The KSPO Dome in southern Seoul turned neo-green as lights shone bright at boy band NCT 127’s first performance of its “The Unity” world tour concert over the weekend.

Thousands flocked to the venue on Sunday to see the NCT 127 members perform for the “Neo City: Seoul — The Unity” concerts. Three performances were held on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, respectively, and three more are set to take place this coming weekend.


A total of 27 songs from the best of the group's discography were performed throughout the three-hour show, filled with the NCT subgroup’s iconic tech-meets-music theme and powerful upbeat vibe.

“For our third tour, ‘The Unity,’ we got inspiration from the film ‘The Matrix’ and decorated the stage from that inspiration,” said Taeyong during the third concert on Sunday.

For the recent performances, members Jaehyun, Taeyong, Jungwoo, Yuta, Doyoung, Mark, Haechan and Johnny took part. Taeil was absent due to a recent injury to his right thigh and will be sitting out “The Unity” concerts.

Images from “The Matrix” were indeed displayed throughout the concerts, with neon lights, green computer codes on the huge screens flashing, laser showers and metallic sound effects catching concertgoers’ eyes and ears throughout the event.

The show kicked off with a mashup of an intro song made especially for the event and the number “Punch” (2020), one of the group’s hits. The audience filled the stadium with a thunderous roar every time a member’s face was caught up close and filled the large panel screens near the stage.

NCT 127 members welcomed the audience in all-white costumes to give a clean-cut vibe, and performed some of its most popular hits including “Superhuman” (2019) and “Ay-Yo.”

The crowd became a wave of light moving through the stadium as attendees’ light sticks shone in sync with the music, turning to odd shapes of squares and triangles.

The audience burst into a frenzy when, during a performance of “Space,” the members split into pairs and ran the length of the side stages that were set up to the left and right of the main stage. The members got close to the audience and made gestures at some fans directly.

“I hope this dome is the hottest place in Korea right now,” said member Yuta. “It doesn’t matter which moment remains with you from tonight, as long as something remains in your hearts from this concert.”

The first half of Sunday's “Neo City: Seoul — The Unity” concert was filled with songs from NCT 127’s albums that were not title tracks, such as “Parade,” “DJ,” “Yacht,” “Je Ne Sais Quoi,” and “Sit Down!” (2020).

The NCT 127 members delighted their fans by performing some of their most famous songs after an outfit change, including a mashup of “Chain” (2018), “Cherry Bomb” (2017), “Simon Says” (2018), “Favorite (Vampire)” (2021) and “Kick It” (2020). Member Mark surprised the audience in between songs with a “slickback” challenge performance, showing off his dance moves.

Taeil, who had to skip the “The Unity” tour and “NCT Nation: To The World” concerts in August due to an injury from a motorcycle crash, was not forgotten on Sunday, as members mentioned him throughout the performance.

“We really felt Taeil’s absence while preparing for ‘The Unity,’” said Yuta. “We pondered over whether the rest of us could fill his spot with only eight members when practicing for the stage. Please clap for us, and for Taeil.”

“I am so glad that we have another week and three more concerts here in Seoul to go,” said Mark. “If today had been the last day, I would have been very sad. I want to say thank you to all the fans who came out tonight and made this happen.”

NCT 127’s “The Unity” tour will continue from Seoul to Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya in January next year, followed by concerts in Jakarta, Bulacan, Bangkok and Macao.

To find out more about NCT 127, visit Celeb Confirmed!



BY LIM JEONG-WON [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]