This past weekend, MONSTA X officially kicked off their 2019 world tour “We Are Here” with a two-day concert at Jamsil Handball Gymnasium in Seoul.

On April 14, Soompi had the chance to attend the second day of the group’s Seoul concert!

The concert began with a powerful performance of “Shoot Out,” for which all seven MONSTA X members turned into charismatic beasts. They continued to heat up the venue with performances of “Hero” and “Trespass,” after which they were ready to properly greet fans.

Each member took turns greeting the audience by putting an adjective in front of their names. Shownu described himself as an SSS, which stands for strict, stern, and serious. Joohoney picked up the baton and described himself as “the universe’s cutest person,” and Minhyuk followed by naming himself as Korea’s cutest and prettiest.

Kihyun said, “What more needs to be said when Kihyun is here? Just scream!” and blew kisses. Hyungwon asked, “Are there beautiful noonas out there? What about good-looking hyungs? This is Hyungwon, the animal of MONSTA X.” Wonho joked, “This is Wonho, MONSTA X’s slimmest member who could fly away like a feather.”

Wonho continued, “As this is our last concert in Seoul before we go abroad, we prepared only the things we want Monbebes [MONSTA X’s fan club] to see.” Minhyuk added, “Unlike yesterday, you won’t be able to go home tonight. You will have to beg to be sent home.”

MONSTA X moved on to perform their new b-side tracks “Party Time” and “Play It Cool.” After the performances, Minhyuk said, “As many of you already know, ‘Play It Cool’ was gifted to us by none other than Steve Aoki.” Kihyun continued, “We have plans to meet up with Steve Aoki again when we go back to Las Vegas in August. I hope that we will be able to come up with a track that is better [than ‘Play It Cool’] this time. I heard that [Steve Aoki] already has one prepared for us.”

Shownu then introduced the next performances as tracks they want to dedicate to Monbebes, and the group got fans on their feet with upbeat performances of “Miss You,” “Mohae,” and “Jealousy.”

It was then time for sub-unit performances. Minhyuk, Kihyun, and Hyungwon got dressed in dandy suits and showed off their sexy sides with “Myself.” The group’s rappers Joohoney and I.M impressed the crowd with a fierce performance of “Sam Bak Ja,” during which Joohoney also showed off his drumming skills. Lastly, Shownu and Wonho took to the stage with an enchanting performance of “Mirror.”

Following the sub-unit performances, the members reappeared as a whole in school uniforms. Joohoney said, “I believe these sub-unit performances are one of the things to look forward to in our world tour. However, MONSTA X becomes stronger when we are together. Now that we are back together [on stage], we are ready to perform the next tracks.”

Afterwards, the group melted fans’ hearts with sugar-like ballads “Honestly,” “How About U,” “I Do Love U,” and “White Sugar.”

Following the performances, the members took turns sharing what they each think the group is famously known for. Kihyun picked “outfits”; Minhyuk, “communication”; Hyungwon, “Selfies”; and I.M, “personalities.” Shownu picked “performance,” and when it was Joohoney’s turn, fans suggested he say “visuals.” However, Wonho intercepted and said “visuals” are like side dishes, which are a given in all Korean restaurants. Joohoney then picked “aegyo,” Kihyun named “physique” — which he had to prove by showing off his leg muscles —, and Wonho picked “b-side tracks.”

Smoothly transitioning from Wonho’s comment, MONSTA X then performed b-side tracks from their two latest albums “No Reason” and “Myself,” before performing one of their hottest tracks of all time, “DRAMARAMA.”

Minhyuk continued the concert by saying, “We don’t know when we will be able to have another domestic concert, so we all need to enjoy this moment.” The group got the audience back on their feet and it was finally time for a water show, as the group performed “Fallin'” and sprayed the audience and each other with water guns.

Kihyun said, “Please patiently wait for us while we go on our world tour. It is now time to show you those alligators you all loved so much.” Then, the group put on a passionate performance of their latest title track “Alligator.”

