ENHYPEN World Tour ‘WALK THE LINE’ in U.S. Best Moments of New York

Even the opening notes of ENHYPEN’s concert, memories were being made outside UBS Arena with a full agenda of activities catered to the group’s dedicated fanbase — known affectionately as ENGENE. While K-pop fans tend to line up, camp out and connect ahead of most shows, the Belmont Park, NY venue transformed the tradition with activities like painting the surrounding pavement with chalk messages for the group (ranging from “ENHYPEN, YOUR LOVE IS HELIUM” to “LATINAS 4 SUNGHOON”), the group’s music playing to inspire dance mobs, a friendship-bracelet station, hair and nail art decorations, specially made food items and cocktails, banner-making materials and more.

The team even brought out their own 360-degree cameras to shoot impressive videos of ENGENE and lent out disposable cameras for fans to return and see the results later — ensuring the memories last even after the show ends.

It wasn’t just the extravagant utilization of fire and pyrotechnics that opened and closed ENHYPEN’s performance of the 2022 track “ParadoXXX Invasion,” but the guys’ attitude as well. Not only did fans get treated to the band freestyling their moves throughout the start, but Heeseung even let an f-bomb drop in the middle of the track when addressing the audience: “New York, make some f—ing noise!”

For both of ENHYPEN’s previous world tours, the group’s New York dates were at the end of the U.S. leg. Local fans at their first NYC show during the 2022 Manifesto World Tour likely remember Sunoo’s tearfully touching speech at Radio City Music Hall that inspired an ENHYPEN group hug to comfort the then-19-year-old singer. Fast forward to 2025 and New Yorkers still have a soft spot for the superstar as he regularly inspired some of the loudest and longest cheers of the night when the members addressed the crowd individually — at one point seemingly taken aback and unable to hold back a smile by the ongoing whooping and screams filling the arena.

“Today’s our last night in New York and we’re really sad about it — should we do another one?” he laughed while asking the crowd, igniting another huge set of screams towards the show’s closing. “If it was up to me, I would love to do it again too. Tonight’s going to be really lasting in my memories. We’ll definitely be back next time, so please be patient for us. Thank you.”

Clearly, Sunwoo also heart’s NY too.

While an ENHYPEN concert is never lacking when it comes to stage production (see the coffin-shaped stage they used at the ‘FATE’ World Tour), the performance setup for “Future Perfect (Pass the MIC)” took things to another level with a stage reminiscent of a musical-theatre production.

With Jungwon singing centerstage at a podium surrounded by other prop microphones and speakers, the song’s rebellious lyrics shot across the LED screens, looking as if the ENHYPEN’s leader was delivering a manifesto for the concert as his members stood beside him alongside a set of broken-down buildings.

Both a red and white flag were on stage with the guys, respectively symbols of defiance and surrender in battles, perfectly playing into the group’s concept of contrasting sentiments in the music via songs like “Given-Taken,” “Blessed-Cursed,” “Sweet Venom” and many more. ENHYPEN’s music already inspires their Dark Moon webtoon series. Maybe an ENHYPEN musical is next?

ENHYPEN slightly switched up the setlist for the U.S. leg of the WALK THE LINE World Tour, adding April’s pop single “Loose” into the mix for the first time at the UBS Arena show. The group’s Aug. 3 concert in Osaka, Japan, included the songs “Orange Flower (You Complete Me)” and “Shine on Me,” but on the Aug. 6 and 7 shows, “Loose” was performed instead of them.

While live performances of the original English version of “Loose” have been limited to select television shows and a VEVO Studios session, ENHYPEN brought “Loose” back to the stage with greater confidence as members Jungwon, Jay, Heeseung and Sunoo all nailing the fierce growls and licks throughout the chorus’ final belt.

Following the guys’ performance of “Loose,” the eldest member, Heeseung, didn’t want to move on just yet. The 23-year-old sang the track’s falsetto-heavy chorus entirely a cappella for the crowd and then invited the entire arena to sing along with him, ad-libbing while thousands of ENGENEs did their best to live up to the high expectations the super-vocalist set.

On the Aug. 7 show, Heeseung sang through the chorus twice, giving viewers a double dose of the smooth delivery with the audience’s singing bringing a huge smile to his face as well. (Good job, NY ENGENEs)

Compared to most K-pop shows, a remarkable difference in ENHYPEN’s concert came in the group frequently transitioning into and out of songs as different instrumentals played and visuals splashed across the screen. Many times, K-pop concerts simply jump from song to song, but there were several stylish interludes between tracks that allowed the group some time to reset or move to a new part of the stage while still keeping the crowd engaged. One of the best came in between “Teeth” and “Blessed-Cursed,” where a laser-light show took over the arena while throbbing EDM blasted from the speakers as if the group had a world-class DJ on hand to help out with transitions.

While it likely wouldn’t make the “best moments” list for most fans, the production changeups should be appreciated from a technical viewpoint, making the concert feel more like a continuous experience instead of a series of songs performed one after the other.

While Jay has showcased his guitar-playing skills on tour in the past, like on his acoustic accompaniment to “TFW (The Feeling When)” for ENHYPEN’s FATE World Tour, the Seattleite got to truly rock out on this tour. Ahead of the full band breaking into “Blessed-Cursed,” Jay delivered an introduction on the electric guitar that, at one point, seemed like it blew out the speakers of the arena. An electrifying start to one of the group’s most thrilling singles while letting Jay spotlight another side of his musicality.

While ENHYPEN hasn’t had debut single “Given-Taken” on their tour setlist since their first world tour, the boys added their beloved first track into this setlist with a noticeably new mix — a feature heard across several songs during the night like a dance break in “Sweet Venom” or Heeseung opening “XO (Only If You Say Yes) with a piano introduction. As ENHYPEN approach five years together in November, no doubt they appreciate a refreshing switch-up for their first-ever track, which also made for an even more exciting listening experience for the audience who likely have fond memories of the song made anew with the remixes.

Whether it was staging his jawline at the perfect angle or ensuring he pushed his hair back into perfect positioning, Sunghoon knew exactly how to approach the camera every time it came his way. That was best seen during “Sweet Venom” when he winked right on beat as the camera panned to him for the first hook and was ready to smize with one raised eyebrow as the camera swooped back to him for the second hook. That’s what we call a professional pop star.

While youngest member Ni-ki generally tends to be one of the group’s quieter members, the 19-year-old offered some moving words when saying his goodbyes to the crowd.

“The energy that you’re sending me gets rid of all the sad thoughts,” he shared while adding in gratitude and encouraging words for his fans. “For all of you who came today and yesterday, thank you so much. Remember: The main character of ‘WALK THE LINE’ is you, not us. [I’ve been] so happy these last two days, thank you, New York.”

While the ENHYPEN guys no doubt had a long journey flying in from two stadium shows in Osaka on Aug. 2-3 and performing in NY on Aug. 6-7, the guys’ playful energy truly let loose by the closing of the show. The guys busted out some of their favorite tracks like “Helium” and “Paranormal” for the encore and even played an extra song on Night 2 in New York with “Go Big or Go Home.” The guys gave giggly goodbyes on Aug. 7, with Jake having a huge smile and cracking up as his band mates kept shouting, “Make some noise!” to the crowd, with Jake encouraging Sunghoon to shout it several times.

The buoyant mood was the perfect note to end on and left a lasting reminder of the guys enjoying what they do on the stage together.