KCON LA 2025·여수 My FESTA·SHINee 17th Anniversary: A Series of K-POP Concerts Unfold

This summer, the K-POP concert market is set to heat up. KCON LA 2025, the world’s largest K-POP fan & artist festival, will take place from August 1 to 3 at the Los Angeles Convention Center and Crypto.com Arena in the United States. The event introduces a new stage called “X STAGE” designed for emerging artists. X STAGE serves as a dedicated platform where new K-POP acts can communicate directly with global fans, continuing KCON’s tradition of discovering talent. KCON is well known as the venue where major artists such as BTS, SEVENTEEN, ATEEZ, and TWICE performed in their early careers. This year’s X STAGE lineup includes 10 groups: 82MAJOR, HITGS, ifeye, NEWBEAT, Kik5o, So Soo Bin, from20, HELLO GLOOM, LIM SEJUN, and KANG YUCHAN. In particular, HITGS is a five-member girl group that made its debut in April, while ifeye is a six-member girl group that also debuted in April; the name stands for “Imagine & Find, Energetic Young Eyes.” In South Korea, Yeosu City will host a K-POP concert as the main event of “2025 My FESTA in Yeosu” in June. Seven groups—STAYC, ONF, Paul Kim, Ailee, xikers, LIGHTSUM, and Jung Seung-won—have confirmed their participation. The concerts will be held twice on June 13 and 15 at a special stage located behind the Sky Tower at the Yeosu World Expo Complex. The first performance will feature popular idol groups and singers who embody “Korean sensibility,” while the second performance will showcase highly skilled singers. Before the concerts, award-winning overseas cover dance teams from countries such as the Philippines, Mexico, and Turkey will perform special acts. The finale will consist of a drone light show with 1,000 drones lighting up the night sky. Admission to the concerts is free, and online ticket sales will begin at 4 p.m. on May 30 through TicketLink. On-site ticket sales will also be available starting at 10 a.m. on the day of the event, with tickets available for the first 340 seats only. Meanwhile, SHINee held its solo concert “SHINee WORLD VII [E.S.S.A.Y]” from May 23 to 25 at the Gymnastics Stadium in Seoul’s Olympic Park (KSPO Dome). This concert marked their 17th anniversary and was planned to recount their 17-year journey like an essay. The final performance on May 25 held extra significance as it coincided with their 17th anniversary date. The concert started with the new song “Poet | Artist,” which was written by the late Jonghyun for SHINee and also served as his last work in 2018. The finale of the concert was titled “The Words You Left Behind,” a song written by SHINee for Jonghyun, whose chorus includes the lyrics, “The beautiful words you left behind have become a poem and then a song.” SM Entertainment boosted fans’ excitement by launching “SHINee Week” one week before the concert, streaming videos of SHINee’s first through fifth solo concerts every night on their official YouTube channel.