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Last week we told you about the Le Sserafim Pop-up Shop ahead of the concert, and as promised, we went. So here, we are going to tell you all about it and what we thought…

Back at The O2 for another concert, we haven’t been here since Enhypen, but this time it was one of our ult groups, K-pop girl group Le Sserafim. The five-piece, all-singing, all-dancing ensemble includes Kim Chaewon, Miyawaki Sakura, Huh Yunjin, Nakamura Kazuha, and Hong Eun-Chae, debuted in 2022, and has become world-famous for hits like Antifragile, Unforgiven, and Boompala. Now they have started their first full European Tour, with the first date on the O2 last Friday.

We arrived on the Peninsula via train at around 5 pm. We learned our lesson last time: we need food beforehand, or the only option after is Five Guys, and never again will we eat there! So our search led us to the food court and what looked promising: the Pasta Rebels. Given the similar places in the West End, we thought it would be a good option, we were wrong. £27 bought us 2 shallow bowls of oily, bland slop.

So, left in search of our fellow fans who have spent the last few months painstakingly making free stuff to just give away, for no good reason other than they want to. So many of them stand around handing out photocards, made by themselves, photo strips, bracelets, keychains, banners- you name it, some girl (usually) has made 5,000 of them to give away. We collected a few, we always feel bad for not reciprocating. Strangely, we didn’t see anyone giving away anything at ITZY, but then we pretty much got there and went straight in.

After wandering amongst the crowd, looking at costumes and outfits, puzzling at the 100m-long queue to take a selfie against the giant tour poster and remembering just how cold it gets standing there, being battered by the wind. We decided to join the only real queue with a purpose, the one to get in. The biggest problem with the O2 is that there is only one entrance into the venue itself, so the queue stretches all the way out the main door, meaning you slowly shuffle towards the security, wave your ticket at a bored guard and then join another queue to get your bags checked. But this time we were waved through the checking area in order to speed up the line. That is the moment you wish you had bought a big-lens camera!

Up the escalator and then around the promenade to find the entrance to our seating. We stopped off on the way to pay an astronomical amount for two beers. £19.75 for a Camden Stout and a Thatchers Apple & Blackcurrant Cider. Then we found our seats. We were behind the sound tech area at the side of the main stage, in all, no more than 30 metres from the edge, 50 metres to the centre. A pretty good view and an amazing view of the entire arena. We got in there around 6.30 pm, sat and waited, thinking it was going to start like ITZY at 7 pm – we were still waiting at 7.30.

Then the intros started: a lot of visuals and the huge screens building the crowd up, there wasn’t as much of a build as ITZY, no repeat, hyping the other bands on the label, just the Music Video for Celebrate and then flashing signs getting everyone to cheer. Oh and the repeated infomercial on how to make the lightstick work, in English, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean!

The show started around 7.45 pm – an actual sensible time for a concert! – With the 5-piece rising out of the stage surrounded by smoke. The only problem with that being that the O2 is a high venue and 75% of the audience could see the girls crouching under the stage, waiting for the lift to rise up. But up they came, straight into the most recent hits from the Pureflow Album. Celebrate, Creatures and EPaBW. All dressed in beautiful Flamenco-style showgirl outfits, black with red beads and long boots. Five of the world’s most beautiful women – that is no exaggeration – just look at the images! They performed at 100% from the first note to the last, making full use of every inch of the stage, waving to the crowd, right up to the God Seats and to the sides.

After the first 3 songs, they gathered at the end of the catwalk and lined up to make their formal introduction – in English – Hello, we are Le Sserafim, to a deafening roar of appreciation!

They continued with one song – Need Your Company then there was a VCR break.

Returning with Sonder, in a new outfit that was a colourful, summery look: halter-neck tops and sequin sparkly skinny jeans, or shorts and a hoodie, a more casual look. The next couple of songs were sung sitting on a sofa and stools set (the only real criticism of the show, built right at the back of the stage so that anyone at the sides – like us – could only see a tiny portion of the performance).

Trust Exercise, Hot, Perfect Night, Blue Flame, Easy, then there was a talking section where they collectively began the little skit, calling out ‘Where’s Saki?’. Kura appeared not on stage but down by the GA crowd, wearing a Deerstalker hat, which she deposited on a cute audience member and climbed back up onto the stage to sing ‘Where’s Saki’.

Which brought us to 1-800 and Saki.

During the talking section, Sakura, Eun Chae and Yunjin wandered off the stage, leaving Chaewon and Kazuha to talk to the crowd. A staggered break for the change of costume, rather than everyone leaving and just playing videos for 15minutes.

Then they did another talking part, but got really involved with the crowd, they each had a Sherlock Holmes accessories set- magnifying glass and hat and proceeded to give them away to audience members that stood out to them: a guy in a Lakers basketball top, a young girl with ear protectors on way up in the high seats, and someone dressed as The Lorax. Security then ran out to hand off the items.

Then another VCR.

Another outfit change, to tans and creams, floaty pieces, Sakura’s bra shorts and lace train type outfit and Chaewon in ‘Those Shorts’, but Kazura in the little white dress and those incredible dancer’s legs.

Chaewon did her famous Boompala intro, then the girls performed a few more songs, including Antifragile, Irony, (unfortunately) Crazy, Spaghetti and Unforgiven. As is usual for K-pop, they said ‘This is our last song’. Which everyone knows isn’t true, they performed Fire in the Belly as they returned to the lift in the middle of the stage to descend as they had entered. Of course, the platform only dropped a metre or so, so they had to crawl away.

A few minutes of darkness and then more: the Crowd participation part, the Dance Challenges, which were really well done, ‘so many people’, performing and knowing the routines. Then the visuals played and up the group came again on the lift platform.

This time dressed in casual wear. Hoodies, jumpers, baggy T-shirts, sports bras and shorts; Yunjin wore leather trousers, and they all wore knee-high boots and looked incredible! They performed Made My Night, A small section of Iconic, Iffy Iffy with audience singalongs, No Celestial, and Smart.

They ended with a lot of waving and interacting with the crowd, while the backing track played out, then a final photo op, with some funny moments, spelling out LON with their bodies and Yunjin attempting to lift her leg onto Kazura’s shoulder – because it would have been far too easy to do it the other way around! They stepped behind the descending curtain and the stage went dark on a great concert.

We left needing more food and played it safe, we queued for Wagamama, took our Japanese and got on the train home!