Purple light floods the room and the crowd erupts into cheers as South Korean indie rock band Wave to Earth takes the stage. On Monday, Oct. 7 at The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory, Wave to Earth revisited old memories while simultaneously making new ones on their 0.03 Tour. Following an opening performance by PRYVT, an alternative/indie music duo that opened for all North America shows on the 0.03 Tour, the band kicked off their set with are you bored?, an upbeat instrumental song and the first track on their most recent album play with earth! 0.03.
Wave to Earth released their first EP, wave 0.01, in January of 2020. The name Wave to Earth comes from a desire to become the new wave, and expand across the world. On tour, the band hopes to embody the many themes within their music, such as love, nature, and life. They strive to give fans an experience at live performances that cannot be replicated in recordings. Since forming, the band has toured once before in August of 2023 for their first North American tour. The tour was incredibly successful, and the trio sold out every show on the first day of sales. For their second tour, the group is traveling across the world and performing in over 24 cities for the North American leg, with this being their second time visiting Texas.
As are you bored? concluded, the trio smoothly transitioned into play with earth!, the title track of the band’s newest album. The crowd joyfully sang along with lead vocalist Daniel Kim as the lights transitioned to yellow to better match the cheerful mood of the track.
The setlist included most songs from the play with earth! 0.03 album, while also incorporating fan-favorite tracks from previous albums. For the third song of the show, the band performed peach eyes,one of their most popular tracks. As the opening instrumentals began, the crowd began screaming as they recognized the familiar tune and excitedly sang along. Contrasting the faster tempo, the song that followed was bad, a slow, melancholy tune about bad days. Kim slowed the tempo even further than the studio version, especially as the song came to a close.
With the slower mood established, the next song up was annie. The saxophone and drums combined to create a smooth, almost jazzy vibe, and the crowd slowly swayed throughout the performance. As the show progressed, the band performed pueblo-remastered 2024, slow dive, holyland, and calla. Each had the trio’s signature laid-back indie rock style, and the crowd settled into a sense of familiarity with the music.
Halfway through the show, bassist Soonjong Cha took a moment to introduce himself, the other two in the band, and the two musicians touring with the trio- saxophone player Jeon-min and keyboard player Jung-geun Jo. Cha strummed chords on his bass as he named the players in a singsong fashion, laughing throughout the segment. Cha gave both Jeon-min and Jo the opportunity to thank the crowd and plug their own albums, granting them more exposure and promoting their respective careers.
However, the show changed directions with wave, Kim’s favorite song. Before beginning, Kim took a moment to speak to the crowd and express his gratitude, and how much the whole experience meant to him. The lead singer performed a slow, acoustic version, putting his emotions into his voice. For the first time, the crowd was completely silent as they were awed by Kim’s expressive and gripping vocals.
After wave concluded, the seemingly final piece was beck. It featured an intense, energetic drum solo from drummer Donggyu Shin as well as a bass solo from Cha. Shin’s solo gradually rose in tempo as he grew more and more excited, eventually reaching an extremely impressive speed as he executed a flawless solo. The noise did not dip one decibel as the band left the stage, and the crowd continued to cheer.
After much chanting for an encore, the band retook the stage to perform love. One of Wave to Earth’s only tracks in Korean rather than English, the song’s emotional chords and heartfelt vocals elicited a strong response from the crowd: more than one audience member could be seen tearing up. While most of the attendees didn’t speak Korean, the entire room could feel Kim’s emotion as he poured his heart into his voice.
For the second part of the three-song encore, the band performed seasons, a song many attendees hoped to hear. Near the end, a spotlight illuminated Kim as he sang with almost no background instrumentals, with only his voice and the crowd’s ringing throughout the arena.
The final piece, pink, was especially heartfelt, and the sadness in the crowd was palpable as they realized the show was nearing its conclusion. Like love, this track also featured Korean lyrics. The final minute of the studio version features only instrumentals, and the band stretched the conclusion even more, with Kim and Cha walking to the drumset multiple times to interact with Shin. As the concert finally concluded, all five performers took a bow and expressed their heartfelt gratitude once more before finally exiting.
All in all, the show was a perfect expression of Wave to Earth. It featured both their more upbeat songs along with their more melancholy ones, and each member was given a chance to shine and express his own talent and style with his respective instrument. The performance showed the band’s development over the years while making it clear that there was more to come, and fans cannot wait to see what comes next.
