Review by Kento Tarver
Former K-pop boyband EXO member KAI, brought his solo tour “KAION” to the Fox Theatre September 2nd with high anticipation. This was his first time in Atlanta and it was a welcome one to be sure. The line wrapped around Peachtree street and all of the concert-goers were
prepared with their EXO merch and lights. The show was split into 4 chapters and told a story that dramatically changed moods and vibes from the previous chapter. The crowd’s screams were deafening as applause rained on after every song’s completion. There were nice graphic animations behind him that went along with every song and gave you a visual aid to the tone of the song. There were male and female backup dancers who performed very intricate dance choreo that flowed between fast and slow paced.
KAI had a translator during the set breaks where he would express his utmost gratitude for the fans who showed up and continued to support him even after EXO disbanded. He went into an explanation of why the tour was called KAION, it’s a fusion of KAI and ON which means “to spend eternity with” in Greek. With this meaning he is implying he wants this show’sperformance to be an eternal experience with his fans.
Now onto the songs. He performed a lot of solo stuff, especially his hits. However there was a nice surprise for EXO fans as he performed two EXO songs Confession and a mashup of 4 songs “Growl”, “Tempo”, “The Eve”, and “Love Shot”. The crowd became extremely vocal and loud during this portion as most of them probably never expected to hear EXO songs again. There was a really nice sing-a-long opportunity with the fans for his song “Peaches” that the crowd was suggested to sing before the encore. It led to a lot of wholesome moments including a dance cam and cute fan signage. All in all it was a very warm welcome to KAI and it seems goingforward Atlanta will always have a special place in his heart. Hopefully we can be lucky enough to see him again soon.
