Woojin Brings Intimacy and Magic to His First Tour
BIAS WRECKER
Halfway through the opening welcome of Woojin’s Chicago show, a fan shouted, “SLAY!!!” Woojin, a multi-talented K-Pop ace, looked out into the audience as a curious look crept over his face.
“Slay?” He asked. The CUBS (pronounced “cubs”, like baby bears), Woojin’s fanbase, responded emphatically with, “YES! SLAY!”
Woojin started to laugh. “What does that mean?”
A commotion began as fans scrambled to define a word that is so ingrained into stan culture vernacular. Finally, one fan put it distinctly, “It means you did well.” Everyone cheered to show they agreed and a wide smile spread across Woojin’s face.
“Ah!” He said, pleased. “Slay.”
He would return to the phrase frequently throughout the night. After finishing a set? Slay! As fans shouted out how beautiful he was? Slaaay!
But this exchange showed something significant about Woojin: He’s game. His stage presence is a quiet force and he’s able to forge a connection or intimacy with any audience. It’s what sets his performance apart from nearly every spectacular K-Pop show I’ve seen: Woojin’s personality creates an extraordinarily intimate experience.
The show opens with “Ready Now”, his first single, and one that is somewhat autobiographical. “Let’s face it together,” he sings in the chorus. “I’m ready now/ The painful times/ I will end this gloriously.” The choreography is graceful and depicts the struggle Woojin went through to get to this point. His story is one of strength: He is still working to buck expectations and to set apart his own artistic voice.
Woojin’s first tour builds off the intimacy and vulnerability of his first album “The Moment: A Minor”. “In my space”, the ballad that comes halfway through “The Minor” is the centerpiece of the show’s concept. It’s a quiet force that grips you because of the immediacy of Woojin’s voice. “The song talks about discovering yourself in the comfort of your own space,” he told CUBS before performing the song.
But he also works to surprise us. “I want to show CUBS my versatility and various sides,” he said in a VCR interlude. “Please look forward to the performances. We have a lot of sexy, powerful, and cute performances.”
Woojin’s EP is only six songs, so a good portion of the show is covers which offers the singer the opportunity to show just how versatile he can be. Many of the songs he uploaded to YouTube are here, including Harry Styles’ “Falling” and an absolutely gorgeous cover of Adele’s “Go Easy on Me”. Woojin has one of the cleanest, purest voices in K-Pop and each cover proved how he can tear through any song given to him. He also took on contemporary K-Pop with SEVENTEEN’s “Rock With You” and brought sweltering sexuality to the group’s smash “HOT”.
But Woojin’s best work is his own. “While I was working on my latest mini album I took the challenge of writing my own lyrics,” he explained on a break between songs. “My CUBS gave me the nickname baby lyricist.” There was a collective coo from the audience when he asked, “Do you remember?”
Photo by Michael for Bias Wrecker
He’s ethereal and transfixing when he performs his music, specifically on the songs that encourage him to go deep. “‘My Growing Pains’ tackles some thoughts of whether we’ll ever be free of our anxiety,” he explained after performing the ballad of the same name. He wondered, “Can we get through this together?”
He paused and looked out at his fans. “Can you relate?”
Looking at Woojin on stage, I thought of our own parallel journeys. We are both creatives chasing after a dream – and at times it can be extremely challenging. It hasn’t been easy for either of us; big breaks come after doldrums of self-doubt. There will always be a voice saying you’re crazy for chasing after a dream. This show was particularly sentimental for me because I interviewed Woojin over the summer. He was one of the first well-known K-Pop stars to share his story with me for this blog. That meant a lot to me, as a writer and creative.
Could I relate? Absolutely. That’s why I find his music so valuable.
Maybe that’s why his performance of “Still Dream” is undoubtedly his most satisfying. He performs some of it on the ground, as if he is wrestling with the fear and anxiety that come from believing in yourself. “Still Dream talks about the hardships we face in our life by taking all the energy to keep going,” he explained when he introduced the song. “I really hope a lot of my CUBS can look at the lyrics of the song and get some energy and power [from it].”
When he thought back on the past year, touring in Europe and now traveling through the United States, Woojin explained that he felt “honored to see so many CUBS sing and dance to my music.”
As he said his goodbyes, Woojin said he hopes he can tour again. “It’s been a while since I was able to do a show after a long break so I’m really happy I could meet my CUBS again,” he said.
Woojin’s story is just beginning. Don’t miss his first tour. There is not another K-Pop show as satisfying or intimate as this.
Tickets for Woojin’s tour are available now on Studio Pav’s website. You can also purchase snapshot tickets and take a polaroid with Woojin!
