With high-energy singing and dancing, Seventeen brought K-Pop to Glastonbury
Boy band Seventeen skipped, twisted, and turned in a high-energy performance on Glastonbury’s main pyramid stage on Friday, becoming the first K-Pop group to appear at the famous music festival in southern England. Made history.
Dressed in black, the 13-piece troupe thrilled thousands of music fans in one of Glastonbury’s most unusual sets, performing highly synchronized dance moves to peppy hits such as HOT, Rock with you, and VERY NICE.
Seventeen may be relatively unknown in the UK and at Glastonbury – which sells out before its line-up is announced – but the South Korean group had the best-selling album globally last year.
“Even though the language, country, and culture are all different, we can still connect with each other through music,” singer Joshua Hong told the crowd after performing SOS.
Seventeen drew a smaller crowd than the acts on stage, but many who came to check them out sang, waved, and danced, even without knowing any of the songs. Loyal Seventeen fans, known as “carats”, were in the front row.
“It was really good, it was a lot of fun,” said Kira Finn, 26, from Liverpool, northern England, who said she had never heard seventeen before.
“The crowd was great — it was like, that’s what Glastonbury is all about, and everyone was having fun.”
The K-pop industry, which involves rigorous training in dance, singing, and language skills, has produced bands such as BTS and Blackpink which have gained international fan followings and are increasingly appearing at Western festivals.
Seventeen’s appearance is another step away from the traditional hippie and rock ethos of Glastonbury.