Concert Review: P1Harmony Blows the Roof off New York City's Town Hall

After having the honor of interviewing K-Pop boy group P1Harmony ahead of their first-ever U.S. tour, I was so excited to be able to catch one of the first stops on the tour at the Town Hall in New York City this past weekend. And boy, they did not disappoint!

I consider myself to be a self-proclaimed "K-Pop Stan" (I know, cringe if you must) but that's just to say that I consume a lot of K-Pop music and content. Like, a lot. P1Harmony is a group that has been on my radar since they debuted, and I was a casual enjoyer of their title tracks until this point. However, it wasn't until I did a deep dive of their discography prior to the concert that I realized just how good their music is.

Songs like "Bop", "Nemonade", and "Follow Me" are serious earworms. Hearing them live, coupled with the boys' boundless energy and powerful dance moves on the P1ustage H: PEACE tour elevated the already-catchy tracks to the next level.

The Town Hall is an intimate venue, holding just short of 1,500 people, but the energy and volume of the crowd of P1eces could have rivaled any concert hall ten times its size. All of that energy is well-deserved, as it is clear that the group's members, Keeho, Intak, Jiung, Theo, Soul, and Jongseob, are giving 100% on that stage. I found myself dancing and singing along to songs I had just heard for the first time a week prior.

The setlist kicked off with the group's powerful anthem "Pyramid" which speaks to being at the top of one's game and refusing to be brought down. Beginning with lyrics like "I'm on the top of the pyramid, I'm at the top, I'm looking down from the pyramid, and I'm never gon' flop", the audience was hooked and hyped from the first note.

While it is no surprise that this group works the best as, well, a group, dancing in perfect synchronization and harmonizing with ease, what stood out the most to me during the two-hour set was the unit stage portion. Three different units, consisting of groups of one to three members, took the stage separately for vastly different performances that gave deeper insight into each performer's unique style.

First was a solo dance stage, performed by Soul, the group's rapper and dancer. He had given glimpses into his dance abilities in earlier songs, but having the stage to himself really allowed him to showcase his talent. And wow, is it plentiful. Soul's unique style of dancing blew me away, as he filled the stage with pops, body rolls, and angular movements. Later in the show, it was revealed that the dance was completely freestyle. That's right, he makes up a new dance on the spot every night! If I wasn't already impressed enough, that definitely sold me.

Next up was Jiung and Theo's unit stage, a slow, acoustic performance of Justin Bieber's "Off My Face." The boys sat atop stools next to each other on the stage, a stark juxtaposition from the previous performance, but just as powerful in its own way. The two vocalists bounced the verses off one another, but when they came together in tight harmony, I got chills. There is no shortage of vocal talent in this group, and those two members showcasing such a simple performance really allowed it to shine.

Closing out the unit stage section was a powerful rap performance from Keeho, Intak, and Jongseob. The trio owned the stage as they rapped and danced to "Big Three", getting the crowd jumping along with the beat. They even feigned a "sound error" where the song cut out and the boys pretended that someone backstage had cut the sound, before the track switched and the energy amped back up to 100. Later, they asked the crowd if they were fooled into thinking it was real, to which everyone answered a resounding "noooo!" The effect was still pretty cool, though.

Throughout the setlist, the group hurdled through hit after hit, never dropping the energy for the entire night, even when they slowed things down for their ballads "Before The Dawn" and "Peacemaker". We also got two separate performances of their latest title track "Do It Like This", one in Korean, and one in English! The P1eces were transfixed, as was I, a baby P1ece who was born that night. I'm looking very much forward to seeing these boys grow and I can't wait to see what they do next!

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Who Are P1Harmony?

The group, comprising of Keeho, Theo, Intak, Jiung, Jongseob and Soul, debuted back in October 2020 under FNC Entertainment. With 2+ million TikTok followers and over 580k Instagram followers, the group quickly rose to prominence due to their catchy songs, incomparable dance skills and personalities.

Prior to their latest release, the group has had two previous EPs. They debuted on October 28, 2020 with Disharmony: Stand Out, featuring title track "Siren". Then on April 20, 2021, the group made their first comeback with their second EP Disharmony: Break Out, with title track "Scared".

The P1ustage H: PEACE tour continues in Washington, D.C.; Miami, FL; Houston, TX; Chicago, IL; Denver, CO; San Jose, CA; and Los Angeles, CA. Get your tickets now at https://www.subkultureent.com/p1harmony.

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