Brand new KQ boy group Xikers concluded their first North American tour with a packed house in San Francisco earlier this month. The rookie 10-piece group- made up of Minjae, Junmin, Sumin, Jinsik, Hyunwoo, Junghoon, Seeun, Yujun, Hunter and Yechan- only debuted in March of 2023, but their star has quickly been on the rise thanks to a few gigs opening for their labelmates in ATEEZ. That enormous potential was realized on this tour and Atlas was in the middle of the action for the last show of the World Tour Tricky House.
An excitable crowd waited outside The Warfield in anticipation of the night’s event and they quickly rushed to their seats to wait for the boys to take the stage. After countless selfies, traded freebies and gushing over everyone’s respective biases, Xikers emerged to ear splitting screams from the floor to the balcony of the historic venue.
Xikers’ discography isn’t extensive, but they made the most of every song and their fans- known as Roadys- shouted the fan chants and sang along to put a smile on the boys’ faces. Opening with “House of Tricky”, the energy levels started at the top and never came down. KQ groups are well known for their elaborate dancing and stunning synchronization and Xikers fits that mold perfectly. All 10 members moved as one, feeding off of each other’s skills both vocally and physically.
“Koong” was a massive moment early in the set, with Minjae screaming from the depths of his soul on the chorus to the delight of everyone in the room- so much so that the rest of the group commented on it later in the night.
The middle of the set was devoted to dance covers from each member, including a medley of massively popular songs like BTS’ “Dynamite”, Seventeen’s “Super” and ATEEZ’s “Bouncy”. This gave the group a chance to really put their dance moves in the spotlight before jumping back into their original songs and the crowd hyped them up at every turn.
The main set concluded with the boys taking a moment to thank their Roadys for traveling from far and wide to see them perform and promising to return with even more music in 2024 and beyond. They exited after performing “Skater” and “Do or Die”- two songs that would have even a casual fan believing this is a veteran group.
Of course there’s no saying goodbye without a proper encore and the guys returned- sporting their tour merch- to take us home with “Homeboy” and “Rockstar”. With so many KPOP groups now visiting the States for brief tours, Xikers was one of our favorite shows of the year. The group is enormously entertaining to watch and their charisma is undeniable. Those who’d traveled to California for this last night of tour were absolutely validated in their decision- we’ll be happy to do it again when they return next year.
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Story and photos by Olivia Khiel
