SEVENTEEN successfully toured nine cities from Seoul to Macau and held 20 concerts under the title “SEVENTEEN TOUR ‘FOLLOW’.” And now they have come back with an encore tour “‘FOLLOW’ AGAIN,” the first time all 13 members went on the stage together over the course of the “FOLLOW” tour. The members promised CARATs (the name of their fandom) in Macau, the last city of their tour, that all 13 of them would come back soon, and now they are delivering on that promise. It’s been 10 years since their debut, but SEVENTEEN is still prancing about on the humongous stadium stage with endless energy. The stage design and performance is as grand as the size of the venue. The set list tells the story of SEVENTEEN’s growth and the live band session captivates the eyes and ears of the viewers. Furthermore, various events and exhibitions that take place before and after the concert transforms the tour into a festival for SEVENTEEN and CARATs. With SEVENTEEN’s long journey of “FOLLOW” and “‘FOLLOW’ AGAIN” behind us, we have put together a report on the “‘FOLLOW’ AGAIN” tour covering everything from the production costs, preparation process, and stories from behind the scenes of the “SEVENTEEN the City” including the cruise party, and SEVENTEEN Taxi.
1. Tour Schedule
SEVENTEEN's encore tour SEVENTEEN TOUR “'FOLLOW' AGAIN" opened at large-scale stadiums in Korea and Japan. It kicked off at the Incheon Asiad Main Stadium on March 30 and 31, then moved to the Seoul World Cup Stadium on April 27 and 28, Yanmar Stadium Nagai in Osaka on May 18 and 19, and finally Nissan Stadium in Kanagawa on May 25 and 26—a total of eight concerts in four cities. It was originally slated to be held in three stadiums in Korea and Japan, but the Seoul World Cup Stadium was added to the roster thanks to the fans’ passionate support. SEVENTEEN hit several important milestones during this tour; they were the first K-pop group to hold a solo show at the Incheon Asiad Main Stadium, and performed at Kanagawa Nissan Stadium, which is the largest concert venue in Japan - undoubtedly one of the most coveted venues among artists. They have now moved onto the stadium, which is the largest concert venue, from the dome. The growing size of the venue is a poignant metaphor of SEVENTEEN’s 10-year journey.
2. SETLIST
“It was an encore concert, but the staff and artists agreed that doing something different should be their overarching goal.” The setlist for the encore tour “'FOLLOW' AGAIN" was also changed from the “FOLLOW” tour. PLEDIS AnR Team Leader Lee Hyo-jin explained that “We know that CARATs spend a lot of their time and resources to come to this concert. We believe that giving them a unique concert experience is the least we can do.” The entire show was accompanied by a live band session which influenced the setlist. Songs that would work the best with a band were specially chosen as this tour was the first time for SEVENTEEN to hold an all-band concert with all members there. PLEDIS Performance Directing LP Yoon Hye-rim “felt that “Rock with you” would highlight the live band the most, and would fill up the huge venue,” explaining why it replaced “THANKS.”
Also, the number of unit performances was increased from two to three. The unit performance showcased at the first venue in Incheon included the Vocal Team’s “Yawn,” the Performance Team's “Back 2 Back,” and the Hip Hop Team’s “Monster,” all off their 11th mini album SEVENTEENTH HEAVEN, and performed for the first time. Yoon explained that because of how the stadiums are built, it takes a long time for the artists to move closer to the audience between performances, and that they added one more song to give the fans what they want, which is to see more performances. The last song performed at the second venue, Seoul World Cup Stadium, was changed to the latest pre-released song off their best album 17 IS RIGHT HERE. There is a lot more to prepare, from the band arrangement down to the performance, but Team Leader Lee explained that it was all possible because SEVENTEEN were determined to show something extraordinary to the fans at Sangam. “Ima (Even if the world ends tomorrow)” which was added to the setlist for Incheon and Sangam as the encore was sung in Korean and was the first time it was ever performed in Korea. “The song was only ever performed in Japan, so we think that the fans looked forward to it the most,” said Local Concert Business Team 1 Leader Hwang Hye-young. The setlist for SEVENTEEN’s “'FOLLOW' AGAIN" was the result of searching for what CARATs wanted to get the most out of the concert based on years of touring experience.
