (YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook) for more concert/music content!