Every K-pop group’s reunion hits hard for fans, but girl group GFriend’s comeback for the first time in four years brought back memories of all the ups and downs endured by the sextet over its 10-year career — the steady rise to the top, the sudden disbandment in 2021 and the hardships that came thereafter.

“There are so many things that I want to tell Buddy [GFriend's official fandom], but I don’t know how to say how grateful we are. Thank you, thank you so much for everything you’ve done for us over the last 10 years,” Yerin said, bursting into tears on Sunday while she addressed the crowd.


“We started out from a company with just four staff members and grew to win TV shows and hold our own concerts,” she continued, tears still falling from her eyes. “Now we’re here today with all of you. I feel so lucky to have come here thanks to every capable person that helped us out. But most of all, it’s all thanks to you, Buddy, that we can be here doing this today.”

Three “Season of Memories” concerts took place from Jan. 17 to 19 at the Olympic Hall in southern Seoul. All three events sold out and GFriend’s agency Source Music opened up additional seats with only a limited view for zealous fans.

The “Season of Memories” shows progressed in two parts, according to the two main concepts that the group had shown — “powerfully cute” and “passionately nostalgic.” The set list aimed at making the audience feel like “opening up an old album with a panorama of all the time with GFriend.” The members personally selected the set list and the stage theme, according to the agency.

The two sections followed the themes, with the group’s cute love songs signifying the first part, including “Me gustas tu” (2015), “Navillera” (2016), “Love Whisper” (2017) and “Summer Rain” (2017). The second part was led by more emotional tracks, such as “Rough” (2016), “Crossroads” (2020), “Sunrise” (2019) and “You are not alone” (2019).

Songs from the girl group’s latest album “Season of Memories,” released on Jan. 13 to celebrate the girl group’s 10th anniversary of debut, were saved until very last for the grand finale. GFriend performed “Season of Memories,” the lead track, and B-side track “Always” for the encore, finishing off the three-hour event.

GFriend's members displayed the group’s signature, top-tier singing skills even during kalgunmu, the K-pop term for perfectly in-sync movements by band members performing tough dance choreography. Members even talked in between the songs when the lights were off, hardly common in K-pop concerts, showing off the casual humor that they had found fame for.

“Wow, I think I really did well this time,” SinB said when the lights went down after the group’s performance of “Water Flower” right before a medley of the group’s wind series — "Windy Windy” (2018), “Hear the Wind Sing” (2017) and “Gone with the wind” (2016).

The singer’s witty comment was met with a thunderous roar from the audience. The excited rumble continued from the audience, which had noticeably more male voices than a usual K-pop concert. Throughout its career, GFriend had been popular among both men and women but was met with particular affection from young men serving their mandatory military duties during the late 2010s.

“I think the hollers today sound particularly assertive,” Umji said as the volume of the audience’s roar seemed to go up a level. “Thank you Buddy for being with us for every television music show, the three concerts [of ‘Season of Memories’] and every other event we've held. We want to thank the Buddy that support us from afar, too. Your roars were always amazing but they sound extra special today.”

The story of GFriend began in January 2015 when the six-member girl group debuted with its single “Glass Bead.” The dance track, which had a unique mix of K-pop and J-pop elements, successfully signaled GFriend’s iconicly bright-yet-nostalgic vibe that was audible in the group’s major hits that stormed local music charts, including “Me gustas gu,” “Rough,” “Navillera” and “Love Whisper.”

It was in 2020 when GFriend took a steep turn toward a darker, witchcraft and sorcery theme, after the group’s agency Source Music was bought by HYBE, then known as Big Hit Entertainment, in July 2019 in its bid to go public. GFriend released three albums under the HYBE-managed Source Music until the agency abruptly announced that the contracts with the group's six members would end as of May 22, 2021.

Three members — SinB, Umji and Eunha — formed their own group named Viviz and made their debut in February 2022 with Big Planet Made, while the other members pursued their own individual careers.

Fans accused Source Music of breaking up the band, and some even criticized Source Music and HYBE for using GFriend's comeback to help the agencies recover from the negative publicity sustained last year during the conflict with girl group NewJeans and its producer Min Hee-jin.

GFriend members did not address the issue directly but instead thanked Source Music and HYBE repeatedly for allowing them to get back together and celebrate their 10th anniversary of debut.

“I want to thank Source Music and the staff for letting us do this for our 10th anniversary,” SinB said. “Working again with Source Music felt like coming back home in some way. We felt so comfortable to work with a company that knows us so well. I also want to thank Big Planet Made for understanding everything and letting us do this.”

“So many things happened four years ago that it’s hard to boil them all down into just one story,” Sowon said. “I know that Buddy must have felt so frustrated. But we’re here today for this good thing. So, I hope that we can all forget about the heavy hearts and just be happy together. We love you Buddy. Thank you.”

The “Season of Memories” concert tour will continue in six cities around Asia: Osaka on March 9, Yokohama on March 11, Hong Kong on March 14, Kaohsiung in Taiwan on March 22 and Taipei on March 29.

“Let’s meet again in another season,” Sowon said. “This is the end of the Seoul concerts, but this isn’t the end for us.”

BY YOON SO-YEON [yoon.soyeon@joongang.co.kr]