Deafening cheers filled the Fonda Theatre on Nov. 21 as Korean-Australian artist Hannah Bahng entered the stage as part of her world tour following the release of her newest EP, “Misunderstood.”
Being the sister of Stray Kids member Bang Chan, Bahng set off in 2023 to carve out her own presence in music, quickly gaining popularity through her discography. Fans lined up across multiple streets to not only see Bahng, but also witness a special opener performance from artist Lyn Lapid, who was set to perform exclusively in the Los Angeles show.
Lyn Lapid would be joining Bahng and her opener Asian American artist Mad Tsai, whose presence was felt the second he entered the stage. Hailing from Los Angeles, Mad Tsai was particularly excited to perform in front of his hometown, delivering songs that reflected his loud and proudly queer discography.
Among the songs he performed was “HOUNDSOFHELL,” a song that he had released just earlier that day. But no matter the song, his performance was met with squeals of excitement as he continued to rile up fans. As he approached the end of his set, he encouraged the crowd to “scream, jump, and shake a-,” in which he followed up by performing “BITE,” a track which he considered one of his most successful. Regardless of Spotify success however, the live performance left fans in awe.
After Mad Tsai’s energizing performance, the stage shifted from red to blue as Lyn Lapid began her performance. Holding a similar musicality to Bahng, Lyn Lapid played songs where she displayed raw vulnerability, such as “the alternative,” a song describing fears of being without a romantic partner. Her discography would slowly but surely touch fans throughout her set, with crowd reactions slowly getting louder and louder as her emotional lyrics and vocals became too hard to ignore.
As the crowd grew more comfortable with her music, Lapid introduced one of her most popular songs, “poster boy.” This song is particularly special when played because in each performance, Lapid would choose a member of the audience to be her poster boy for that song. That night however, Lapid asked for a poster girl, which the audience reacted by immediately raising their hands in hopes of being the one. And in a fun twist, the poster girl happened to be named Hannah, who then received a special acoustic rendition of the song by Lapid and her band.
Lapid always aims to create crowd interaction when performing, which was reflected in her final song “i’ll be happy when,” where she taught the audience the lyrics “be a buzzkill forever,” lyrics saved for the very end of the song, where fans only grew louder as Lapid closed out her performance to a pouring of cheers and even a bouquet of flowers from an especially big fan.
Lapid’s performance served as a seamless transition into the discography of Bahng. As the cat light at the back of the stage turned on, the audience immediately started screaming their lungs out as Bahng began with “what never lived,” a song that displayed calm yet emotional energy. When performing at concerts, Bahng made it a note to make a clear differentiation in how her songs sounded live compared to a streaming platform. This thought was applied throughout the night, as the guitar and drums that were an afterthought online made their presence well known, with the respective players wooing the audience with their technique.
As the set continued, Bahng’s performance was constantly met with cries of love for her music. Regardless of if the song was meant to bring the house down with energy or pull them by the heartstrings, each track was met with roaring cheers. Nichelle Navaro, a fan who had bought their ticket the day of the show, was expecting great vibes, but was particularly surprised with the high energy.
Like Lapid, Bahng made sure to have fun with the crowd throughout the night. Bahng too has a tradition in concerts where she chooses a fan to be the “Blue of the Night.” And for this night, she selected a fan in a Perry the Platypus onesie, and with the show “Phineas and Ferb” on her mind, she sang the entire theme song of the show in a moment she described as completely unintentional.
As the set started trending towards its end, fans could only wonder when Bahng would play “MISUNDERSTOOD,” what she considered to be her signature song from the “Misunderstood” EP. Bahng would respond by claiming that this was her last song, pouring what seemed to be the remaining of her heart out with emotional aspects of the track.
But as Bahng and her band exited the stage, the audience began to cheer “one more song!” in unison. And sure enough, the cat light at the back of the stage lit up once more, as Bahng closed out the night with her debut song “perfect blues.” And just like all of her other songs, she was met by an outpour of love from a packed theatre of loving fans.