Afterwards, it was time for the members to share their final thoughts.

Hyungwon began, “We kicked off our world tour with a great start thanks to Monbebes. Most of all, I thank you for coming all the way here to show support. I thank you for letting me experience something as meaningful and happy as this. Just like I said yesterday, you guys became a big part of my life when you came into my life. I hope that Monbebes and MONSTA X continue to push and pull each other to share, produce, and listen to great music. Even though I’m unable to express my gratitude in words, I thank you for becoming the reason I’m alive.”

Minhyuk said, “When we hold concerts, various thoughts and feelings come to me. Just like I said yesterday, I decided to become a person who receives happiness through you. I will become someone who can be happy by seeing your happy faces when you look at me. A fan once asked me what I think it is to be with the person I love, and I answered, ‘Being with someone you love is to share everything, whether it is happiness or sadness.’ I’m glad that I am able to share whatever I’m feeling on stage with you.”

Wonho expressed in tears, “My childhood dream was to become a Taekwondo athlete. For some reason, I was given a fateful chance to meet my members, great staff members, and fans. I am happier now than I’ve ever been. If I had become a Taekwondo athlete, I probably would have had to face victory and/or defeat every day. I would have been scared and suffered every day. But now, I’m a proud MONSTA X member and able to naturally enter into your lives. You guys are my dream and everything, and if it wasn’t for you, I would have died already. Without you, I’m just an empty shell, and I’m scared just by thinking that. I’m upset that I’m unable to know exactly what you go through, even though I’m happy and able to laugh because of you. I can’t quite put my feelings into words. I don’t know if I can keep a promise to be with you forever, but let’s make a promise anyways. I love you.”

Joohoney also teared up as he said, “The thing about us being an empty shell without you really hit me hard. Even before our debut, I bet everything I had on MONSTA X. A lot of people ask me if we are actually close with each other, but we are. We are one person. We made our debut with a shared goal of making a debut, and with that, we were able to come this far. I think of myself as a birthday cake and you guys as the candles that light up my cake. I would like to say ‘happy birthday’ to each and every one of you. I thank you for allowing me to feel what love is. I wish I could hold you in my arms every day. I love you. Thank you.”

I.M expressed, “First of all, I would like to thank everyone for coming all the way here. All seven of us came this far with a shared goal of making a debut, but just like Wonho said, without Monbebes, we are just an empty shell. That’s a good saying because it means that Monbebes and MONSTA X are one. By debuting together, we became one, and I was given another family. To be honest, I was very lonely after I dropped out of school. I felt empty while watching my friends go to school in the morning while I was at home. But now, I think it was a good thing that I dropped out. I was able to meet our members and Monbebes. I thank you once again.”

Kihyun said, “I hope you know that what our members say on stage is all true. I’m a perfectionist. I’m able to show you only the things I feel fully prepared for. Because of that, I had a hard time singing after debuting. My voice wouldn’t come out whenever I was practicing alone. I can now sing thanks to you. Your influence is so big that it changed my personality. You call me the god of vocals. Even though I’m actually not nearly as good as you think, if I were to battle someone with the title of MONSTA X’s vocalist, I’m confident that I will win against anyone. Don’t think that we are saying these things only because we are on stage. Believe me when I say we are sincere. I will become someone who will sing in front of you with pride in his talents.”

Shownu concluded, “These comments from our members made me realize once again how much we care about each other and Monbebes. Don’t you guys know our personalities well? You can tell who is having a bad day and sometimes, you wonder why we are acting the way we are. Even with those thoughts, 5000 of you still came here to see us and have loved us for several years. So how could we not love you guys back? Now that you’ve seen how much we care for one another and how much effort we put into our work, you can now rest while we are abroad. I will also personally do my best to become better. Thank you.”

MONSTA X concluded their concert by singing “By My Side,” ready to take on the rest of their world tour abroad.