Review: Stray Kids' first US stadium shows are an electrifying peek at what's to come
Han can’t describe what he’s feeling. It’s an unusual sensation for Stray Kids‘ agile rapper, who’s known for his witty turns of phrase and incisive wordplay. He’s not one to let silence linger, always quick with a risible response. For once, the prolific lyricist is all out of words. To be fair, if there was ever a scene to render one speechless, it would be this: tens of thousands of fans illuminated by the glow of their lightsticks and the moon above them, whose screams hang in the crisp spring air inside BMO Stadium.
The awe strikes toward the end of Stray Kids’ three-hour encore concert on Sunday night — the final stop of their Maniac world tour, which kicked off last April in Seoul. Fans have just surprised the Korean group with a homemade video, projecting their heartfelt sentiments to members Bang Chan, Lee Know, Changbin, Hyunjin, Han, Felix, Seungmin, and I.N across the venue’s large outdoor screens. “Stray Kids added color to my life,” one fan says over clips of concert footage and music videos. “Stray Kids are my forever home,” says another. It’s such an earnest display of affection, the kind of sentimental confessions that fandom tends to inspire.
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Kneeling with their backs to the crowd, a montage of memories magnified in front of them, Stray Kids take it all in.
Five years ago, a scene like this only existed in their dreams. (In 2019, dancer Hyunjin told MTV News his goal was to “perform in a big stadium.”) The path they laid was slow and steady, forging their own sound along the way. Raw and unflinching, their early tracks examine the tumultuous experience of growing up. Produced and written primarily by Bang Chan, Changbin, and Han, Stray Kids’ discography is a time capsule of their own coming of age. From kids running blindly toward an uncertain future to taking their first self-assured steps into adulthood, as they’ve matured, so have their music and performance. They’ve always been confident on stage, hungry to prove themselves, but now they possess a seething grit and intensity, the result of getting what you want only to realize you want even more.
[Photo via JYP Entertainment]
Spanning 42 shows across Asia and North America, including two sold-out stadium concerts in Los Angeles — the group’s first headlining stadium performances in the U.S. — the Maniac tour has solidified Stray Kids as one of the most successful Korean pop acts of their generation, and their global influence only continues to grow. Their 2022 albums Oddinary and Maxident both debuted at no. 1 on the Billboard 200, with Maxident becoming the fourth highest-selling album globally last year, right behind Taylor Swift’s Midnights. (It seems kismet that Swift’s Eras Tour would overlap with theirs — both are maximalist storytellers with doctorates in fanfare.)
By the end of the night, Bang Chan is already manifesting their next stadium-sized romp around the globe. “We’re not satisfied because we have so much more to give you guys,” the dimpled leader tells the crowd, adding with a cheeky smile, “In even bigger venues.”
Truthfully, not even a stadium can contain the energy Stray Kids bring to the stage. It’s the secret to their potency. The setlist is a barrage of bangers, from bass-rumbling tour opener “Maniac” to hypnotic trap standout “Venom” (featuring a potent dance break and massive inflatable spider legs that deploy from the stage floor). Later songs like “Freeze” and “Super Board” — both new additions to the encore lineup — ignite the stadium with giant EDM drops and deliriously catchy hooks. “Red Lights,” a unit song made by Bang Chan and Hyunjin, is transformed into a sensual stage featuring the entire group. (Hyunjin contributed to its direction, which finds the members tied up in a spider’s silk). Following the group’s customary introductions, led Aussies Bang Chan and Felix, they torpedo their way through fan favorites like the braggadocious “Easy” and their angsty debut track “District 9.”
[Photo via JYP Entertainment]
When they reemerge in more loose-fitting attire, looking casually cool and at ease, it’s like this where they’re meant to be. That charisma is best displayed during the one-two punch of “Charmer” and “Lonely St.” — performances that showcase their natural ability to command an audience. During the anthemic “Lonely St.” they grab their mic stands and become rock stars, staring out into a galaxy of swaying lights as the entire stadium screams the lyrics with them. It’s an emotional high point for both the fans and the artists. It doesn’t take long to find online edits of Bang Chan’s smile while raising his mic in the air for fans to sing along.
