On December 12, Kai held his first online solo concert. I sat in front of my big screen, snacks on hand, eagerly waiting to see my favorite performer. For those who may not know, Kai is my favorite dancer/master of the stage. His stage presence is un-matched.

So the online concert was different than any previous online concerts I’ve watched (including Baekhyun and NCT online concerts). KAI: KLoor felt like one continuous performance. It genuinely felt like a full movie. There were no breaks in between. No fan interactions (until the end).

Opening:

The online concert began with a FaceTime call from Kai while he’s at home. He looked comfortable talking to the phone (audience). He walks into his home office then suddenly his phone ‘falls’ and his office turns into a strange hallway although it looked like a picture at first. It’s as if we teleported there. Then Kai pops into the scene. Then he’s suddenly in an office (different from his home office) and he’s floating in midair. Things around him are also floating and glitching. Then a blue portal-like door opens. Now we transition back to the hallway.

NOTHING ON ME

First song of the night is “Nothing On Me”. The performance began in the hallway. In some moments it looked like Kai was controlling the dancers that appeared along with the camera. The camera moved in the hallway then it moved back, then it turned, it looked like the camera was dancing along with them.

Please note: I will be talking a lot about the camera work in Kai’s online concert. Because it is THE BEST camera work I’ve ever seen for an online concert. It felt like I wasn’t just watching Kai perform, it felt like I was PART OF IT.

The transitions were just as smooth. One second he’s in the hallway the next second we follow Kai and he’s on stage. At one point there was a stop motion effect of Kai doing the choreography in various locations. It’s seriously wild. They took the term ‘teleportation’ literally in this online concert.

REASON

The next song is “Reason”. He enters in another set and it’s super colorful. The camera work, again, is amazing. Throughout the performance he changes between various sets. At one point he dances with two CGI sculpture things (not sure what they’re called). But it still looked cool and futuristic. Another point that shocked me (in a good way) was the camera went upside down and it smoothly transitioned to another location. Then he was back on stage. Once again, I’m not sure exactly how they did it and were able to edit it so perfectly. But my goodness, it really felt like I was there (or like I was on a simulator ride).

*Please note these screenshots DO NOT do the whole performance justice. This is an online concert you have to WATCH (not just see through pictures). But sadly all I have to show you are screenshots.

SPOILER

Kai performed the song “Spoiler”. I believe this song is unreleased. But I’m hoping he releases a studio version soon because I fell in love with this song the second I heard it. His stage presence is incredible. This performance continued with the various set changes. Each transition is smooth (not only in the camera work but in the choreography). By the time the song ended, I was fully obsessed with it.

Like I said, I hope he releases it SOON!

VCR #1

The VCR’s flowed so perfectly between the performances. It definitely feels like one continuous storyline. Anyway, I’ll try my best to explain each VCR. There’s lots of metaphors and it’s kinda abstract. I won’t share any theories (I’ll let you search those online). I’ll just share what I saw.

So after “Spoiler” Kai walks off stage and he’s on his phone. He walks through the backstage area then he enters an elevator.

Eerie music starts playing. The elevator doors open and there’s a hallway and a little boy. Is the boy his younger self (most likely)? The little boy walks down the hall and then disappears around the corner. Is Kai hallucinating this? Is it real?

Suddenly we’re back in the fancy office. Some items in the office are frozen mid air like papers and an hour glass. The little boy steps through the blue portal and into the office. Things are glitching while the little boy looks around. There’s a pocket watch and that too is glitching. The boy clicks the pocket watch and turns around and sees Kai floating mid air (just like we saw earlier) but he’s also glitching. Kai glitches and we see two different Kai’s with each glitch.

The boy clicks the pocket watch and now time is running again and the things around the room are unfrozen. Kai is now in a different outfit. So is this a different Kai? A doppelgänger? Or the same Kai?

COME IN

Some of you may know this, some of you may not. But Kai’s “Come In” is my FAVORITE song from his Peaches album. It’s a literal masterpiece. I believe this is the first time Kai performed this song (with choreography and everything).

In this performance he incorporated chairs (including his dancers too). I love how the choreography wasn’t in-your-face sexy (as most choreos with chairs are). Each movement was so smooth. Everything fit perfectly with the song, the lyrics, the tempo, the beat. Throughout this performance Kai was smiling, and I melted.

I also hope one day he will release an official performance video for this song. I really want to see it again.

BLUE

The next song “Blue”, Kai is outside on the rooftop. While he moves it freeze frames (hopefully you guys understand what I mean). It’s super cool. He wears a long coat, but it’s not just any coat. The fabric is looser. So his coat flows when he dances. It’s genius.

Suddenly we see him in another city, he’s in the city at night. He gets into a car and drives away while singing. The whole thing looks like a music video.

Now he gets off car and is back in the venue. It sounds like there’s soundcheck going on. Kai throws his jacket to the side and he gets a hat. A black cowboy looking hat. If you know…then you know what song is coming up 😉 Kai gets back on stage….oh yes.

