The prolonged coronavirus pandemic has shown that K-pop groups have an unstoppable bond with their fans. With live concerts and tours being canceled, performances have shifted to an online format. Big names like Super Junior, BTS and Twice have gathered millions of people with their online concerts, and now it's time for the girl group GFriend.

The group's first online concert on Oct. 31, titled "2020 GFRIEND C:ON", was streamed via community platform Weverse. The concert lasted for 90 minutes.

Known for their sharp choreography, GFriend impressed viewers by dancing throughout most of their songs. "Fingertips", "Rough" and "Navirella" as the opening tracks showed their powerful performance, all the while proving that they still had the same energy as when they debuted five years ago with "Glass Bead". This time was even better.

In between songs, the girls took the time to talk to fans, even if it meant a one-way interaction. In response, fans gave shout-outs through a real-time chat window. Some said how they missed seeing GFriend on stage and others cheered for their favorites members. If this had been an actual concert, the messages would've been passionate shrieks all over the venue.

Fans also stayed streaming in the hope to catch GFriend's new songs, to be included in the new album Walpurgis Night.

Read also: K-pop girl group GFRIEND to present first online concert

For the songs, the sextet performed in units for the first time. The pairs were Sowon-Umji with "Better Me", Yuju-Eunha with "Night Drive" and Yerin-SinB with "Secret Diary". In these units, each showcased their improved vocals and showed their growth as singers. My personal favorite is the slow-jam "Night Drive" which perfectly demonstrated the talent of GFriend’s main vocalists.

The peak of Saturday's show was the sneak peek of their upcoming track "Mago", to be released on Nov. 9. During a talking segment, member Eunha shared a wish for "Mago" and the album to have a good turnout. Walpurgis Night will be the second album of GFriend after the merger of Source Music and BTS' agency Big Hit Entertainment.

Technology-wise, the concert lacked new experiments. There was only a collaboration stage with Superstar GFriend game that allowed fans to collect coupons on the game during their live performance. Nevertheless, the concert was enjoyable for hardcore as well as casual fans as all of their hit songs were on the setlist.

With the pandemic showing no sight of slowing down, Indonesian fans might need to expect more online concerts from K-pop groups in 2021. (wng)

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