On May 17, Xikers delivered their first Los Angeles concert as a full 10-member group at The Novo. This tour, “Road to XY : Enter the Gate,” marked their second solo show in the United States. Leader Minjae and members Junmin, Sumin, Jinsik, Hyunwoo, Junghoon, Seeun, Yujun, Hunter, and Yechan flooded the small venue with overflowing energy through 20 songs, some performed in front of a Southern California audience for the first time. The group navigated the stage — and interactions with fans — with a practiced ease well-earned after two years of experience as idols under their belt.
While Xikers have visited Los Angeles a number of times (most notably for pre-debut training, as openers for a handful of labelmate Ateez’s “The Fellowship : Break the Wall” tour stops just prior to their March 30, 2023 debut, and for KCON a few months after), the boy group’s first solo show in the city, “Tricky House : First Encounter,” was in November 2023. Because Junghoon was not able to attend the “Tricky House” tour due to a knee injury that prompted a 1.5-year hiatus, his turn during member introductions at Road to XY was greeted with a very extended round of cheers — the longest and loudest out of any member.
Xikers’ fans, or Roadys, were also particularly enthused about the unit stages that took place about one-third of the way through the setlist. These stages included the rap line’s pre-debut track, “Canvas,” the vocal line’s cover of Justin Bieber’s “Holy,” and the dance line’s performance of Tkay Maidza’s “Ring-A-Ling.” The rap line, including Minjae, Sumin, and Yechan, dominated every corner of the stage with the power of their stage presence. From the vocal line, Jinsik and Hyunwoo provided melodic accompaniment to Seeun and Junghoon’s raps in “Holy.” Meanwhile, dance line members Hunter, Yujun, and Junmin left the deepest impression with their sultry movements and novel props; the cowboy hats and ab flashes stayed on this concert goer’s mind well after the night ended.
Xikers cut the intensity of their powerful music stages with easy, comfortable banter among the members following “Ring-A-Ling.” Each unit shared their experience preparing for the special performances and encouraged each other to try swapping units. Hyunwoo excitedly flaunted a handful of moves from the “Ring-A-Ling” choreography, and the dance line rapped “Canvas” together. The group was not shy about praising each other for their skills — a gesture so simple and small, yet so telling about the strong and supportive bond holding the group together.
A segment of the concert involved Xikers and Roadys jointly filming a dance challenge pre-determined via poll on X. Although “Xikey” was the winning song, “Supercalifragilistic” also had quite a large contingent of supporters. The familiar relationship between Xikers and their fans became clear with how easily Hunter teased Roadys that “I don’t think you guys practiced [‘Xikey’]!”
While the beginning two-thirds of the concert was certainly not short on energy from Xikers and Roadys alike, nothing could compare to the last few songs of the show. “Every Flavor Jelly” was met with a cacophony of cheers, and not just because of the whole group feeling Yujun up before the start of the opening verse (but while we’re on the topic, did anyone else think Jinsik was trying to pants him?). The whole venue sang along to each exclamation of “my jelly!” for the entire three minutes of the song.
Before Roadys had a chance to calm down, Hunter took center stage to proclaim with admirable self-assured confidence, “If you hide, we seek.” The whole group adopted deeper, rougher voices to set the tone for the darker, sexier sound of Xikers’ latest album, House of Tricky: Spur. When the group transitioned to “Rockstar,” the shaking of the floor beneath the audience’s feet, which mirrored the energetic footwork of Xikers themselves, prompted quick navigation to LA QuakeBot to check for an unexpected natural disaster; as Hunter commented in the ensuing ment, “the energy was just about to explode this whole building!”
The group returned to the stage for a meaningful encore that began with “Moonwalk,” a fan song written and produced by Minjae for Roadys’ second anniversary as a fandom. The group’s synchronicity shined with the smooth, flowing movements of the slogans they used to supplement their choreography. Staying true to the song’s intention, the group closed out the track with a banner thanking Roadys for joining Xikers on this journey. The sentimental direction of the concert continued with “Break a Leg” (which features the group singing, “with 10 hands firmly grasping, anything becomes reality”) and “Sunny Side” (which includes lyrics like, “even if the sun goes down, I feel like I won”) . Despite Jinsik’s concerns regarding the condition of his voice, the concert was pitch perfect up until the last note of the last song, “Breathe.”
Overall, the group had such an abundance of charisma that it was impossible not to get sucked into matching their energy. Every one of their songs sounded better than the studio version because of the members’ outsized enthusiasm and energy. Xikers clearly felt at home on stage, and the concert was an exclusive invitation into their private space. Moreover, because all of the members seemed quite comfortable speaking in English, the ments often took a life of their own to become something more akin to a fun hangout with close friends.
Following this impressive performance for the last stop of their “Road to XY : Enter the Gate” tour, there is absolutely no doubt that the group’s next return to the U.S. will only be better than the last. Roadys wishing for a repeat experience will just keep press play in their camera roll until then.
(Source: Youtube, X, Instagram [1][2], Genius [1][2]. Images via KQ Entertainment, Lucia.)
