I know this concert happened over two months ago, but I figured it’s still worth writing this review because this group has a lot of potential and talent that continues to develop. Plus, this is the first time I ever took a selfie with a K-pop idol! I will discuss more about what I thought of the concert, as well as what you can expect from them in the future. 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 visual preview of what to expect in the blog post watch the video below!
About
82MAJOR is a six-member K-pop boy group from Great M Entertainment, which only debuted in October 2023. Their performances and music feature high-performance choreography with a lot of hip-hop elements. With songs like “Takeover” and “Passport,” you can tell they have strong ambitions to go big, and they have the confidence and potential to do so, which is also why their name consists of “major” with South Korea’s country code “82”! What I learned later on is that they are self-producing, as in they actively write lyrics, compose tracks, and are heavily involved with choreography, which is kind of similar to SEVENTEEN! In terms of their music, it does have a rough rap inspiration, meets with some traditional K-pop elements, and if I had to pick a group that sounded somewhat similar to them, I would say NCT 127! The group consists of six members: Cho Seong-il, Nam Seongmo, Hwang Seong-bin, Park Seok-joon, Kim Do-gyun, and Yoon Yechan. Fun fact, Yechan was actually born and raised in Markham, Ontario, which is near Scarborough, Toronto (where I am from), before he moved to Korea to pursue this career. I will admit, the reason why I know of him is because of his older brother, Keeho, whom I saw last year when his group, P1-Harmony, performed! Just like his brother, they are my default bias, but they are also both hilarious, and Yechan might actually be the funniest K-pop idol I have seen based on how he was on stage and clips online.
Tickets, Venue, and Selfie
Since this is 82 Major’s first concert in Toronto and they are still a new group, I did expect a smaller venue and cheaper tickets. The concert was held at Parkdale Hall, which is located at 1605 Queen Street West. There is paid parking right across and a little bit near the area, and on the road as well as being very accessible via TTC. This is my first ever concert here, and only standing / general admission was available. It seemed like a small banquet hall with a bar on the side and a small stage. It wasn’t a bad feeling, and everything felt comfortable and not too tight, unlike other GA shows I have been to this year. Fun fact: Parkdale Hall was originally a theatre that opened in 1920! The tickets were under $70 after tax, which is not terrible for a K-pop concert.
However, what I thought was interesting is that you could take a selfie with a member of your choice for under $28 after tax! This was actually cheaper than Psychic Fever’s selfie tickets, so I thought that was cool, and of course, I had to take a selfie with Yechan, being a fellow kid from Ontario! He was really cool, and he noticed the Damian Lillard tee, and I should have talked more about that to him, but I just said I had to wear my Adidas x Bape tee and asked him to take the selfie since he’s Gen Z and knows all the angles. They also had this lucky draw scratch card, which I thought was really cool since I have never seen that before at a K-pop concert!
Merchandise
I wasn’t sure what to expect from the merchandise, but I really liked it! The reason why I like it so much is that I found the pricing reasonable, and more so because it wasn’t the typical merch items. For example, I have never seen a cut-off/sleeveless shirt (not a jersey) at a Kpop concert for merch before, so I got that, but I was also tempted by their grey t-shirt because usually the shirts are either black or white. The sleeveless shirt fits well, it’s not too slim, and comfortable enough.
Performance
The concert started at 7:00 p.m. sharp and ended around 8:40 p.m. They took some breaks to interact with the crowd, but for the most part, they performed their songs, including singing live, doing very interesting choreography, and getting the crowd hyped. I know that their music incorporates a lot of hip-hop elements, but at times when they were getting the crowd hyped, it did feel like I was at a hip-hop concert like LL Cool J. There were so many songs that I appreciated more after seeing them perform it live, and I love that you can tell they cared about giving it all to their fans. They were also doing some aegyo and waving at the fans during the show. I felt like out of all of them, Sungmo was the one waving and making the heart pose, and he did it to me, but I didn’t know how to react, as I just awkwardly gave a thumbs up. My favourite songs they performed were Passport, Birthday, 82, Illegal (which kind of gives me an Ateez vibe), and Sure Thing!
Overall
In conclusion, I was glad I took a chance to see 82major live and have been listening to them since! I think they have a lot of potential if they continue to do what they’re currently doing, and I am curious to see how they will be in a few years! I am also happy that I was able to take a selfie with a fellow kid around/near my area and will continue to support the Canadian idols! Let me know if you are going to check them out or were at the show! Make sure to follow for more K-pop and concert content by giving a follow on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook!