Kino, a soloist and member of K-pop boy group Pentagon, paid a visit to the Brighton Music Hall near Boston on his I Think I Think Too Much tour. This solo tour marks his return to the U.S. since Pentagon’s 2019 Prism world tour. Despite the challenges that touring solo for the first time may bring, the veteran artist and his band came prepared to put on a great show for his fans.
Making his music debut in 2016, Kino is no newcomer to the K-pop industry. His setlist for this tour tells a story about him and his emotions as he matured along his journey. Performing a mix of solo and Pentagon songs, he split his show into segments, including “The Artist to Explore,” “Relaxation and Anxiety,” and “Regrets and Overcoming Mistakes.” He also arranged his setlist to perform with a live band, bringing along a guitarist and drummer.
Having lined up in the freezing cold for hours waiting for doors to open, fans, known as Universe, were bustling with energy and chatter as they warmed up inside the intimate venue and waited in anticipation for the show to start. The show began with the lights dimming as the sound of heart beats started playing over the speakers. Jumping right into the show, Kino entered the stage with high energy, aptly starting off with “Broke My Heart.” He followed up with “Everglow,” which really showed off the live band right off the bat. Within the first five minutes of the show, it was clear Kino was radiating infectious energy that came through in his singing and dancing, which easily hyped up the crowd. Keeping that energy up, he performed Pentagon’s song, “Call My Name,” before formally introducing himself and greeting the crowd.
Heading into the “Artist to Explore” section of the show, Kino performed his self composed song, “Voicegasm,” which features heavy bass lines and low, sultry vocals. This showcased one side of the singer, as he previously shared that he was interested in experimenting with sexy concepts for Pentagon. Following that, he performed “Cerberus,” one of Pentagon’s songs that Kino took part in writing and composition. While the song was originally more hip hop, the live band added a very heavy rock sound and gave it an almost metal feeling, offering fans a different rendition of the song.
For the next section of the show, “Relaxation and Anxiety,” Kino performed tracks like “Valentine,” “Tell Me What You Want,” and Kino’s latest release, “Skyfall.” Prior to performing “Skyfall,” an electric keyboard was brought on stage, and a single spotlight illuminated Kino in the dark. Perfectly matching the section’s theme, “Skyfall” is a hard-hitting ballad about breakups. The combination of Kino’s high notes, his keyboard playing, and the live band evoked feelings of sorrow and regret from listeners.
Segueing into the “Regrets and Overcoming Mistakes” section which featured one of Kino’s most emotional performances of the night, Kino notably performed “Do I Deserve it,” while playing the keyboard once more. Kino wrote the jazzy R&B song questioning whether he deserved his fans’ love, having taken them for granted in the past. The singer made sure to convey that this was one of his past regrets, that he was grateful for all their support, and that he would not make the same mistake again.
Throughout the entire show, Kino put in a lot of effort to interact with the crowd, laughing at jokes and talking with fans like he was seeing old friends. He took some time to come down off the stage and walk through the crowd, greeting individual fans before performing a song while sitting on the bar at the back of the venue, giving everyone in the back a little bit of a surprise. He even brought one lucky fan up on stage to do his “Freaky Love” dance challenge with him. Closing the show with an encore, Kino performed “Back in Time,” an unreleased song, as another surprise for the crowd.
For his first performance in the U.S. in six years, Kino put on a performance that showed how at home he felt on stage, while baring his heart to fans. While he clearly enjoyed himself on stage, he paid careful attention to making sure fans felt the same way. While it was his first time in Boston, Kino told fans that he would love to come back again and that he would remember the fans and the city. After Kino brought the band up to the front to thank the crowd together, the show ended with Mario, his drummer, tossing his drumsticks into the crowd, giving one lucky person one more memory to take home from that night.
Click on the photo below to view our photos from the concert:
