The Many #MOODs of #MCND's American Tour: New York Edition!

We’ve been feeling a chilly breeze come around — and it’s not the first signs of autumn; it’s the roar of MCND’s ICE AGE stealing the hearts of K-pop fans worldwide!

On August 28, 2022, MCND took their endless charms and dancing skills to the stage of Webster Hall for the New York stop of their first-ever 2022 American Tour. The five members of MCND - Castle J, BIC, Minjae, Huijin, and Win - debuted in 2020 with “Ice Age,” and their tracks have only increased with skill and energy in the two years since. Their latest comeback #MOOD takes their GEM through a journey of bouncy hype — much like the concert itself.

Let’s dive into the many #MOODs of MCND from their New York Show!

1. #MOOD: It’s Party Time!

MCND kicked off their party of a concert with none other than “#MOOD,” dressed in neon and black-toned outfits. The venue’s stage lights flashed along with the camera flashes of the song, making for a full sensory experience of pure energy!

We can’t forget how BIC’s smile charmed the audience straight from the get-go and how the cheek glitter of their makeup looks caught the light - especially during Minjae’s center portion. They brought new meaning to the lyric of “Make it fun” - their stage was way more than just fun.

“Movin’” kept the party vibes going, with the whole venue singing along to the “La, la-la-la-la!” Dance solos from Huijin and Minjae had us moving along (as best as we could — we couldn’t reach their levels of dance mastery if we tried. But the party goes on!)

2. #MOOD: Hyped!

If you couldn’t tell how excited MCND was to be in New York by their beaming smiles during their performance, Castle J’s booming “I LOVE NEW YORK!” shout during their introduction would have given any fan a hint. Each boy was cute and smiley, contrasting with the amount of charisma they showed off with their earlier dance performances.

Minjae punctuated his intro with a swag body roll, lighting up the venue with the promise to set the stage on fire. Castle J, leader on top, had the whole venue hyped as he led the venue in a call-and-return chant: “I say TOP, you say GANG!”

The next set of songs turned the hype up to a whole new level with “TOP GANG” and “REASON.” The team seamlessly switched between charismatic solo portions to powerful and synchronized group choreography — a gang proving that they’re on top.

“REASON,” similarly, was filled with eye-catching moments: Huijin’s acrobatic moves, Minjae’s smirk during his center portion, and a dance break of perfectly synced-up angles. “Hype” is simply not hype enough of a word to capture the amount of energy that MCND brought to the stage.

3. #MOOD: Flirty

The grooves of “Bumpin'” had the members of MCND turning up their flirty factors even more — the slow beats of the song were each full of swag. We didn’t know that choreography of simply walking could look so cool, and yet MCND showed us something new with each song. Castle J even flirtily took off his jacket during the chorus, making the audience members fawn o over his smooth moves.

“Spring” and “Breathe” had us swooning even more with their groovy summer vibes. The only thing warmer than the weather was the smiles on the faces of each MCND member. Huijin kicked off “Spring” with his popping energy, melding cute and sweet with every beat.

“Breathe” was filled with as many cute moments of Minjae and Castle J flirting with the audience as there were breaths.

4. #MOOD: Loving!

Realistically, the #MOOD for MCND when they’re with their GEM is always loving — but the love got pushed up to another level for a special stage. “If you know this song, let’s sing it together,” said Castle J with a signature smile lighting up his face. “I like you, let’s go!”

There’s nothing more romantic than getting to sing with your idols — and singing a song as tender as Post Malone’s “I Like You,” with BIC’s loving gaze sweeping across the audience, definitely pushes romance to its limits. The boys all sang “I like you!” in unison with the crowd, with the lyrics displayed on the stage’s screen.

Castle J was absolutely ruthless in the way he kneeled down to sing to GEM in the front row. (And if cuteness is your weakness, Win’s meme dances during the bass-filed dance break would have made your heart skip a beat!)

5. #MOOD: Bright & Versatile!

Count on MCND’s bright versatility to keep us all entertained even when they weren’t on stage: for their VCR, the boys played a Song Quiz, where they were tasked with guessing a song from its music and then covering the song’s dance. GEM laughed, teared up, and laughed even more over Win covering Twice’s TT, BIC over-enthusiastically covering Teen Top’s Miss Right, and Minjae moving his hips to G-IDLE’s Tomboy. Bright, too, is how we’d describe the boys’ outfits for the next section of their concert: all-white and summery, with accents of ocean blue and striped patterns.

