Epik High Is Here And We Love Love Love Every Second Of It
On April 6th, Epik High had their fans in San Diego quaking. It was a jam-packed show at Soma and fans from every walk of life packed themselves like sardines in a musty venue, all for Epik High. The trio are legends in the korean music industry but they’ve rarely toured the U.S., at least not a tour this massive. God bless the EPIK HIGH IS HERE tour because this led them to gracing the stage in San Diego for the very first time. I knew Epik High’s music was great but I never expected them to be THIS good. They made sure to make the concert memorable for fans both new and old and created one of the most epic (pun intended) concert vibes I’ve ever witnessed live.
The opener was someone named Woosung, who I later found out was a part of the group called The Rose. He played his bangers such as songs like “FACE”, “Lazy”, and “You Make Me Back”. As a self-proclaimed veteran when it comes to going to shows, openers tend to be hit-or-miss on how good they are at keeping you attention while waiting for the headliner. Well Woosung did a great job, especially solo. His performance was effortless and really hyped up the crowd for what was to come.
Woosung really set up pins for Epik High to knock down, as the crowd were clamoring for the trio and the crowd erupted when the opening notes of “Here,” came on the speakers. The opening track off their latest album, Epik High Is Here 下 (Part 2), hyped up the crowd and seamlessly transitioned into the next song, “Prequel”. Once Tablo rapped the final line, “Epik High is here,” the noise from the crowd was deafening.
The following song was “Fly,” and I gotta say, it still holds up. After the song, DJ Tukutz and Mithra Jin introduced themselves with Tablo translating for them. He playfully joked about their English and actually helped transition the vibe of the night into being like at a fun house party. The night kept getting wilder with bangers like “Face ID,” “Rosario,” and “부르즈 할리파 (Burj Khalifa).” playing shortly after. They made the night feel like straight up a movie. The lyrics and beats were banging. Seeing them perform these tracks live was truly awe-inspiring. It’s one thing to hear mastered tracks with your headphones but hearing them live kicks them up another notch. The songs sound amazing live and seeing the members deliver their bars with such passion just gets you more pumped up.
Epikj High did some crowd work in between before playing their newer songs from Epik High Is Here 下 (Part 2), “그래서 그래 (Gray So Gray)” and “Super Rare.” Once they played “LOVE LOVE LOVE,” the crowd was in a frenzy again. Mithra Jin got to show off his rap skills with in a few songs from the set and “One” gave DJ Tukutz his own time to shine by busting out some choreo. This led to Tablo and Mithra Jin dance with him when they played “FAN,”. after “Don’t Hate Me”,. The trio ended their set with “High Technology,” “New Beautiful,” and “Don’t Hate Me.”
Despite Tablo teasing how there would be no encore, they re-emerged after the crowd relentless chants of the band’s name. The first song for the encore was “노땡큐 (No Thanxxx),” off of their 2017 album WE’VE DONE SOMETHING WONDERFUL,. Epik High had one last ace in the hole by ending the show with one of their most famous songs “Born Hater.” I have to admit, the song goes pretty hard.
With this performance alone, it’s obvious why Epik High have been so successful in the industry for so long. I’ve been to many concerts, but the synergy between Tablo, Mithra Jin, and DJ Tukutz is phenomenal and i’ve never seen a band as on the same wavelength such as them. Epik High gave a message to remind the crowd that they wanted to be a shoulder we could lean on and hoped their music could be something we turned to for comfort when times are tough. The message left a huge impact on the crowd and sure solidified them as fans. If you ever have the chance to see Epik High, it’s a must and I hope this review showed you why.