3. Behind the scenes
“SEVENTEEN will always try new things,” said Yoon, and every moment of the encore concert was new and different. Hwang added that “SEVENTEEN members and the staff alike are always determined to do something new.” They incorporated different design elements for the stage depending on the setlist and the situation at each venue. For example, WOOZI alone descended from the ceiling on the wire in the original “FOLLOW” concert opening, whereas all 13 members appeared from the lift in the encore tour. Hwang said that it’s difficult for a team with this many members to effectively use the stage devices, but they wanted to show the fans an entrance that they’ve never shown them before. SEVENTEEN has put on many concerts so far, but since it was the first stadium concert in Korea, they came up with new ideas that could only be executed outdoors, like fireworks and drone shows. At the Seoul World Cup Stadium, where putting on a drone show wasn’t feasible, they switched their plan to using a hot air balloon. They even finished rehearsing but couldn’t carry through because of the windy weather much to the disappointment of everyone involved. Performing all numbers with a band session was also a first. Lee explained how they spent a long time arranging the tracks: “The original tracks were rearranged for the band, then adjusted so that it would reflect the liveliness of the venue. We also considered how the fans would feel watching the show.” Hwang said that “the members became so much more energetic when they first practiced with the band because of the different, livelier feel. They loved the sound, saying that the band gave them a lot of energy and the concert will be a blast.” Both the members and the production staff learned how powerful a band could be.
SEVENTEEN decided that they would do a special pre-release performance at the Seoul encore concert before they came back with their best album on April 29. The powerful performance and choreography of “MAESTRO” that resembled a conductor swinging his arms marked the return of SEVENTEEN. The dance break that features incredibly agile footwork to the beat of the metronome is in the house genre, which SEVENTEEN performed for the first time. Team Leader Yoon Hye-rim who has overseen SEVENTEEN’s choreography from before their debut explained how passionate the members are: “It was the first time the members learned house except when they practiced the basic steps as trainees. Everyone thought it was tough, but they had a lot of fun learning something new. SEVENTEEN’s next choreography gets harder than the last, but none of the members try to get out of practice. They always say they’ll try.” “We wanted to break free from the image of a group with 10 years’ experience. A lot of people probably would think that they would slowly start to sit down and sing and dance more gently, but we talked with the members that we wanted none of that.” Lee who participated in creating SEVENTEEN’s music for a long time said that she wanted to show the fans how full of energy SEVENTEEN is even after all these years through the “MAESTRO” performance. The members always share their opinions and find ways to improve their performance, so they tend to make adjustments even after their final rehearsal. Yoon chuckled as she said all the members are highly ambitious when it comes to music. Just like DK said, who introduced himself as “an idol of 10 years who still shakes when going up on the stage” at the first concert of the “'FOLLOW' AGAIN" tour, SEVENTEEN always push themselves to put on even better performances, and so they always get nervous before going on stage.
Their encore tour was meaningful in that it was the first performance with all 13 members on stage in the “FOLLOW” tour. When they were promoting “God of Music” S.COUPS wasn’t able to participate, which makes the encore tour their first full-house performance. Lee said that “S.COUPS and JEONGHAN are still recovering but they were highly determined to perform as much as they could” explaining how they continuously checked the members’ health, and adjusted the stage blocking to ensure that all members could perform together. Yoon confessed that she teared up watching all the members on stage together, performing together without disbanding after all these years. The last corner in SEVENTEEN’s concert “Infinite A-Nice (무한 아나스, Short for “Infinite Very Nice (무한 아주 NICE)” which refers to the situation where the concert doesn’t end because the fans repeat the phrase “very nice” over and over again )” the members made eye contact and put their arms around each other, sharing their overwhelming emotions as they ran around the stage. Lee describes this moment perfectly: “Every single member is amazing, but what you get when everyone is there together is something else.” Just like WOOZI’s comment, “Today felt like a 10-year long day to us,” this tour was an overview of SEVENTEEN's entire career that is going on 10 years since their debut on May 26, 2015. Lee hopes that the fans trust SEVENTEEN and continue to “FOLLOW” them going forward just like the title of the tour. “There’s a line in “Super” that goes “We’ll never rest, every day, make it, make it / Don’t break till we make it” I hope that CARATs can stay by SEVENTEEN’s side in everything they do.”
4. SEVENTEEN THE CITY
SEVENTEEN’s encore tour was accompanied by a set of events called “SEVENTEEN the City” which is a festival that is held across the entire hosting city. This city concert play park using SEVENTEEN's IP will be first established in Incheon and Seoul, then in Osaka and Yokohama, Japan along with the concert. IPX CX Design Office Leader Moon Yoon-ji who is a part of the “SEVENTEEN the City” staff explained the planning around this event: “This concert is like a large-scale festival. There are a lot of activities the fans can participate in and enjoy instead of just seeing the concert then going home. We tried to enhance the fan experience.” We even took the fans’ way to and from the venue into consideration - we decorated some of the airport railroad cars with portraits of SEVENTEEN members, ran paid shuttle services to and from the airport to the concert venue, and a free shuttle bus circulating the concert area. IPX Brand Business Planning Team Leader Lee Seung-yeop said, “If the concert venue being too far away to the point where it was inconvenient for the fans is a “minus” then providing transportation elevates that to a “zero” and various events raises that further to a “plus.” This is the type of tour that we wanted to create.”
