In October, you’d expect autumn leaves on the ground but Texas is one of the few states that stays relatively hot during the traditional fall months. However, Dallas’s temperature was unusually cooler the day (October 14) that ENHYPEN took the stage – but the superstar K-pop boyband ignited a fire in the audience that made Texas feel like its usual scorching self again. It was also a special day: Heeseung’s 22nd birthday, and the rest of ENHYPEN celebrated it along with the fanatic audience.
ENHYPEN’s style feels much more grandiose than its peers, and the ‘Fate’ tour exemplifies that. The group started off with a gothic concept, dressed in all white and regal attire, resembling that of royalty and dignity. They opened with ‘Drunk-Dazed’, ‘Blockbuster’, ‘Let Me In (20 Cube)’, ‘Flicker’ and ‘Fever’. The animations playing on the background screen included moons, castles and even a human heart organ on fire, all bathed in dark shades of red plastered all over. The American Airlines Center was jam packed with fans and you could feel the energy pulsating all over, just like the heart pumping in the background.
When the group played ‘Future Perfect (Pass the MIC),’ the members switched out their costumes for a much more casual fit, albeit still wearing all white. Given that ENHYPEN have a substantial catalogue, they didn’t have to rely nearly as much as other groups on fan interactions to fill the three-hour-long show. Jake explained how this was ENHYPEN’s first time in Dallas, and the audience welcomed the group with a thunderous applause.
Afterwards, the members of ENHYPEN threw a special surprise celebration for Heeseung’s 22nd birthday with a big banner on the background screen saying, “Happy Heeseung Day!” They even brought out a cake for him (although from a distance I couldn’t verify whether the cake was actually real)! Along with the audience, the rest of ENHYPEN sang the happy birthday song, providing a charming and cute moment that felt unique to the Dallas show.
Following the celebration, the boyband performed a few more songs from their discography, such as ‘Bills’ and ‘Sacrifice (Eat Me Up)’. A little over two hours had passed, and you could tell that the audience was wondering how many songs were left until the group’s arguably most popular song, ‘Bite Me’, would come up. I heard separate friend groups within my immediate vicinity yelling, “When is ‘Bite Me’ coming?!”
Eventually, when the lyrics “It’s you and me in this world” were sung, the crowd erupted. The fans were louder than ever and sang along with ‘Bite Me’ all the way through. ENHYPEN then exited the stage, but as with any other show, they came back to give an encore. This time around, the members wore all black casual attire and performed ‘One in a Billion,’ ‘Karma’ and, for a second time, ‘Future Perfect’.
The only real issue was in between the first two songs the group played during the encore, the members gave some speeches and platitudes that went on for a tad too long. And as great of a song ‘Future Perfect’ is, closing out the show with a repeat felt kind of like a downer. Even so, ENHYPEN’s Dallas show for the ‘Fate’ tour was a fantastic experience. For such a young group, one that only debuted in 2020, the septet drew a large and energetic crowd that could rival those of more veteran groups. With a whopping 24 song set list, Engenes in Dallas definitely got their money’s worth.
ENHYPEN played:
‘Drunk-Dazed’
‘Blockbuster’
‘Let Me In (20 Cube)’
‘Flicker’
‘FEVER’
‘Future Perfect (Pass the MIC)’
‘Blessed-Cursed’
‘Attention, please!’
‘ParadoXXX Invasion’
‘Tamed-Dashed’
‘TFW (That Feeling When)’
‘Just A Little Bit’
‘10 Months’
‘Polaroid Love’
‘SHOUT OUT’
‘Go Big or Go Home’
‘Chaconne’
‘Bills’
‘Criminal Love’
‘Sacrifice (Eat Me Up)’
‘Bite Me’
‘One in a Billion’
‘Karma’
‘Future Perfect (Pass the MIC)’