Another fitting word? “Beautiful” — both their outfits, and their next song! We loved watching Minjae, Castle J, and Win dance with the cutest body waves as Huijin riffed to the track — Huijin center was an unparalleled performance king. “Cat Waltz” was filled with a similar amount of cuteness with its kitty-themed memes and choreography.

The group explained that as a hip hop dance performance group, they usually show performances, but they wanted to show their GEM some slower vocal songs. And they didn’t just show us slower vocal songs — with “Back to You,” MCND’s vocal line took us to another world of sweet serenades. The love that they put into each performance was gifted to GEM through their honey sweet vocals, and BIC’s shining smile. Versatile kings, indeed.

6. #MOOD: As Loud As Possible!

“Let’s change the mood,” said Castle J, with way too many song puns for smooth transitions. “Let’s get loooouder!” The driving club beat of “Louder” had everyone waving their lightsticks along, with Castle J and BIC acting as maestros. How could we not get louder if we’re cheering for how talented the members of MCND are?

They showed off even more of their talents during their ment, where members were tasked with punishments from their VCR game: BIC imitated a car screech, Castle J did “Gwiyomi,” Win danced sexily, and Minjae danced to EXO’s “Love Shot.” Castle J even prompted Huijin to dance to Stray Kids, and Huijin’s cover of “God’s Menu” had the entirety of Webster Hall singing along as loudly as possible.

7. #MOOD: Summery!

Castle J once again proved himself to be the king of song transitions: he peered out into the crowd to pick out an audience member and yelled, “Hey, you!” for a seamless transition to their track, “Hey You!” The vibey, summery beat was filled with bright colors and even more flirting. The members used the song to throw small paper discs with their signatures into the audience — and what’s more summer than a friendly game of frisbee with your fans?

The hype led straight into the electronic beat title track of “nanana.” Its intense choreography and energetic moves felt second nature to the performance kings of MCND: they hopped from one beat to the next with a seemingly endless amount of energy. “Galaxy” kept the energy going with its deep and thrumming bass, taking their GEM to another galaxy!

With “Play Pungak” and “H.B.C” one after the other, GEM could hardly catch a break from how much hype MCND shared with the audience: synchronized body rolls, playful beats, dance breaks, and jumps that kept the whole venue under their spell.

MCND’s final dance competition VCR gave us an obvious conclusion: each member of MCND is their main dancer. They’ll keep dancing for our summer of fun!

8. #MOOD: The Coolest!

And as much as MCND’s summer is hot, hot, hot,, they’re just as cold — especially for “ICE AGE!” (Castle J kept it on point by shouting, “It’s soooo cold,” before diving into the energetic intro of their debut song.) The endless amount of cheers and screams during the song might have been praise for the boys’ stylish all-blue outfits, the excitement for “ICE AGE,'' or encouragement for the boys themselves — we might not know, but we do know that it was loud.

We also didn’t think the cheers could get louder until Minjae teased GEM with a hint of his abs during “Juice.” He knows just how much power he has over his GEM (which is, of course, an infinite amount.)

9. #MOOD: Fun, in the purest sense!

Fun and pure — that’s how we’d describe the night itself, and also Win! “When I’m here today, I think more of having fun than doing well,” said the man himself. “Thank you so much, everyone! I love you!” His words tied up the night like a ribbon on a present, gifting his endless love to GEM.

The boys prepared even more gifts for their American GEM, like their next track: the English version of “W.A.T.1.” Huijin commented on their immense preparation for the song, asking fans to “enjoy it together!” The driving guitar sounds and exciting choreography were so incredible it was almost cinematic. It even had a picture-perfect ending: Huijin’s ending high note.

10. #MOOD: Shining like a GEM!

Though endings of concerts are always bittersweet, the members of MCND left their GEM with an endless amount of smiles as a memory. MCND’s energetic “Outro” was filled with laughs, each boy taking up room on the stage to freestyle to its beat, and the encore of “Crush” was full of bops, dances, and hearts sent to fans.

With a final bow, MCND sent their love and affection to their GEM!

Thank you to TOP Media & Overlook Events, and of course to MCND for a wonderful show!