Emerson Unger

Courtesy of Instagram

Fresh off their performance in front of the nation on NBC’s The Today Show, K-pop mega girl group, Twice, took their charms to MetLife Stadium for a very special concert. Making history, the girls were the first K-pop female group to hold a concert at the legendary MetLife Stadium. Twice wowed their super fans, ONCE, with their New York Metro area stop on their 5^th world tour ‘Ready To Be” on July 6th, 2023.

The concert kicked off with a short video of the girls. Then in front of a packed stadium, Twice set it off with their song, “Set me Free.” The girls pounced on the stage and grabbed everyone’s attention as they were clad in black and white outfits with sparkly silvery details. The outfits the members wore all were shorts with the exception of our Miss Independent Renaissance Woman herself, Chaeyoung, who opted for pants. They followed the song up with their mega dance hit, “I Can’t Stop Me,” that threw their fans into a frenzy. For their third song, Twice went hard for their song, “Go Hard.” With yellow, orange and red backdrops the girls had black silhouettes driving the song into a hard-hitting dimension. It was clear that the leader of the group, Jihyo, was feeling the song. Not only were her vocals on point but her moves transcended her physical body. With a smile exuding from her it was clear that she was sharing her soul and energy with the audience. Not to be outdone, Nayeon, the groups eldest member, flexed her vocal prowess hitting and holding high notes for this powerful rendition of “Go Hard.”

Just when it seemed like, Twice was hitting a crescendo the girls through the concert in the opposite direction slowing things down and sharing a chillaxed vibe for their cool song, “More & More.” For this song, the girls climbed onto ladders that made triangles, which could be rolled around the stage. With colorful lights projected around them and onto the white ladders it was like Twice was riding a rainbow.  The main dancer of the group, Momo, delighted fans with an iconic dance break before the girls headed down stage to perform their title track, “Moonlight Sunrise,” a song which was inspired by fans. As the girls got closer to their fans moving down stage the aesthetics of twice is light sticks changing color became almost like sparkling diamonds against the setting sun. The girls stayed near their fans downstage as they powered through another epic performance, which had fans screaming and singing along with the girls. Without taking a break the girls dove directly into their song, “Brave.” Again, Jihyo kept killing it when it came to the performance. During her solo she hit the high notes and held them. Then the girls took a well-deserved water break to chat with fans. During the fan chat they asked what was your favorite song of the previous songs that they just saying. They tried to quiz the audience and decipher from the audience response what song they like the best. During this time, Chaeyoung admitted that this was one of the first times they perform their song “Brave” during the daylight outside. She joked that she missed performing it in the dark because it was edgier and cooler that way. It was also during this time that Nayeon teased the audience and wanted them to show how much they love Twice by singing along with the girls in a call and response manner to the song “Moonlight Sunrise.”  Jihyo followed that up by asking the audience to do a ginormous wave that took over the whole entire stadium. The girls expressed how hot it was, but how happy they were to see their fans in the daylight. It was at this moment that Nayeon, Jeongyeon, Jihyo and Chaeyoung stayed on the stage while the other Twice members gently disappeared. Right before going off stage. Jihyo joked that there was something special coming but the audience might have already guessed what it was or could’ve looked it up online.

As the foursome walked off stage, the stage became dark. When light reappeared, the group’s lead rapper, Dahyun, appeared sitting at a piano dressed in a flowing gorgeous white with blue accent dress. She looks like a beautiful aqua Angel as she played the piano and sang, Colbie Caillat’s “Try.” Continuing on and the girl’s individual solo songs for this site was the Maknae of the group, Tzuyu. Performing mid stage in a gorgeous jumpsuit she busted out moves and even bent down on one knee for her rendition of Charlie Puth’s “Done for Me.” Up Next was the gorgeous visual of Twice, Sana. Wearing a red collared long sleeve shirt/tunic with black tights and a bodysuit she charmed the audience with her verison of Dua Lipa’s “New Rules.” Dancing her way into the fans’ hearts main dancer of the group, Momo, busted out on stage wearing a sparkling jersey top and shorts for her rendition of Beyoncé’s “Move.” During mid song she changed everything up, shedding her jersey revealing her crop top and shorts she took to a pole. High above the audience she swirled around the pole as if she was channeling her inner J Lo circa her Super Bowl performance. Closing out these solo stages in this set was Mina covering Ariana Grande’s “7 rings.” She strutted and showed off her dance moves in a white cropped sparkly top with denim shorts and high thigh bright pink boots. As she danced around her dancers shot fake dollar bills into the sky. At the end of this solo set a video appeared on the screen of the girls singing a minimalistic version of their big hit, “Feel Special.”

After the video, Live musicians in the band appeared on stage and began to play this song, “Feel Special.” Twice then reappeared on stage rocking new outfits and belting out the song. At the conclusion of this song, the girls jumped right into their song, “Cry for Me,” before delivering a rock rendition of their big hit, “FANCY.” For “FANCY,” the stage was bathed in pink with fiery unapologetic hyper feminine energy. To close out the set before the break, the girls delivered a colorful beautiful almost prismic stage for their song, “The Feels.” During the song images of the girls singing live captivated the audience with gorgeous colorful images. At the conclusion of the song, lead rapper, Dahyun joked with the audience. She teased saying could you say that we’ve done something new for this concert? She confessed is the first time that twice has ever used a live band. She shared in her excitement with how Twice has evolved as artists, now incorporating live instrumentals. The girls quickly exited the stage as it became dark again.

