Concert Review: CIX 'Save Me, Kill Me' Tour at Terminal 5

K-pop quintet CIX opened the U.S. leg of their Save Me, Kill Me tour in New York City at Terminal 5 on Friday, March 10. The group, which is made up of Jinyoung, BX, Seunghun, Hyunsuk and Yonghee, brought the house down with style and professionalism despite a few minor technical difficulties.

The show started right away with a music issue, where the track began playing before the VCR, but it only lasted a second or two before it was stopped, and the video began to play instead. When the group's members took the stage, we all quickly forgot about the issue and were immersed in the performance.

Kicking off the setlist was "Numb", the title track from the CIX's 2019 album "Hello Chapter 2: Hello, Strange Place". The group then launched into more fan-favorite tracks including "What You Wanted" and "Jungle". The stage was mostly bare, save for the members themselves, flashing lights, and projections behind them, but you didn't notice. Although there are only five members, they commanded the stage and genuinely didn't require any further theatrics to make the show great.

At around the halfway point, each member took the stage by himself for a solo performance. I always appreciate this tradition in k-pop shows because we get a chance to see each of their individual charms and personalities. It gives them all an opportunity to showcase their strengths, which is exactly what CIX did.

Yonghee was first, sitting on a stool center stage for his rendition of Justin Bieber's "Holy". Next was BX, the group's main rapper, who performed "Jasmine" by DPR LIVE. Seunghun performed "Blinding Lights" by The Weeknd (although he revealed another option was "I Don't Wanna Know" by Mario Winans). Hyunsuk sang "Text Me" by DPR, and finally was Jinyoung who sang "Alright" by Keshi.

The members reunited on stage for the second half of the show, performing fan favorites including "Movie Star" and "Drown in Luv." Another brief technical difficulty during "Movie Star" caused the music track to be extremely low when the song began, but that didn't stop the audience from screaming out every word. The boys didn't miss a beat, however, with some removing their in-ears to be able to hear better. The track was turned up a few seconds in, to enthusiastic cheers from the crowd.

After leaving the stage for another VCR while preparing for the encore, CIX came back for my personal favorite song, "Cinema", and the final song, "The One." The members wandered around the stage interacting with their fans before saying their final goodbyes.

It was recently announced that the group's show in Mexico has been cancelled, but there are still several chances to catch the tour in America, including stops in Washington, Chicago, Houston, Fort Worth, Tempe, Los Angeles in Oakland.