Stray Kids Rock BST Hyde Park: Festival Review
- Shari S Coakley
- Jul 19, 2024
- 3 min read
The South Korean, Octet powerhouse Stray Kids, headlined BST Hyde Park on Sunday the 14th of July 2024.
Deriving from the classic hit-maker JYP Entertainment, members Bang Chan, Leeknow, Changbin, Hyunjin, Han, Felix, Seungmin and I.N gave a fiery performance.
The opening had the audience on edge, as an electrifying and heart tremoring VCR played, coincided with lasers, lights and smoke. As the soundtrack blared, a colossal flag donning the definitive Stray Kids logo descended over the stage.
As the flag dropped, revealing the members in their glowing stature, the crowd roared, and you could feel how exhilarated and thrilled everyone was. It was truly an indescribable atmosphere.
Each member took to the stage, dressed in beige and white, with individual touches curated to their personal style.
As expected Hyunjin and Felix were dressed in Versace and Louis Vuitton, as the Global and House Ambassadors for the luxury brands. It’s currently unclear if Bang Chan (dressed in Fendi), and Leeknow (in Gucci) are ambassadors, or perhaps muses?
Having watched countless Stray Kids performances and content online, I think I already had my own expectations set-up in my mind. However, videos and pictures do the guys no justice at all. The energy and passion they expelled was a shock to my system; my friend who was in front of me, turned around multiple times, and we just stared at eachother in silence...
I felt that compared to their usual stages, it was a “let’s kill it, but let’s have a bit more fun than we usually do” moment.
They were extremely playful, and their personalities shone through. The vibes I caught from them individually were the same, but also a bit different to what you see in their vlogs and shows. Perhaps it was the London air?
I do find Korean artists tend to chill out a lot more when performing in the west, and I suppose it’s because audiences on this side of the world are very different, both culturally and reaction-wise.
I often wonder how long it takes these artists to perfect their breath and vocal stability, whilst dancing on stage for such long periods of time. Stray Kids were flawless, fierce and powerful! It’s always extra special when there’s a live band involved, and Stray Kids’ band brought that extra touch of flavour.
The members must have eaten CD's for breakfast, rather than a full english - not one note was offkey, and of course the fan service and interaction were top-tier – I didn’t expect any less.
Their choreography was slick and that quirky, Stray Kids-style is really something you must see with your own eyes.
Special mention to Felix, who was having the time of his life! He was giving Duracell bunny vibes and solo dancing at every corner of the stage. Everything was in double-time!
The group' energy and performance value was extremely high value, and coincided with the set design, VCR and SFX, I didn't know where to look!
This is definitley in my top 3 shows so far, and I'm excited to see Stray Kids on their Europe tour next year.
Stray Kids new mini album "Ate" will be released on Friday the 19th July 2024, at 1pm KST/5am BST. You can watch the teaser videos for their title track "Chk Chk Boom", at the end of this article.
Here are some bonus pictures from BST Hyde Park!
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