Review: KANG DANIEL Brings his “First Parade” Tour to Vancouver!

Last week, K-Pop idol, KANG DANIEL brought his First Parade tour to Vancouver! After a successful leg of his first world tour in the UK and Europe, KANG DANIEL visited North America this March with 8 stops in the US and 2 stops in Canada! First debuting with the K-Pop group, Wanna One, in 2017 after placing first in season 2 of the hit competition show, Produce 101, KANG DANIEL rose to fame with the group very fast. Soon after the group ended, he established his own entertainment company, and debuted as a soloist in 2019. Since then, KANG DANIEL has won the hearts of fans all over the world with his impressive singing, dancing, and acting. Not only is he a triple threat, but has dove into all things within the industry from MCing to modeling and business. Named as one of Forbes' Top 5 2030 Power Leaders of Korea's entertainment industry in 2018, KANG DANIEL's career has been increasingly successful ever since his early beginnings. BroadwayWorld had the pleasure of attending his First Parade tour in Vancouver on March 14th and it was an experience to remember!

Presented by Timbre Concerts and MODO LIVE, the Vancouver show of the First Parade tour took place at the Harbour Event & Convention Centre. Fans lined up all day outside the venue for the chance to get a good spot in the general admission area to be as close to KANG DANIEL as possible! The entire concert was very well organized and the show lasted approximately 1.5 hours.

KANG DANIEL started off the show on a high note with his song, "Who U Are" getting the crowd pumped up for the rest of his set! An aspect of the show that really impressed me right from the start were the graphics that were projected on stage during his performances. Depending on the song, very bright (or dark) moving backgrounds moved behind KANG DANIEL adding more dimension to every performance. Especially for the faster songs, the bright graphics really took the atmosphere of the concert to the next level by getting everyone excited about the music.

Moving on, this high quality aspect of the concert played into the kind of show KANG DANIEL wished to put on. Several times throughout the concert, KANG DANIEL would take time to speak to the audience (in English) about his life on tour. He talked about how much he wanted to fulfill a high expectation during his shows and how proud he was of "First Parade." Being able to perform a whole concert with all of his own songs in the setlist was a big accomplishment for him. Looking back, he talked about how thankful he was for his music and how his old songs brought back memories for him.

After mentioning how every tour had highs and lows, KANG DANIEL took time to connect with his fans in Vancouver. Mentioning how much he loved the fresh Vancouver air or how much he enjoyed visiting Stanley Park, he was able to personalize the concert experience a little bit with the local fans. Even going as far to talk about his love for Tim Horton's Ice Capps, KANG DANIEL did not spare any small details. The fact that he went out of his way to talk to the audience on such a detailed level between every set of songs made the audience proud that he came to visit the city. That level of genuinity is greatly valued by fans.

In terms of his music, I was very impressed by how catchy KANG DANIEL's discography was. Along with crowd favourite songs: Parade and Upside Down from his latest album, "The Story" Retold," KANG DANIEL performed several other very catchy songs such as "TOUCHIN'," "NIRVANA," "PARANOIA," "2U," "JEALOUS," and more that had the crowd dancing along all night. Despite the fact that he was a tiny bit under the weather (as he mentioned himself), he did not disappoint with his strong vocals and dancing. If I had to describe the genre of his music, I would say his music is a little bit of pop, dance, R&B, soul, and hip hop. No matter what the song, each one of them seemed to have a hook that drove you in and had you singing along (even long after the concert was over).

KANG DANIEL put on an excellent show overall for Vancouver as part of his First Parade world tour. He is an extremely talented performer that I hope will return to Vancouver in the future. KANG DANIEL ended the North American leg of the First Parade tour in Los Angeles on March 18th after making stops in Atlanta, New York, Boston, Toronto, Chicago, Houston, Dallas, Vancouver, and San Francisco.

Photo Credit: KANG DANIEL, KONNECT ENTERTAINMENT, and Modo Live