The historic Nile Theater in downtown Mesa was taken over by fans armed with freebies and photocards and dressed to the nines for the arrival of Korean rock band ONEWE at the beginning of May. The five-piece band lit up the room with multicolored lights and charmed the already excited audience for their long-awaited O! NEW E!volution IV world tour.
Vocalist/guitarist Yonghoon, drummer Harin, guitarist Kanghyun, keyboardist/vocalist Dongmyeong and bassist/rapper Giuk emerged from the shadows to earsplitting cheers as they began the set with “Rain to Be” and “End of Spring”. 2025 marks 10 years of ONEWE and this tour was a celebration of the group’s long journey to today’s success. The members performed with a synchronicity that reinforced the bond they’ve built since the start of their career and each member looked overjoyed to be playing for such a large and receptive audience so far from home.
Each member had their charms and obvious talents, putting their personalities on display as the night progressed. Dongmyeong shifted between the keytar and a freestanding keyboard, his vocals perfectly complementing Yonghoon’s ethereal range. The end of “OFF ROAD” had Yonghoon hanging over the stage into the audience, letting some lucky front row fans strum the song’s final notes.
The majority of the set was original material from the band’s last decade but they also threw in covers of The Chainsmokers’ “Closer” and Maroon 5’s “Lucky Strike” to show off their range. Every song was met with applause and plenty of singing along in both English and Korean- a fact that did not go unnoticed by the very surprised band. The guys spoke to the audience many times between songs, thanking the fans for so many years of love and support that’s allowed them to reach this point.
It was abundantly clear that the members have an overflowing well of love for each other and for their WEVEs (the group’s affectionate fandom name) and that sentiment was mirrored tenfold in the adoring gaze of everyone in the room. The band concluded the main set with “Veronica” and “A Piece of You” before the nonstop cheers brought them back out for a three song encore. It was an early night at the Nile, with the last notes of “Eraser” following the crowd out of the room and into the tepid evening air- everyone visibly thrilled that ONEWE finally paid longtime Arizona fans a visit and already excited for next time.