When the lights came up on stage, Chaeyoung was sitting alone on a wooden barstool with guitar in hand. She looked like a little red riding hood and a beautiful simple dress with red details. Her sweetness exuded while she sang, “My Guitar.” Up next, Jihyo took to the stage for her solo performance of nightmare with haunting rock vocals and dressed all in black she exuded emotion. Delivering a 180, Jeongyeon changed up the vibe completely in a bright green jumpsuit. She brought down the house with fun vibes and positive energy as she covered Lizzo’s “Juice.” In a iconic certainly memorable moment she even attempted to play a recorder channeling Lizzo’s flute playing prowess. Certainly was a hilarious and fun uplifting moment that made the audience giggle with glee. Rounding out this solo stage set was the one the only Nayeon. With deliciously decadent filled to the top with confectionery pop, she belted out her hit song “Pop.” Was clear that the audience was feeling her vibe and returning her fun energy with confetti flying everywhere. Another video Break gave the girls a chance to change things up. When they returned the stage they performed, “Who Am I?” and “Queen of Hearts,” before heading into a medley of their biggest hits.

Clad in denim outfits the girls kicked off their iconic hits medley said with their monster hit, “Yes and Yes.” They followed it up with, “What is Love,” and “Cheer Up.” When it was time to sing, “Likey” the group started the song from Dahyun and Chaeyoung rap section before letting Mina belts out her solo bridge and Momo did her iconic dance break for the song. The girls went on to perform their songs” Knock Knock,” “Scientist” and “Heart Shaker,” which concluded with the girls jumping up and down with glee just as they did in the music video for the song.

Courtesy of Instagram

After the medley the girls took a moment to acknowledge the history that was being made at the concert. They admitted it was a little over a year ago that they re-signed with their label JYP and now they are playing at one of the biggest stadiums in North America. They thanked the fans for such a historic moment and beautiful memory. As the sun had finally set twice kick things into high gear for their last couple of songs.

As the show drew to a close, they treated the audience to “Alcohol-Free” and“Dance the Night Away.” For these two songs, the girls really amped up the energy as if to say we know we’re coming down the homestretch and so we’re just gonna take it home for the win. The concert hit a crescendo when twice performed their megahit from last summer, “Talk That Talk.” Wearing cream outfits lights around with the girls that reflected with rainbows on giant screens. The stage ended with fireworks being shot off right behind the girls before they disappeared backstage.

As the girls were transitioning into a new set the fans had a chance to interact with one another. Projected on big screens a dance battle was set. The audience was challenged to show off their best iconic Twice dance moves. Whether it was fans competing with themselves or fans competing with other fans, it was clear that everyone was winners as the audience became so hyped cheering everyone on. Obviously, there were some fans who clearly knew all the Twice moves to the point that you could swear they were JYP trainees. Then the girls reappeared on stage. Twice were decked out in Twice T-shirts with childhood photos of them laid out in a newspaper format projected behind them as they performed their song, “When We Were Kids.” The sweet sentiments continued as the girls finished the show with the song, “CRAZY STUPID LOVE.” They said goodbye to fans each girl took a moment to acknowledge how much they loved the fandom. Again, they acknowledged it was one year ago that they signed the contract and then they found themselves performing at MetLife Stadium. Sana noted how amazing it was to see their fans in the daylight and in the Moonlight as the concert spend several hours while the sun set in the New York sky. It was this moment in which Momo took the time to tease the fans about Twice is subunit made up of Sana, Mina, and Momo. Now the subunit did not sing any of their new music which will be released later this summer, but they did give a sneak peek to a dance move that will accompany their new song. Jihyo Remarque just how proud she was of this new subunit. The girls then took a moment to do a K-pop classic concert staple, take a picture with their fans. They grab the camera and hand the girls huddled together with all their fans in attendance behind them to snap several photos and savor this historic moment.

Though the concert was unofficially over, Twice was not ready to leave their fans empty-handed. Pulling out a giant wheel, they left their encore performance in the hands of fate. The wheel displayed some of Twice his classic songs that the girls hadn’t had a moment to perform yet. Getting into the vibe Jeongyeon couldn’t help but spin the wheel in between taking photos with her camera. The first song the giant wheel landed on was “Scandal” followed up by twice is iconic song “Like OOH-AHH.” It was during these two songs that the girls ran around waving at fans trying to savor every moment and draw them closer. After both songs, Chaeyoung couldn’t help but spin the wheel for the final time. She acknowledged she wanted to land on the song, “Firework,” but kept landing on songs that twice had just performed. But the third time was the charm, and she got her wish. Twice finished out the show by performing their song “Firework.”

The girls took a few moments before heading off stage to savor the moment for one last chance with their fans. The last to leave the stage looked like it would be Jeongyeon until she ran into Dahyun, who pushed her back on stage. The two laughed and giggled and proceeded to head off stage for the final time before Dahyun turned around and promised that Twice would be back to New York and motioned as if to ask for the fans to wait for their return.

Twice made up of the nine members of now take a quick break. They will return to the stage in September in London to kick off their international European leg of their tour. That performance will take place on September 7 at London’s iconic O2 Arena.