Ateez kicked off its grandeur, performance-filled 2024 world tour “Towards the Light: Will to Power” in Seoul over the weekend, bringing good vibes and happiness to their fans and themselves alike.

“Atiny [Ateez’s fandom name] asked us whether we are happy, and I can now say that I’m happy with confidence. I can feel that I’m happy, and I promise to give you back the happiness [this year],” Seonghwa said during the band’s Sunday performance held at the Jamsil Indoor Stadium in southern Seoul.

"Towards the Light: Will to Power" is Ateez's latest world tour, following the "The Fellowship: Break the Wall" world tour that lasted from late 2022 till mid-2023. It is also the band's first concert in Seoul in nine months. Jamsil Indoor Stadium and the surrounding area were packed with Korean and global Atiny over the weekend, representing the band's strong presence in the overseas K-pop community. Both days of the concert, which added up to 15,000 seats total, were sold out in advance.

Many fans in the arena were happy and satisfied with the performance, too.

“The concert was over my expectations in every way: The production was really good, the flow of the content and the performances were all really good,” Bryanna, a fan of Ateez who’s been to many of the band’s previous concerts, said after the concert ended on Sunday.

“Everything was good, and I can’t just choose one favorite part of the concert,” Bora, a fan from England, said.

Indeed, even for Ateez, a boy band known for its solid performances, the three-hour-long “Towards the Light” concert featured many new and unique aspects not found in the band’s previous concerts.

The main visual attraction of the concert — apart from the eight members themselves — came down to different special stages and drama-like performances behind them, with the most eye-catching attraction at the venue being the daunting 16-meter (52-foot)-tall Eye of Sauron-esque, “Tower of Light” installed at the back of the concert hall.

The tower was present throughout the concert's play-like interlude performances, where the band members were seen trying to resist and fight against the evil tower. Intense action scenes from the interlude performances made many people gasp.

“Arriba” (2023) and “Django” (2023), first performed during the weekend, featured a wild-west bar inspired stage with back dancers as guests at the bar, while “Youth” (2023), a duet by Yunho and Mingi, also performed for the first time during the concert, saw a rotating phone booth that allowed for a play-like setup with the two members talking on the phone.

“As you all know, we’ve been friends even before we became trainees, and we designed the stage based on our true story where we called each other the day before the audition day,” Mingi said, as he explained the story behind the duo's performance.

The setlist had many songs from the boy band’s most recent album from December, "The World Ep. Fin: Will," which topped the Billboard 200 chart upon its release. Celebrating such an achievement, the concert began with a performance of "Crazy Form," followed by other songs in the album — "It's You," "Everything," "Silver Light," "Crescent part. 2," "MATZ" and "Arriba" — with many performed for the first time.

Other songs in the setlist also saw special twists: Ateez performed the "Flag version" of “Guerilla” (2022) with Hongjoong’s guitar solo acting as a special intro, while the “Wonderland” (2019) performance was based on the rearrangement seen in the boy band competition program "Kingdom" (2021), which had the popular classic song “From the New World” mixed into the tune, alongside Kraken-inspired stage elements that made the song more grandeur than ever.

“Every time we hold our concert, we strive to challenge ourselves with a large-scale commitment, which is why I [went for the guitar solo],” Hongjoong said after his guitar solo performance. “Practicing for the guitar solo really made me appreciate the [efforts] of rock stars. I’ll try harder next time to perform something new again.”

But more than anything, the eight members were seen truly enjoying the concert. Ateez members dramatically acted out the interlude scenes, sincerely sang their calmer tracks and enthusiastically danced and jumped around the entire concert venue.

“I know it’s Sunday today, but we will perform as if there's no tomorrow,” San said.

“I’m happy right now as I'm spending my time together with you guys,” Yunho said. “Let’s stay happy together.”

Ateez also made a surprise announcement, revealing that the band will hold a fan meet and greet event in Seoul in July.

“We should’ve done it earlier, but we’ve been busy with our activities and we didn’t have a chance to hold a fan meeting,” Seonghwa said as the concert came to an end. “I know Atiny has been waiting for one, so I’m glad to tell you that we can hold one in July.”

Following the two-day concert in Seoul, Ateez will continue its world tour in Japan, at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, located near Tokyo, on Feb. 3 and 4. The band is also set to perform at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival 2024 in April, making them the first K-pop boy band to perform at the festival.

To find out more about ATEEZ, visit Celeb Confirmed!

BY CHO YONG-JUN [cho.yongjun1@joongang.co.kr]