The before-party, which took on the form of a DJing party on a cruise ship with the fans, was a first among “HYBE the City” project. Lee said that they wanted an activity that was befitting to the city of Incheon and thought, “Let’s get a boat!” To this, Moon added that the cruise party held before the Incheon concert sold out in a mere eight minutes. The light up event which involved lighting the Yeongjong Grand Bridge in rose quarts, which is one of SEVENTEEN’s official colors, was possible because of the staff’s efforts behind the scenes. Lee explained, “we had to work late at night to realize the delicate official color. The computer color coding and the color of the actual physical lights are significantly different, so we had to go through four or five trial and errors before we could get the perfect shade.” The staff also mentioned that the SEVENTEEN members contributed a lot to the project. They never hesitated to get us the content that we needed for the various events like their voice recordings. S.COUPS even reacted on Weverse, saying “The cruise looks like a blast” expressing his excitement.
Lee mentioned that “SEVENTEEN the City” was a “project that illustrated the status of SEVENTEEN” and added that “the fan’s participation was highly affected by the artists’ charm and charisma.” Just like Moon who witnessed the power of fandom CARAT through this project, said, “SEVENTEEN the City” was possible thanks to the fandom CARAT. Lee said that “When we ran the Seongsu Lounge and exhibitions, the staff was pleasantly surprised by how gentle the fans were.” He also added that he felt a sense of accomplishment, “when the message wall ran out of space, the fans climbed onto each other’s shoulders and filled their social media feed with what “SEVENTEEN the City” events they will go to tomorrow or the day after.” The festival becomes full and complete when CARATs happily come to “CARAT the City,” which is essentially an event made for CARATs.
5. CARAT
“It’s CARATs’ time!” SEVENTEEN walked off stage with the promise that they’ll be back soon, but the music in the venue kept on playing. “CARAT Time” which is one of the highlights of the tour was to follow shortly. When Minkyu apologized, “I’m so sorry CARAT, but you can’t sit down.” Please stand up,” everyone stood, sang and danced to SEVENTEEN's song. The concert venue that the members vacated was filled with the voices of CARATs. Hwang said that SEVENTEEN members know that CARATs can have a good time without them, and that they wanted to give the fans some time to enjoy themselves during the concert.” Yoon said that “it was our goal to make a concert that the fans don't just view but participate in and can keep the smile on the fans’ faces even on their way home. This was how “CARAT Time” came to be. It was one of the most anticipated corners of the members and the staff. Lee had her concerns though: “We worried that the fans would take the time to go to the bathroom or just stand there and wait for the members to come back, but they had a lot of fun which was very exciting and rewarding for us.” The event was a success, and they increased the six-minute CARAT Time in Incheon to 10 minutes in Sangam.
SEVENTEEN and CARAT reaffirmed their dedication to one another during the drone show at the first venue of the encore concert Incheon. The drones told a story to the backdrop of the song “April Shower.” It started with a seed which grew to a tree, which then bore fruit. The fruit changed to different CARATs which came together to become one large CARAT. According to DINO, the tree that the drones portrayed was an olive tree which is the birth flower of SEVENTEEN who debuted in May. The next drone show played out to “All My Love,” which was made up of messages that the fans sent before the start of the concert. CARATs confessed their love - “If you ask what love is, it's SEVENTEEN,” “I’m going to be CARAT in my next life too!” - thanked SEVENTEEN for “adding color to my life” and promised that they would “shine light on you (SEVENTEEN) anytime, anywhere.” CARAT and SEVENTEEN’s story that lit up the sky was a promise declared to the sky: “our dazzling promise will never be broken.”
The second venue of the encore tour, the Seoul World Cup Stadium in Sangam was a special place for SEVENTEEN members and CARAT. “We have a lot of memories from this place, which makes it extra special and emotional to hold a concert here with CARATs. I think we’ve been working hard for this very moment” said S.COUPS, which perfectly illustrates SEVENTEEN’s growth that was possible because CARATs have been there every step of the way. SEVENTEEN sang as they searched for their fans in the small section designated for CARATs in the audience at the 2019 Dream Concert. But now in 2024, the entire stadium is filled with CARATs. A lot has changed since then, but one thing that remains the same is the fact that SEVENTEEN and CARATs will always be together, and that they are facing one another at the huge concert. Holding a concert in a large venue like this means that “it feels like our biggest dream came true, but what’s more important is that we made more incredible memories with CARATs. CARATs are the reason for SEVENTEEN’s existence,” confessed DINO. SEVENTEEN is special only when CARATs are there. “I saw these children patting each other on the back for some reason on my way home. I smiled to myself because they reminded me of CARATs and SEVENTEEN. Thank you so much for encouraging us and keeping in step with us.” Whis is what WOOZI posted after the Seoul concert. SEVENTEEN and CARAT will always move forward, as they always have, having fun along the way. All the while encouraging each other and patting each other on the back.