[talk] IU, 6 US tours also completed successfully… This is why she is called ‘world class’

18 city concerts in 5 months
Consideration for selecting songs and concepts that suit each city
Shouting "I did it" in LA on the last day of the tour
Business class airline tickets for staff are also a hot topic
Encore performance at Seoul World Cup Stadium on September 21-22 View original image [Seoul = Newsis] Reporter Lee Jae-hoon = Top singer and actress IU (IU Lee Ji-eun) also successfully completed a six-city tour in North America.

According to her agency EDAM Entertainment on the 5th, IU started her '2024 IU HEREH World Tour Concert in America' in Newark on the 15th of last month, then Atlanta on the 19th, Washington DC on the 22nd, Rosemont on the 25th, Oakland on the 30th, and finally in Los Angeles (LA) on the 2nd of this month.

This is IU's first time touring in North America. Many people responded that it was hard to gauge how popular IU is in North America since she doesn't sing songs categorized as K-pop, but this tour confirmed that she has a strong local fan base that will allow her to continue holding concerts. Tickets for this tour sold out within 10 minutes of opening.

In particular, Patty Kim, a Korean original diva who lives in LA, visited the site during the LA concert. Patty Kim was in charge of the special narration for the blues-based track "Shh..." from IU's 6th mini-album "The Winning" released in February. After IU finished her performance of the song during the concert that day, she expressed her sincere respect towards the direction where Patty Kim was sitting.

Another person who received attention during this tour was American Yuana (IU fandom) Zev Latet. Latet attended the Auckland concert with his wife.

View original image Mr. Latet, who lives in California, USA, has been attracting attention from Hallyu fans since the beginning of this year by running a YouTube channel introducing IU's music and Korean dramas.

In particular, other Yuaena helped him join IU's fan club Yuaena, and when this process became known, he even earned the nickname 'Yuaena Grandpa'. IU invited him to this American tour.

At this IU concert, I talked to IU for about 15 minutes after the show. IU prepared a hanbok fabric bow tie, a norigae, a key ring, a signed album, and a handwritten letter. She also said she prepared a separate gift for her wife.

Mr. Latet said about IU on YouTube, "She was very pretty. She was incredibly affectionate. She's a very thoughtful person." He also showed a photo of IU with his wife.

View original image IU's world tour that has been ongoing for the past five months, including North America, has been a hot topic throughout. Starting with four performances at the K-POP Dome in Seoul Olympic Park in March, she has moved on to Yokohama, Taipei, Singapore, Jakarta, Hong Kong, Manila (Bulacan), Kuala Lumpur, London, Berlin, Bangkok, and Osaka before finally entering North America.

IU met audiences in 18 cities including Asia, Europe, and the Americas through this tour. This is the first time for a female solo artist in Korea, Lee Dam said.

During the ticket reservation process in each city, the site server was temporarily suspended and all tickets were sold out one after another. In particular, Kuala Lumpur recorded a peak of 820,000 visitors, and Jakarta recorded 630,000 visitors. Manila, where IU became the first Korean solo singer to enter a Philippine arena, made headlines locally.

The concert itself was also well-received, including the performance of 'Hollsee', the opening song of this world tour, with local child dancers.

View original image Above all, they presented special songs just for the local audience in each city for each performance. This means that they put more thought into it each time, rather than a fixed set list. In Yokohama and Osaka, they presented the stages of 'Beautiful Dancer', 'Voice Mail', and 'Good Day (jap. ver.)' that were released during their past local activities.

In Taipei, they sang "The One and Only" by the local mixed-gender band Accusefive. In Hong Kong, they chose "One Person's Realm" by singer-songwriter Terence Lam.

In Manila, she surprised everyone by performing "Pasilyo" by local band "Sunkissed Lola." Then, in London, she took up the acoustic guitar and sang Corinne Bailey Rae's "Like A Star." IU opened the concert for Rae when she performed in Korea on March 10, 2011, and she also sang a duet with Rae during the concert, "Put Your Records On."

In Bangkok, she covered singer NONT TANONT's "First Love." In Atlanta, she showed off her sense by changing her song "strawberry moon" to "blueberry moon" using the local specialty, blueberries. She also prepared new outfits for each city, and a representative example was in Rosemont, where she received cheers for wearing outfits with "roses" as the focal point.

You could also feel IU's warm heart towards her fans in the original image . Lee Dam said, "I tried to communicate as closely as possible with all the audience members who came to see the performance in the local language, and I kept saying thank you. I also gave them all reverse-delivery items that I had prepared in advance in Korea." During the performance, she gave flowers during "Blueming" and coins during "Coin" as audience events. To IU's passionate appearance, fans in each city responded with Korean sing-alongs for each song, passionate cheers, explosive cheering, and surprise slogan events. Local media outlets praised IU's outstanding singing ability, splendid stage performance, and her musical growth.

At the last show of her world tour, IU said, "I've said many words of gratitude today, but it's not enough, so I want to thank all the Elena (city name + U-Aena) fans who came to support or enjoy this world tour concert together, even though it wasn't the last." Finally, she concluded her official schedule by shouting, "I did it" and exiting.

Immediately after the end of this world tour, the consideration for the tour staff became a hot topic online. This is because a post was uploaded saying that IU bought business class plane tickets for all the staff members who were returning home after finishing a concert in the US. It was a group of about 100 people including the band, concert planning/technical, makeup/costume staff, dancers, and security.

Meanwhile, IU will hold an encore concert at the Seoul World Cup Stadium on September 21-22, marking the finale of her world tour. This will be the first time a solo female singer has entered Sangam Stadium. Following the first female artist in South Korea to enter Jamsil Main Stadium in 2022, she has once again clinched a 'first title' in the music industry.