Abi Scaife

Day6’s London debut is one for the ages. Their energy is intense – a passion that matches that of the audience. The crowd and the band feed off each other, and which party is more excited to be there it is hard to tell. The crowd is deafening, with fans who have travelled from all over England, even from Europe, for the chance to see Day6 in concert; and now that they are here, there is no holding back.

Hoards of fans, known as ‘My Days’ are pressed up against the walls and barriers, eager netizens of all ages, genders and ethnicities surging forward as the group tease the crowd. Bassist and main rapper Young K moves to meet them in the middle even as he plays with an aggravating degree of ease. Each member has their turn throughout the concert; guitarist Jae jumping down into the crowd, leader Sungjin disarming with his signature eyebrow raise; even Wonpil and Dowoon, confined by their keyboard and drum set, have opportunities to shine during their intermittent talking breaks.

The highlight of the night has to be ‘Congratulations’. The unofficial anthem of Day6, they leave most of the singing to the fans, and the looks on their faces can be described as nothing less than bliss. Not one member of the crowd is silent; half are singing the lyrics in Korean, the others in English, yet it doesn’t seem to matter – their participation, and obvious adoration is enough.

The end of the night is emotional, as every gig, yet somehow heightened by the personal each member delivers. A staple heartfelt thank you is punctuated by the crowd’s animatic reactions and, when each member has had his turn, the much-anticipated promise is delivered: “Overall we stipulated that we wanna be back, so if it’s cool with you guys -” Jae is interrupted by the screams of an ecstatic crowd, and he laughs with impish glee as their My Days go wild. “I’mma take that as a yes!”

[This piece was originally written for LDN Magazine and has been uploaded now as part of my portfolio].