REVIEW Zara Larsson sets Seoul ablaze with 'Midnight Sun' tour
Swedish pop star Zara Larsson performs during her "Midnight Sun" tour show at Myunghwa Live Hall in Seoul, Sunday. Courtesy of Robin Boe
Swedish popstar trades arena for live music hall; gets her choruses sung back
Zara Larsson, the popstar who rose to fame by winning a Swedish talent show at the young age of 10, is now in the strongest stretch of her career.
The Swedish singer won two American Music Awards (AMAs) in May, and "Lush Life," released a decade ago, returned to the Billboard Hot 100 after a fan-dance video went viral. Her fifth album, "Midnight Sun," arrived last year to strong listener reviews and has taken her around the world on a tour of the same name.
On Sunday, that tour reached Myunghwa Live Hall in western Seoul for her first-ever headline show in Korea. She had visited only once before, for the 2017 Asia Song Festival. Demand was high enough that a second night was added, and both sold out.
Zara Larsson clutches her mic as she performs at Myunghwa Live Hall, a club in Seoul with a capacity of about 1,600, Sunday. Courtesy of Robin Boe
For an artist of her current profile, Myunghwa Live Hall, a performance venue with a capacity of about 1,600, is a surprisingly small room, but nobody in it on Sunday night seemed to mind. Many in the crowd were fully glittered and glammed up, flowers in their hair and all, dressed as if the night was a party of their own.
Larsson opened the 7:30 p.m. show with the title track, "Midnight Sun," sending the crowd into an immediate frenzy. Her band and dancers were all women, a lineup that suited a night built around fans and their favorite songs.
The stage production was modest, which left the songs and the crowd, who sang along to every word, to carry the evening. The set ran to more than 20 songs, and each drew the kind of response that suggests they have been on repeat in Seoul for a while.
Zara Larsson, center, shares the stage with her dancers, part of an all-women lineup for her "Midnight Sun" world tour in Myunghwa Live Hall in Seoul, Sunday. Courtesy of Robin Boe
During "She Did It Again," her duet with Tyla, Larsson invited the audience to sing the chorus, and they did so without any hesitation. The songs around it, "Blue Moon," "Can't Tame Her," "I Would Like," "Love Me Land" and "All the Time," kept the pace brisk.
Then came the dance break with her dancers, a Larsson signature, and the crowd cheered every move the way a stadium rewards a clean tackle.
"Pretty Ugly" brought another shared moment. Larsson led the crowd in shouting "I'm pretty," in Korean, and the room answered at full volume. "Wow" and "Ain't My Fault" followed, the latter a catalog classic that the room treated as one, with "Hot & Sexy" close behind.
The sentimental pause came with a remix of "The Ambition." Larsson said her own ambition had carried her to Seoul, "the other side of the planet," and told the audience to aim just as high. A remix of "Girl's Girl," "Stateside" (her collaboration with PinkPantheress), "Eurosummer" and "Never Forget You" kept the night moving without losing altitude.
Zara Larsson, left, dances with a member of her all-female band during her "Midnight Sun" world tour at Myunghwa Live Hall in Seoul, Sunday. Courtesy of Robin Boe
"Ruin My Life" arrived just after that run, marking one of the night's biggest diva moments. It was also this reporter's favorite song of the set, and it came late enough to keep the show from settling.
After the self-reflective "Saturn's Return," she also introduced "Puss Puss," explaining that it is the Swedish equivalent of "kiss kiss," what people say when hanging up the phone. It was a small gesture of the kind K-pop acts specialize in, a bit of her own culture offered to the audience as a gift.
"Crush" led into "Lush Life," where the evening's one unscripted moment took place. Larsson brought Gina, a fan from Manila, onto the stage and wrote "Zara heart Korea" on a T-shirt for her. Gina then performed the song's dance moves and nailed every one. Gina's hometown, Manila, is also a stop on Larsson's route later this month.
Fans, many with flowers in their hair and glitter on their faces, watch singer Zara Larsson perform at Myunghwa Live Hall in Seoul, Sunday. Courtesy of Robin Boe
"Symphony," her Clean Bandit hit, was the last full-throttle number. The production stayed small but the crowd's energy did not. It was dolphins-and-rainbows energy, quite literally, in a room that had fully bought into the aesthetic her current era runs on.
The singer then closed the loop with a reprise of "Midnight Sun," ending the night where it began. Pink and light-blue confetti rained down on a floor that looked liberated and slightly stunned. A few in the crowd were moved to happy tears.
Larsson heads next to Tokyo on Oct. 7 and 8, then to Manila on Oct. 30 and Bangkok on Nov. 1.