RIDE OR DIE 

That’s right, everyone! The next song is “Ride Or Die”. The stage fills up with smoke. Seeing Kai perform this song is such a treat. Suddenly we’re in a different location (but the transition is so smooth – with the camera work and edit, it’s hard to believe it’s not one take). It feels like everything is just one continuous shot.

Once again, the camera work deserves an award, so does Kai and his dancers.

Back on the stage there’s 360 screens and fireworks are projected and it’s just a visual treat. I’m telling you, his stage presence is incredible.

VCR #2

In the second VCR Kai is driving again but he’s in a garage. He sees the boy blocking his way. He gets off the car, looks around, but the boy is gone. Kai pulls out his phone and swipes through pictures. The blue portal appears. The pictures on his phone are locations and those locations show up in the blue portal. He finally swipes to a photo and finds the location of the boy.

Kai follows the boy. The boy has the pocket watch. Kai touches the boy and he is immediately transported back to the garage. But he has visions of being in a different location (be patient with me it’s hard explaining this part). Now Kai is in a different location and is walking around, he takes a seat. We hear classical music, everything feels dramatic. Now it flashes to him sitting in a seat but he’s struggling (mentally like he’s struggling with his thoughts) but then he looks fine.

CONFESSION

The next song Kai performed is “Confession”. He went so hard in the choreography. There was a mic drop. The entire time I was watching it I kept saying “YESSS”. There were lasers and the choreography with the dancers was impeccable. Then suddenly everything went black and white then everything was in red. The camera work was just as intense as the performance, which is perfect. Again, the camera work moved with Kai and it was *chef’s kiss*.

TO BE HONEST

Get ready for the complete opposite of “Confession”. Intense Kai suddenly becomes playful Kai. He grabs his phone and it’s a selfie cam. The performance transitions from Kai’s selfie cam to regular camera. The whole performance is so fun. Kai is continuously smiling. The choreography is upbeat and again fun! There’s a part when Kai pulls out his phone and the dancers do a cool choreo behind him. This is another performance you have to watch.

Also during the livestream Kai posted on his IG in realtime to make the whole thing feel more interactive. Plus, to anyone who wasn’t able to watch his online concert, they were able to enjoy a piece of it through IG. Kai is the sweetest.

DOMINO

Now we return to intense Kai. During his “Domino” performance he danced with AI (CGI…not sure the actual term for it) figures. Then the figures leave and dancers return to the scene with Kai. One of my favorite moments is the choreography during the “groove with me” part. The camera moves seamlessly and makes it feel like I’m there, like I’m part of the performance.

Whoever was in charge of the overall direction of Kai’s online concert, congratulations. It felt immersive.

I would like to mention how much I LOVE seeing Kai perform with a hat. It gives him a different aura – it works perfectly with the whole vibe of the song.

VCR #3

The next VCR we see Kai is on a rooftop. The moon is red and huge. Kai looks like a professor with a turtle neck and glasses. He’s scrolling through his phone looking at the location pictures. I can’t help myself but…DANG he looks so good in this scene. Anyway, he looks at a picture of a train and suddenly we’re transported inside the train. He’s walking and sees someone jamming out to music, someone else is looking out blankly, the music changes it sounds eerie yet intriguing.

The little boy is sitting next to (what looks like) his mom. He is playing a video game but Kai walked passed them. Then Kai turns around and looks back at the little boy. The colors change to a purple-blue color. Now it’s just the two of them, no one else is there.

VANILLA

Now we see the stop watch and we are in a new set. The set looks like a swanky bar. The next song Kai performs is “Vanilla”. Throughout the song Kai dances with female dancers. The choreography is sexy but classy and smooth. It works perfectly with the song. The partner work with Kai and the female dancers is incredible and beautiful. Honestly props to everyone in this performance and the choreographer(s) who made this happen.

AMNESIA

Right after, the next song is “Amnesia”. Kai walks into the stage set with the projectors. The screens all around him shows the city. I love it. The dance with the camera is impeccable. While listening to the song I kept hearing extra vocals in the background. So I’m wondering was this a remix version of “Amnesia”? Anyway, it was amazing.

HELLO STRANGER

The perfect followup to “Amnesia” is “Hello Stranger” – I’m telling you, I LOVE the setlist. Once again the choreography is phenomenal! I love the various formations with Kai and the dancers. There’s a moment when someone is behind the camera and we see their arms and Kai is dancing with them. It’s a bit like Red Velvet’s Irene and Seulgi’s video for “Naughty”. Love how immersive it felt. They really want the audience to be part of the performance. Again, props to the director and those behind the camera.

Towards the end the dancers have masks covering their faces, I believe this is part of the whole stranger concept. I love it.

I wish I could’ve taken a screenshot of the part when he’s dancing with the camera…but I couldn’t get it. But trust me this is another performance worth watching.

