Ready to Be with TWICE in Melbourne

TWICE backstage at Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne. Picture: JYP Entertainment

What a night! TWICE definitely did not disappoint. Their first time in Melbourne was filled with joy, laughter and tears, in that specific order. Yes, tears were definitely part of the experience. Other than the fact that their performance was indeed amazing, there were a couple of moments that touched our hearts. 

The girls opened up the concert with a recent release SET ME FREE that definitely had the crowd cheering and continued with I CAN’T STOP ME which kept the crowd singing along before diving into a brief introduction of the group and of themselves. It was admirable to see them speak in English, especially because none of them are native English speakers. 

They kept the tension up as they continued their performances with Go Hard and MORE & MORE in which they had a ladder-like structure for them to dance on. The effort it took for them to stay on the ladder while dancing was interesting enough because they were still able to make the stage seem fun despite being up in the air. 

Not too long after that, TWICE continued on and split up into two subgroups as solo stages were being prepared. There was a small talk section with NAYEON, JEONGYEON, JIHYO, and CHAEYOUNG. This was where it started to get more interesting. As the other members prepared for their solo stages backstage, the other four group members entertained the audience with their witty jokes and a short dance session. 

This was followed by solo stages from the rest of the group with DAHYUN doing a cover of Try, TZUYU with Done for Me, SANA with New Rules, MOMO with Move, and SANA with 7 Rings. We knew they were going to be amazing but when MOMO showed up with a pole and did a short pole dance routine, jaws dropped for sure. DAHYUN also made sure to wow the audience with her piano solo. All their performances were definitely greeted with great enthusiasm from the audience. 

When it was time to regroup and perform more bangers, the group showed up with an entirely different outfit and a band to accompany their performances, which definitely changed the moods of the songs, making it more lively. They started out the set with Feel Special that followed a short VCR transition, which continued then to Cry for Me with a dance break that led to Fancy. This segment was interesting in the sense that fans were able to see a different side to the songs as they ended with The Feels which included a different version of dance. 

As with solo stages, the girls continued to exceed ONCEs (fans of TWICE) expectations and more. CHAEYOUNG started the next set of solo stages with an original song while playing on the guitar, followed by JIHYO, also singing an original song with powerful vocals. JEONGYEON then did a cover of Juice and played a little portion on a recorder, which was greeted with loud screams and we can’t miss out on NAYEON’s stage of her solo debut song, POP! 

With the amount of experience TWICE has, it shouldn’t be a surprise for them to do a medley of their title tracks. They have a lot over the seven to eight years they have been active as musicians and both the general public and ONCEs can attest to the fact that they are all as catchy and amazing as they should be. The medley was clearly one of the highlights of the night as people started dancing and singing along with loud voices. During CHEER UP, the members took turns to do the iconic “shy, shy shy” that evoked loud cheers from the audience. The group then closed off with a short talk. 

This was when we found out DAHYUN’s parents were part of the crowd and DAHYUN mentioned that she was nervous during the solo stage and was happy to see her parents despite making a few mistakes during the piano solo. 

When it was CHAEYOUNG’s turn to talk, we also found out that her parents were also there. She mentioned that the song that she sang during her solo stage was written with her mom in mind and thus making her very emotional while performing, she then started tearing up. This was something the rest of the members did not expect because CHAEYOUNG doesn’t normally cry in front of them but it was so heartwarming to be able to see her perform in front of her parents. 

The other members were also joking around starting off with “I’m looking at the area where our parents are supposed to be at… but I don’t see my parents,” which was greeted with laughter by the group. It was such a shame that the audience weren’t able to understand their jokes as there wasn’t anyone to translate the jokes. 

TWICE on stage with the audience for DAY 1 Melbourne concert. Picture: JYP Entertainment

It was time to wrap up the concert with the final stretch of performance before going back for encore stages. The last two songs TWICE did were more emotional as they performed B-sides, When We Were Kids and Crazy Stupid Love. I personally thought the timing for When We Were Kids was interesting as Children’s Day in Korea was only a day before the concert. 

While waiting for the group to change outfits, the audience had a dance mission and ONCEs are super talented as they danced along to multiple title tracks. And with TWICE concerts, they have encore roulettes in which they would spin a wheel and do songs that the wheel ‘picked.’ The first song was supposed to be TT but the members moved the wheel while saying “let’s do another song instead,” while switching it to Like OOH AHH.  

As with all encore stages, the members interact with fans and each other while enjoying their time on stage and once the song ended, JIHYO mentioned how it was such a shame to just end the night with one song, and invited the audience to do another song. This part was met with quietness as JIHYO spoke in Korean and no one was there to translate to English and the fans were seen confused. But this didn’t dampen the mood as the members continued to switch to English, despite not being fluent in the language, and tried their best to communicate with the audience. 

Multiple suggestions were heard from the crowd while the Encore Roulette wheel was spinning as fans wanted Love Foolish and Wallflower to be played as the final song, but ultimately, SIGNAL became the last song for the night as they closed their first ever Melbourne concert. 

It was such a shame that there were a couple audio issues throughout the concert and the members were seen trying to monitor through their in-ears but weren’t able to hear properly. The translations were also a shame that the jokes and a couple of vital information weren’t relayed correctly to the audience but the members were quick on their feet to make sure the audience were still able to enjoy their concert as much as possible. 

Many thanks to Live Nation to make it possible for TWICE to perform in Australia and for providing the ticket to the show.