[Concert Recap] XLOV in Helsinki
- Tiia
- 3 days ago
- 3 min read
Monday January 26th, Helsinki had been grey and dull for days until XLOV brought their XLOV FIRST EURCPEAN TCUR (and the sunshine) to the city to open their first ever European tour.
The air inside the venue, Kulttuuritalo, was absolutely buzzing with excitement (and a sold out show) when EVOLs of all ages were getting ready to welcome the group on stage.
When the lights finally dimmed down, the crowd exploded in loud cheers. Wumuti, Rui, Hyun and Haru took the stage wearing all white outfits, ones they have previously shown off at Music Core. Special mention to Haru’s big furry hat that fit the weather in snowy Helsinki perfectly.
The concert dived head first into their latest, and first, mini album '[UXLXVE] (UNLOVE)' and it’s first single ‘Rizz’, setting the energy high right from the start. Next we got to go back to their debut with ‘I’mma Be’, the start of their journey.
They took time to talk to the audience after almost every song, talking about the tour, their experiences, the track they just performed, or taking guesses on which song will be coming next. It was clear that the connection with the audience means a lot to them, they were interacting with people with hearts and smiles and also asked everyone to take care of themselves and give a signal if they were not feeling well.
The setlist included all of their released songs and some covers. They easily switched up the mood the whole show, for example going from the bold hip-hop track ‘BIZNESS’, with it’s precise choreo and poses, to the sensual R&B track ‘Scent’, performed behind mic stands.
When it comes to the covers, Wumuti and Rui took on SUNMI’s ‘Gashina’, while Hyun and Haru performed Megan Thee Stallion’s ‘Mamushi’. The songs fit the duos extremely well and the crowd seems to love every second of it. They also performed two covers as a whole group: Black Pink’s ‘Lovesick Girls’ brought more smiles, while Troy Sivan’s ‘Angel Baby’ slowed everything down with it’s sweet lyrics.
The concert seemed to fly by way too quickly and before we knew it, Wumuti let everyone know it was time for the last song. From the first note of ‘1&Only’ it was clear which song everyone was waiting for the most. It has been a while since I’ve heard a crowd that loud at a concert, everyone was singing along and living the moment.
Luckily we still got to enjoy one more song with XLOV, as they came back on stage wearing their white tour t-shirts. It was time for the encore - ‘Biii:-p’. The fun song and choreo was the perfect way to end the night, and it seemed like everyone left the venue with smiles on their faces.
The group is still young, having just celebrated their one year anniversary, but their talent and stage presence is massive. Their popularity is already high - the show in Helsinki got sold out very quickly, and even though some venues (like in Spain and Denmark) got upgrades, unfortunately Helsinki didn’t. Hopefully this is just the beginning and we will get to see them again soon, also on bigger stages. Multiple times.
Thank you so much to XLOV and Envol Prod for having us!
Review by Tiia
Photography by Tiia
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