Stray Kids love a deep, reverberant bass. They refer to themselves as the “thunderous ones” on their 2021 album Noeasy, which takes aim at critics who call their music too noisy. This particular era for Stray Kids fused their contemporary sound with traditional Korean instrumentation, and it’s brought to life spectacularly on the stage with the help of a live band who joins the group for the second half of the show, starting with “Thunderous” — a stunning display of Stray Kids’ strength and cultural identity. Following a mesmerizing dance sequence from Hyunjin, Lee Know, and Felix, rapper Changbin emerges to deliver a few fiery bars a cappella. The entire stadium watches with rapt attention. As an electric guitar wails, images of Korean folk art and traditional architecture flood the screens, and Stray Kids, donning modern hanboks in gold foil prints, strut to the center stage. They stand brimming with attitude.
The presence of live instruments makes hype songs like “Thunderous” and “Domino” feel even more impactful. Those who waited three years to see “God’s Menu” live were rewarded with a heart-pounding stage and one final “네 손님” growl from Hyunjin, who thrashes his head back and forth erratically, too lost in the moment to control.
[Photo via JYP Entertainment]
The night’s only ballad arrives in the form of a unit song from Bang Chan, Lee Know, Seungmin, and I.N. At this point, a reprieve isn’t just earned — it’s necessary. “Waiting For Us” was written for the fans, and it’s a showcase for the members’ vocal charms: Lee Know’s warm lower register; Bang Chan’s vocal agility; Seungmin’s power; and I.N’s crystalline sweetness. Similarly, the hip-hop unit’s jazzy “Muddy Water” plays to the rap line’s strengths. Han is the spark of electricity to Changbin’s booming thunderclaps; the two play off each other in perfect symbiosis. Meanwhile, Felix’s cavernous flow compliments Hyunjin’s more elastic flair.
Their individual talents are further featured in a brief intermission where each member gets a few minutes to perform a song of their choosing. It’s not unusual to see Bang Chan or Seungmin to dictate keys to the band, a testament to their music theory chops. It’s thrilling to watch artists make music in front of your eyes. For their final freestyles, Changbin and Hyunjin show off their original works, with Hyunjin delivering a breathless performance of his song “Love Untold” and Changbin setting the entire stadium ablaze with “Cypher.” I.N reminisced about his trainee days with a cover of Eric Benét’s “Still With You,” and Bang Chan boosted the energy with a crowd-pleasing rendition of “All I Do Is Win.”
[Photo via JYP Entertainment]
Stray Kids ended the night with their most recent single “Case 143” and their first-ever release “Hellevator.” Rumbling crowd-pleaser “Victory Song” is the closer, featuring a fiery interlude from Changbin. This side of Stray Kids is all hard edges and vigor. And while that’s one component to their appeal, it’s not what keeps fans coming back. Instead, it’s the image of eight men reappearing onstage for an encore wearing customized Charles Jeffrey Loverboy hats — each knit cap representing their government-assigned animal counterpart (don’t ask) — and hyping one another up through song. Hyunjin blasts Changbin with a confetti cannon; Felix does a TikTok dance; Bang Chan carries Han on his shoulders; Lee Know links elbows with I.N before flapping the tail of the younger’s fox hat; and Seungmin lays on the ground and proclaims his love for In-N-Out. The atmosphere is so vibrant it’s ineffable, just colors swirling on canvas.
“The more that something means to you, the less words you have to describe it.” A fan in the video had said those words so tenderly. It put Han’s predicament into perspective. These nameless feelings grow like deep invisible roots, connecting us to one another through small gestures. It’s the way Stray Kids put down their mics to shout “we love you!” at the top of their lungs, only to receive it back tenfold; how they sign “thank you” to the on-site sign language interpreters; and it seeps into the hundreds of fan-made bracelets, photocards, and banners exchanged before the show.
Stray Kids often refer to the safe space they’ve created with their fans as their “haven,” a place where everyone is free to be themselves. Their music is a celebration of those idiosyncrasies. Here, in this haven full of thousands, no words are necessary.
