Is there any place more fitting for nine performance kings to perform at than Brooklyn's historic Kings Theatre? The venue is ornate and regal, decked out in red and gilded in gold, transporting Fantasies into a royal fantasy of their own – much like how SF9’s music takes us to other worlds. SF9’s Unlimited Tour showed off the unlimited charms of FNC Entertainment’s nine-member dance group. Here’s a recap of some of their most charming moments from the night of April 21, 2019, the New York stop of their tour!
1. Their love and excitement for New York!
After a jaw-dropping opening trio of ‘Unlimited,’ ‘Go Back in Time,’ and ‘Enough,’ SF9 happily greeted the fans with a cute ment in which they expressed their excitement to be performing in New York. While they had performed at KCON NY in 2017, SF9 finally returns to New York after two years for their very own tour. Inseong explained his expectations for New York were prefaced by watching (and loving!) Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. On the other hand, Hwiyoung was just looking forward to meeting New York Fantasies. Nonetheless, all of them celebrated by singing copious amounts of Alicia Keys’ ‘Empire State of Mind.’
2. A emotional tour-exclusive orchestral version of Easy Love!
The boys added extra emotional flavor to their 2017 Breaking Sensation EP’s title track ‘Easy Love’ with a soulful piano and string arrangement. The tour-exclusive version of the song began with a piano-only accompaniment and gradually built energy with a driving piano beat, synths, and a melodic cello harmony. At Inseong’s high note, the song climaxed into its original synthy, upbeat chorus, with the boys breaking into dance. The track showed off their sensualities – did anyone else shed a tear? I sure did.
3. Youngbin, Chani, and Jaeyoon’s ‘Triangle Dance’ to Baby Shark!
The ‘triangle dance,’ which involves three people jumping in tandem, is a trend that has been sweeping the nation; apparently it has swept up SF9’s hearts as well as Youngbin, Chani, and Jaeyoon tried to show their triangle dance to the fans. Inseong asked for music to accompany their dance, and to much of the group’s happiness, Baby Shark started playing! Youngbin, Chani, and Jaeyoon jumping around with linked shoulders to the cutesy beats of Baby Shark was surely enough ‘cute’ to fuel Fantasies for centuries.
4. Hwiyoung’s special rap stage of Hopsin’s ‘Crown Me.’
Don’t we all love a rap king? For New York, Hwiyoung prepared a special rap stage of Hopsin’s ‘Crown Me.’ As he showed off his masterful flow, the other members of SF9 vibed along: Taeyang freestyled; Rowoon, Chani, and Jaeyoon calmly grooved to the beat; while Inseong and Youngbin squatted down in true get-down fashion. After the stage, Taeyang proudly complimented Hwiyoung saying, “This is rap.” Hwiyoung truly has been crowned the rap king.
5. A Retro, 80s Mix with charisma and cuteness in spades!
The stage opened with a cute, quirky dance solo from Hwiyoung to hard-hitting retro beats, and quickly opened into a dance-battle segment that showed off the spunky moves of SF9’s best. The stage set SF9’s ‘Just On My Way’ and ‘4 Step’ to groovy 80s chords and synthy instrumentals, putting a new vibe onto some of their best bops.
6. Their versatile Unit Stages – ‘Nothing Like Us,’ ‘Zeroff,’ and ‘Versace on the Floor!’
Jaeyoon and Taeyang surprised Fantasies with a cover of Justin Bieber’s ‘Nothing Like Us,’ proclaiming their love for Fantasies (later, Inseong parodied the lyrics to include “Nothing like us; nothing like Fantasy and me!”). Jaeyoon and Taeyang’s vocals compliment each other perfectly, sending Fantasies into a tender, emotional state as they watched their favorite boys croon, seating on stools and bathed in purple spotlights. Youngbin and Hwiyoung changed up the soft mood completely with ‘Zeroff,’ a fast-paced, grungy cypher that showed off the charismatic flows of two undeniable rap kings. Inseong ended the special-stage trio with a heavenly, intimate cover of Bruno Mars’ ‘Versace on the Floor,’ making every single Fantasy fall madly in love with him. SF9’s charms are unlimited and diverse, as they make you swoon, jump, and sway all at once.
7. A freestyle dance battle between Jaeyoon, Chani, and Taeyang – who will win?
The hard-hitting trap beats of J-Hope’s ‘Base Line’ were the backdrop to the dance battle of the century. Jaeyoon took the stage first, with Fantasies rising in cheers as he breakdanced. Chani followed after smooth footwork, Milly rocking, and spins across the stage. Taeyang ended the dance battle with his unmatched grooving and body-rolls – however, Inseong concluded that nothing could top Jaeyoon’s break-dancing, and declared Jaeyoon the dance king of the night. (Well-deserved.)
8. An intense amount of sexiness that SF9 just keeps rubbing in.
If you didn’t find SF9 sexy enough already from the likes of Enough’s sensual floorwork or Now or Never’s seductive body rolls and isolations (special note to Chani’s moonwalking dance solo!), the members of SF9 keep calling each other sexy. With Hwiyoung’s raps during ‘Crown Me’ and ‘Zeroff,’ practically all Dawon could say during the night was, “Hwiyoung is so sexy.” Inseong also commented on how sexy Rowoon was that day, prompting Dawon to respond, “No – today’s sexiest member is HIM!” as he pointed to Hwiyoung. As Fantasies, perhaps we are inclined to insist that all members of SF9 are equally sexy – but moments like these show off not only their sexiness, but the fun, playful rapport between members.
