Tomorrow x Together Write Their Own History at Lollapalooza

TXT at Lollapalooza, screenshot from the Hulu livestream.

Tomorrow x Together are rockstars. 

At last night’s highly infectious Lollapalooza set, TXT performed what I predict will be a career defining set. There is unlikely to be another performance as meaningful, absorbing or emotional as this one. The strength in TXT’s performance lies in how radical it was for a K-Pop group: They performed, without a set, props or intricate costumes, and instead opted for what many would call street-cred by embracing the sounds of a live band. Each song was restructured, just slightly, to remind you that TXT is always only steps away from a rock group. Their authenticity lies in their lyrics that remind us of the uncertainty and loneliness of youth.   

screenshot from the Hulu livestream

Since their debut in 2019, TXT have spent the past three years carving a niche for themselves in K-Pop as the boys who can slip effortlessly into alternative melodies and concepts. Take one of their most brilliant b-sides ``Frost”, which sounds like a Metallica song skewered for 21st century pop. From the moment Yeonjun falls to the floor and begins rapping though, his body twisting and contorting with the beat, you realize their stage is something wilder and more unhinged. TXT bridges discipline and frenetic energy together for an explosion. 

The story of TXT’s Lollapalooza set is very familiar to MOAs, though. A week before their performance the group hosted a live broadcast where Taehyun, the group’s macknae, mentioned that he was nervous no one would show up to their set. “Everyone,” he said with his hands clasped together in the form of a prayer. “Please come watch us at Lollapalooza. Please, please, please come watch us and cheer for us. What if there’s an awkward silence while we’re performing..

But Taehyun had no reason to worry. MOAs queued up early and camped out at the stage hours before the group’s performance. At different times throughout earlier sets, I could spot a TXT lightstick floating above a rowdy crowd. MOAs were holding steady. 

Taehyun at Lollapalooza, screenshot from the Hulu livestream.

They opened with “Good Boy Gone Bad”, their latest lead single, and one that might shock those not familiar with TXT’s work. “Are you guys ready,” Yeonjun shouted in a sleeveless black top and silver chain necklace. The group kicked and thrusted towards the audience. “Put that nail in the coffin over the word forever,” Beomgyu sneered in the opening lyrics. This was not the K-Pop you might have expected. 

What has always set TXT apart from the pack has always been their ability to sound and look like a real band. Taehyun’s growl on “0X1=LOVESONG (I Know I Love You)” is something I rarely hear in K-Pop. His voice is rabid and sometimes searing with pain. TXT has always given themselves permission to sound vulnerable and to embrace visceral sounds. 

Yeonjun, screenshot from the Hulu livestream.

I don’t think the group realized how well their set was being received until “Anti-Romantic”. In a moment that almost instantly went viral, Soobin, the group’s highly talented leader and - full disclosure - my ultimate bias, was stunned by the crowd singing the chorus back to the group so loudly. “Wow,” he said and broke into an awe-struck grin. 

After their performance of “Magic”, another song that translated so well into a live band version, Soobin turned around to face the band, and beamed. 

Tomorrow x Together’s Lollapalooza set is a reminder: It is time for K-Pop to be integrated into the mainstream festival scene. At Coachella in April, CL rendered not just her own history, but a narrative of K-Pop’s own when she reunited her group 2NE1. As the four women stood onstage in the iconic, futuristic fashion from 2011 and the opening notes of “I Am the Best” began to play, a select number of fans in the audience proceeded to lost their minds. K-Pop is an institution now, but one that for years has only been accessible to those that sought it out. 

Festivals like Head in the Clouds, MIK and KCon prove that there is a viable audience for massive shows on this scale, but mainstream exposure has been scarce. It’s beyond time for “locals”, as stans call casual listeners or the general public, to be exposed to the magic and diversity within K-Pop. Otherwise, moments like CL’s will be overlooked and, even worse, a collective memory of K-Pop, that is the one held by the culture, will also be forgotten. 

Soobin performing “Anti-Romantic”, screenshot from the Hulu livestream.

After TXT’s set, I wondered how many people left Lolla that night with the intention to look up the group’s music. Thousands of people who would have never listened to the boys simply because of their genre were instead exposed to a band that is one of the most versatile and chameleon-like in their ability to transcend music’s borders. 

There’s one song in particular that I feel displays the heart and energy of TXT so well. “Thursday’s Child Has Far To Go” is the emotional peak of the group’s tour. This is when boys come into the audience and let the excitement that has been building throughout the theater ripple out across the audience. But at Lolla, “Thursday’s Child” felt more like a victory lap. As Soobin, Yeonjun, Beomgyu, Kai and Taehyun stood together waiting for the opening notes to build, they looked out into a crowd of thousands of MOAs and new fans.When Yeonjun and Taehyun screamed “GO!”, it was with the force of a sledgehammer. It was uproarious and grand. It made me cry.

Taehyun’s fears, it turns out, did not come true. Instead, following TXT’s triumphant set, he Tweeted three selfies of himself smiling with the caption, “Best day in my life.”