Haven’t heard of aespa? You’re not the only one. Pronounced eh·spuh, the K-pop quartet burst onto the scene in 2020 but didn’t release their debut album until May 2024.
Considering how many people were packed into Uptown Charlotte’s Spectrum Center on Saturday, Feb. 8, however, there are plenty of people who have heard of — and love — their music.
Saturday night’s show marked one of the last American stops on the group’s SYNK : PARALLEL LINE tour before it heads overseas to Europe.
With no opener on the bill, the four ladies of aespa — Winter, Karina, Ningning, and Giselle — appeared from behind a video wall that was lifted to unveil the stars of the night. Surrounded by what seemed like infinite backup dancers, aespa appeared more focused on choreography than any actual singing for a while.
What felt a little bit too manufactured at first slowly developed into something a bit more live — the interactions, the singing, the performance as a whole. They did find time for solo performances and plenty of costume changes.
While it’s only a matter of time before the songs enter more of the American mainstream — they are catchy, after all — the phrase “One look, give ’em whiplash” from their track “Whiplash” is already spotted all over social media.
It’s also worth noting that plenty of the group’s songs merge English and Korean words, which can cause a bit of … well … whiplash.
While the popular titular track on the group’s 2024 Whiplash EP was part of the group’s setlist, they also played the video before even taking the stage.
I’m not sure that in all of the hundreds of concerts that I’ve been to that I’ve ever seen a group play its own song/video before taking the stage, then later play that same song.
But hey, these girls do things different. We’ll all catch up eventually.
Be sure to check out Queen City Nerve’s Soundwave, Charlotte’s most comprehensive live music listing, so you don’t miss out on any shows or concerts coming up. And hell, if you’re looking for something else to do, you can check out our events page as well, which runs the gamut of things to do in Charlotte. You don’t ever have to be bored again. You can check out more of Jeff’s pics and live reviews here.