VCR #4

Now we see Kai back on the train with the little boy. Then suddenly he’s somewhere else and the boy walks away from Kai while he’s trying to follow him. Then we see a random black and white video of an old man playing chess. Now Kai is in another set and it has giant chess pieces. This felt like a movie, the music intensifies and the camera is going around in circles – the chess pieces are glitching too.

We see a dark room and we see Kai’s silhouette, everything is red. It’s “Obsession” Kai. At this point I was certain, he was going to perform “Obsession”. It’s like there’s two Kai’s trying to get power. We also see glasses Kai back. The old man’s hand is shown through the portal. Now we see a new set.

*I’m sorry if my description is confusing, I’m telling you this is an online concert you have to WATCH. Explaining it through words isn’t enough.

I SEE YOU

Now Kai is in a new set and it looks like he’s inside of a tree or something. The next song he performs is the dark and sexy song, “I See You”. Kai’s facial expressions are incredible, I love how he can tap into this villainous-like persona. I can’t help but think this is Kai X-Exo version. There was a cool hand choreography in the pre-chorus. The overall performance is top notch.

JEKYLL

Continuing with the dark villainous theme (at least that’s what I like to think), the next song of course is “Jekyll”. There’s red strings/ribbons incorporated in the choreography, not only Kai but the dancers use it. They go back to the stage and perform there. I love the whole choreography with the red ribbons. It was well done. I’m sure they needed to have perfect timing and synchronization in order to get it right. Also I absolutely loved the end pose, so creepy but awesome.

MMMH

Of course, the next song is none other than “Mmmh”. I know I’ve repeated myself a million times on this post, but the camera moves with him. It feels like we are part of this performance. I can’t stress how immersive this whole thing is.

If you’ve seen Kai performing “Mmmh” you know how incredible this performance is. It’s effortlessly sexy and I love it.

VCR #5

The next VCR takes place back in the office, it’s day time. There’s glitches and Kai remembers when the boy was in the room. We see something is wrong. Now we see Kai in the giant chess piece set, he’s sweating. We see a home video of the little boy back in the office opening gifts and not getting anything. But he opens one gift and gets a snow globe (which we saw earlier in the office). Kai is now in the office holding the snow globe but it keeps glitching. Things go back and forth between the kid, the old man playing chess, regular Kai with the giant chess pieces. It looks like Kai is struggling. We see the old man knock a chess piece and it lands in the home office inside a fish bowl. Then we see Kai is on his knees and the giant chess pieces keep glitching.

If you’re confused by this…trust me, so am I. A lot of things kept going back and forth between Kai, the boy, and the old man. I wonder if this is different timelines, alternate universes? It reminds me of Marvel.

But still I was very intrigued and it’s definitely thought-provoking.

PEACHES

The song we’ve all been waiting for is, “Peaches”! There’s water projected above Kai and the dancers. The screens are so beautiful, it projects pink flowers and a beautiful pink sunset on the beach. I love everything about this performance. It’s aesthetically pleasing.

VCR #6

The last VCR of the night we see Kai in all the sets we saw him previously – the hallway, office, rooftop, big chess piece area.

We see him in the big chess piece set last. He has the pocket watch and starts walking towards the blue portal door. The camera zooms in on the pocket watch it has an L on it. 😉 EXO-L

We hear the clock ticking again, it works. The screen goes white. Everything ends in a bit of a cliff hanger, but I assume he walked through the portal.

Then they play the “Peaches” MV and we are given a notification that a special Q&A will begin soon.

Post Concert Q&A

So after the online concert Kai went live answering viewers questions. I’ll admit, I was shocked when the online concert actually ended. I won’t go into too much detail about his Q&A but he did mention why the online concert was setup this way – instead of a regular online concert.

The reason why he didn’t talk between sets is because he wanted the viewers to watch it like a complete film. That is why he decided to have the Q&A session after the concert so he could interact with viewers live.

In regards to the VCR, he said it represents all his stories, his dreams to be a singer and his dance journey. It expresses the difficulties from those experiences, as well as his worries and thoughts. He also mentions the VCR shows a different universe, if he hadn’t received the gift from his dad (to pursue dance). In the VCR he also wanted to express the emptiness after a concert, the happy moments but also the sadness and hardships he deals with behind the scenes.

He mentions that concerts look fun but behind it all there are many struggles creating it. It’s like that with life as well. He included those thoughts and feelings he has as an artist. So he said, if we keep all those things in mind when we watch the VCRs it’ll make much more sense.

So with that being said, it’s safe to say the VCRs are full of metaphors and meaning. Definitely worth watching, just like all the performances of the night.

Overall Kai: KLoor online concert was spectacular. It was immersive. It used technology to its advantage enhancing the performance not distracting from it. High quality performance from Kai. Each and every single song is worth watching. As well as having an intriguing story throughout the concert. I am beyond proud of Kai and the team that made this online concert happen. It was different and I fully enjoyed it.

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Thank you so much for reading 😀

-EliMarie

I talk more about KPOP on my channel YouTube.com/elimariereacts

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