“Epik High is back here in Atlanta!” shouted Tablo, the leader of the group, on the Tabernacle stage. The iconic hip-hop trio from South Korea includes Tablo, Mithra Jin and DJ Tukutz. They held a concert on March 27 in Atlanta.
Juanita, the front of house manager at the Tabernacle, deals with the traffic going into the venue and everything that happens outside. She also makes sure everyone has a safe time before and after the concert. She said, “It’s been fun today. Fans came early and energized. Everyone has been great today.”
Epik High is currently on a North American tour concert in 29 American cities starting from Seattle, Washington on March 1 to Oakland, California on April 12. Atlanta was the 17th city for Epik High to visit, followed by Charlotte, North Carolina on the day before.
The opener for Epik High on this concert run was Kim Woosung, a Korean-American singer, songwriter and guitar player. He has been working on solo projects since the hiatus of his group, The Rose, due to issues with their management company. Woosung has been on tour with Epik High since it began. His presence at the show has brought a number of people less familiar with Epik High but more familiar with Woosung and his group’s work.
Lauryn Jablonski, a 33-year-old from Chattanooga, Tennessee, was first in line at the door. She said, “I had to be first. Woosung is one of my favorites.” She arrived at the venue at 5:30 a.m. She claimed that when Woosung plays “I Love you so Bad”, all of the girls in the room will “fucking melt away.” Jablonski also hosts a K-Pop podcast called “Dinner with Do.”
Ashton White, a 21-year-old from Nashville, Tennessee, was also at the concert to see Woosung. She said, “I haven’t really listened to Epik High, but I’ve been listening to Woosung since 2018.”
Woosung performed hits such as, “Face,” “Lazy,” “I Love you so Bad” and an unreleased song called “Phase Me.” Vera Laytham, a 17-year-old from Atlanta, said, “The best part of his set was when the lights went out during “I Love you so Bad” and it was only the flashing lights.”
A 15-minute break divided the two sets and fans eagerly awaited the dimming of the lights signaling Epik High’s arrival on stage.
‘Here,’ of their most recent release, ‘Epik High Is Here 下 (Part 2),’ resounded through the venue, as if it was a signal for the real show of Epik High to begin. All three members continued their powerful performance, thrilling the fans and heating up the whole venue. The performers and the crowd highly interacted throughout the concert, constantly jumping up and down and letting themselves fall into the rhythm.
The concert setlist was a mixture of Epik High’s newest songs and old, throwback songs from the early 2000. Starting from their debut song “Fly” in 2003, Epik High continued to release hit songs such as “Umbrella”, “Love Love Love”, “One Minute One Second,” “Don’t Hate Me” and “Born Hater,” which were loved by many people all over the world. As they performed many of their hit songs, some of the fans would rap and sing along.
Jenna Thomas, a 19-year-old said her favorite songs performed by Epik High were “Rosario” and “Face ID.” Her favorite moment during the concert was when “Tablo came over right in front of us and dumped huge bottles of water on us.”
After the North American tour, Epik High will continue their global stride by performing on the stage of 2022 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, the largest music festival in the United States, held in Indio, California. Epik High was the only Korean singer to be invited three times to Coachella, which shows how well-recognized they are as rappers in America, the birthplace of hip-hop.
For further information of the 2022 Epik High North American Tour, visit their official website https://www.epikhigh.com/.
Co-author: Yujin Kim
