It’s the second Friday in a row I find myself pretty far removed from my usual live music vibe as a last-minute Reviewer fill-in. After spending last week in the company of Sienna Spiro in the cozy confines of Olympia, tonight I’m in the cavernous Bell Centre. I feel even more unqualified and out of my depth tonight, as I walk along the concourse and to my seat past all kinds of coordinated dance routines in parallel with the headliner’s music videos being broadcast on the big screen. Ear-piercing screams herald the start and finish of each song, with screaming singalongs for every word in-between. Ladies and Gentlemen, we have arrived at a KATSEYE concert (stylized in Caps, I’m not yelling).
So why would I agree to this? In my limited experience of pop shows, what’s lacking in musical craftsmanship (let’s be honest, Hootie Frutti will not have Bob Dylan quaking in his boots) is usually made up for in sheer spectacle, and when one of the biggest girl bands on the planet comes to town, you have to believe it will be a heck of a show!
2026 has not been kind to KATSEYE, battling through a gruelling tour schedule at only 4/6 capacity, with members Manon and Sophia (the “Leader” apparently) both on temporary hiatuses to recover from health issues. No efforts are made to cover their vocal parts tonight, which just play as part of the backing tracks, with none of the 4 members present attempting to sing or even lip-sync to them. It’s all good; the rabid crowd sings every single word regardless. Sophia appears in various music video interludes, drawing roars every time she appears, though the group never appear bigger than a 5-piece; I couldn’t tell you what Manon looks like by the time the show ends! So who knows if she is ever coming back…
And so yeah, the show: it’s quite the spectacle. Exorbitantly priced orbs sold at the merch glow white before the show, making you think it’s just a plain flashlight, but as soon as the girls arrive on stage for set opener Hootie Frutti, they turn red, before turning orange on Internet Girl. It’s the same trick you saw Coldplay pull in 2012 with those wristbands, but it still looks cool. With Halloween tomorrow, the girls are dressed up accordingly: Lara is Catwoman, Daniela is Wonder Woman, Yoonchae is Harley Quinn, and Megan is Poison Ivy. The choreography between the four of them is remarkable, especially given how close together they are dancing most of the time, while 10 extra dancers float in and out to add to the visuals. The stage features a runway almost to the middle of the floor, so even the cheap seats at the back get a good look at their heroes when the girls maraud down there.
Each girl gets their own solo moment in the limelight during the set too. Daniela is up first, inviting up a 10-year-old fan in a wedding dress to do the dance to Gabriela with her, before launching into her own salsa-influenced dance-off with 8 of the dancers. It’s high-energy, acrobatic, and a phenomenal few minutes! Megan’s is fantastic too. Yoonchae’s is a little less physical, but certainly more dramatic, ending with her apparently getting murdered by Megan?! Lara doesn’t even try to compete, instead using her moment to sing Unloveu on the piano, the first KATSEYE song written by someone in KATSEYE (spoiler alert: it was Lara). It’s the only time we see an instrument in the whole set, and it’s a welcome change of pace as Lara has her bona fide Whitney Houston ballad moment, before the rest of the girls join for the outro atop a waterfall of dry ice. The visuals really are great; the Japanese Konbini set up on the stage for Tonight I Might looks pretty cool too.
Musically, it’s a ton of fun too. I’ve heard Gabriela almost every time I’ve gone into a Renaissance without ever knowing who sang it until my last-minute preparation for the show, so that was a fun realization. I’ve had Animal in my head for about 3 days straight now; what an absolute tune, even if it is basically Toxic by Britney Spears with an extra bridge. Songs like PINKY UP and Bel Air feel like a rave, the latter built around a thumping industrial beat Nine Inch Nails would be proud of; girl band music has come a long way since the Spice Girls! The dirty bass beat of Debut sees a dad in front of me punching the air, apparently having a better time than his small daughter in this moment! The ballad Time Lapse is a bit of a dud, the girls dropping down to floor level to greet fans along the fence for selfies and signings as they sing the song, which is pretty cool if you’re on the fence. The 99% of us who aren’t kinda just sit there watching the screens, watching schoolgirl after schoolgirl freak out, and it gets boring kinda quickly. Or maybe I’m just jealous.
After each of the girls says their thank-yous, the 95-minute show wraps up with Gnarly, and one final massive group dance-off in conjunction with a double blast of confetti. And a lot of schoolgirls declaring “I’m the sh*t!” at the top of their lungs on various occasions during the song.
Pretty fitting really; tonight I learned that a KATSEYE concert is most certainly “the sh*t.”
Setlist
- Hootie Frutti
- Internet Girl
- That Way
- Touch
- Mean Girls
- Gabriela
- PINKY UP
- Animal
- Tonight I Might
- I’m Pretty
- Time Lapse
- Gameboy
- Unloveu
- My Way
- Bel Air
- M.I.A
- Debut
- ICONIC BY MISTAKE
- Gnarly
Review – Simon Williams
Photos – Sienna David
