When Plave finally stepped — or rather, streamed — into Gocheok Sky Dome in western Seoul, the nation’s largest indoor concert venue, it felt like witnessing K-pop’s latest evolution unfold in real time.

Yet by the end of the night, what stood out wasn’t the tech pushing the virtual boy band onto that massive stage, but the older truth in the industry: K-pop thrives on community.

Plave, K-pop’s biggest virtual group, made a somewhat glitchy but undeniably real debut at one of the industry’s most coveted venues with two shows on Friday and Saturday. The two-day run marked a finale for the boy band’s first Asia tour, “Dash: Quantum Leap,” which kicked off in Seoul in August, and continued with stops in Taipei, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Bangkok and Tokyo.

“This is not the ‘Truman Show,’ right?” said member Bambi in disbelief during the Friday show, looking into the massive crowd filling the dome.

“I don’t know if anyone remembers this, but during our 100th day live stream, we asked, ‘Will we ever get to perform at Gocheok Sky Dome one day?’,” he recalled.

“Indeed, and the important thing is this isn’t a dream but our reality,” said member Hamin.

“And the ones who made this reality possible are PLLI,” he added, referring to Plave’s fandom.

Plave, a five-member virtual boy band, debuted under Vlast in March 2023. The virtual quintet is powered by motion capture technology that enables real performers wearing gadgets to bring anime-like avatars to life.

Plave has been making history in the K-pop virtual scene. The group sold more than a million copies of its third EP, “Caligo Pt. 1,” released in February, the first virtual act ever to achieve such a feat. Its latest single, “PLBBUU,” dropped on Nov. 10, repeating that success by hitting its own million-copy milestone.

Opening the show with a video of the members jumping from a spaceship, the virtual group appeared on stage riding a descending lift, projected onto a massive screen.

Kicking off the near three-hour run with “Watch Me Woo!” (2024), the quintet leveraged its virtual aspect to the fullest from the start. Costumes shifted instantly from school uniform-inspired looks for “Virtual Idol” (2024) to charismatic tech-wear for “Rizz” with only seconds of blackout in between, and continued throughout the concert, even changing mid-song during "Our Movie" (2024) at the peak of the performance.

The set transformed just as freely. A snowy field for “Dear. PLLI” (2023), a grand piano sitting on top of a mountain-shaped structure during "Island," a spiraling tower for “12:32 (A to T)” and even entering through a wormhole-style portal — a visual that would be physically impossible for real-life idols to create. Occasional appearances by real backup dancers and a live band added weight and texture, further blurring the line between virtual and physical performances without feeling out of place.

The show, however, was not without its noticeable technological hiccups. Facial expressions sometimes remained frozen during close-ups, fingers jittered unnaturally and eye directions often appeared mismatched, especially when members used hand-held microphones. Compared to virtual girl group Isegye Idol’s May performance at the same venue, the glitches felt much more pronounced because Plave filled nearly half of the set list with slower songs rather than full-choreo tracks, with frequent close-ups and interaction with the crowd.

But their choice paid off vocally. In a busking-style segment inspired by members Noah and Yejun’s pre-debut street performances — which were livestreamed on a Hongdae street — each member sang solo, showcasing vocal strengths that grounded the virtual spectacle in something unmistakably human.

And Plave fans got what K-pop fans always want: a fresh jolt of something new and exciting. Some of the loudest cheers of the night came during a surprise cover of K-pop legend TVXQ’s “Mirotic” (2008), as the crowd absolutely lost it when the members appeared in sleek black outfits to perform the iconic track.

K-pop has always evolved by absorbing new technology and pop culture shifts into its fast-paced star-making system, and Plave’s rise fits neatly into that trajectory. Yet Friday’s show underscored that even on the digital frontier of the genre, what drives fandom is still the sense of personal connection, something that fuels emotional investment and keeps people deeply attached to the journey.

Despite never stepping onto a thrust stage or making rounds in carts to make eye contact with fans like traditional idols, the members spoke about locking eyes with fans and noticing their reactions. Their personal life behind the scenes — how Noah has been eating healthier and Bambi is getting better at jogging — slipped naturally into their banter with each other and with the crowd, adding small but meaningful layers to the narrative that people have come to care about.

“Even in my wildest dream, performing at Gocheok Dome was unimaginable,” said Hamin at the end of the night. “It’s such an honor to be able to sing our songs, to look you in the eye and talk to you. Gocheok Dome is a dream stage for so many artists and trainees — we want to become artists that can be recognized by peers and inspire the next generation.”

BY SHIN HA-NEE [shin.hanee@joongang.co.kr]