“Wait just a little longer, I’m coming.” Words from the song “Eclipse” flowed out in the the video’s background that opened Season of Memories, GFRIEND’s three-day 10th-anniversary concert at Olympic Hall in Seoul from January 17, with the group shown onscreen in a school classroom. Next, the screen displayed the title of the concert. After everything went dark, a school bell rang out. It was clear to everyone at that moment. GFRIEND was back.

“Even though so much time had passed, we hoped that the moment that bell rang, it would make people feel, it’s GFRIEND just as we knew and loved them,” GFRIEND member YUJU said. That one short sound instantly stirred up images of the group’s “school trilogy” era, one including songs like “Glass Bead,” “Me gustas tu,” and “Rough.” As the concert kicked off with “Me gustas tu,” the six-member group stepped onto the stage, singing, “My excitement for you,” performing iconic dance moves with outstretched arms. GFRIEND was indeed back, and they’d brought their airtight choreography with them. “We wanted to subtly convey the message that, despite the time that had passed, GFRIEND remains the same as ever,” Park So Yeon, head of the SOURCE MUSIC Performance Directing Team, explained. The first part of the concert featured songs that embody GFRIEND’s signature image of “powerful innocence,” like “Me gustas tu,” “NAVILLERA,” and “LOVE WHISPER.” The lineup was envisioned as a way “to fully let fans reminisce about the past and immerse themselves in the performance,” according to Park. Celebrating their 10th anniversary, GFRIEND performed their earliest hits for the first time in ages with a talent that hasn’t tapered over time in the slightest, evoking a certain amount of nostalgic affection from BUDDY. While these older songs stirred up memories, the group also performed some songs for the first time to give the concert even greater depth. “If I were BUDDY, I would’ve wanted to see these too, so there was no question” about including “Apple” and “MAGO” in the set list for the first time at an in-person concert, SOWON said. SINB held a similar view, adding, “BUDDY never got a chance to see those songs live before since they were released during the pandemic, and because of that, we wanted to make sure they could enjoy them in person now.” Transitioning to the second part of the concert, the group traded their white outfits for black and premiered high-octane arrangements of their songs. The GFRIEND members danced up a storm, escalating the excitement of their luxurious concert with performances of “RAINBOW,” “FLOWER,” and “Only 1”.

“We had actually initially planned for ‘Time for the moon night’ to be the last song right before the encore,” Lee Jun Sung, head of production at SOURCE MUSIC, explained, having played an active role in planning the show. The second half of the concert, and arguably the highlight, absolutely elevated the group’s image of “passionate melancholy.” Fans were shown a video titled “Snowflake” that treated them to a history of GFRIEND’s music videos in reverse chronological order. The six members of the group, wearing outfits inspired by their early days, then performed “Rough” against a backdrop prominently displaying the hands of a clock. The girls continued to turn up the heat with “Crossroads,” “Sunrise,” and “Time for the moon night,” by which point the group had brought their passionate melancholy all the way into the present. “Crossroads” was already a bridge between the past and present when it was first released, and it once again connected the GFRIEND of then to the GFRIEND of now. Equally poignant was the way the lyrics to “Rough” (“We’ll end up together somehow”) became the connecting thread of the concert and a symbol of GFRIEND keeping their promise to BUDDY. “Sunrise” and “Time for the moon night” were “performed together in the same order at the earlier Go Go GFRIEND! concert,” Lee explained of the pair of tracks the group sang before the encore and what they hoped to convey to their fans by doing so. “And the fans look at the two songs as a set, so we decided to group them together here as well.” As expected, the members showcased their intricate and precise choreography for both tracks as the audience enthusiastically responded with fan chants—including calling out UMJI’s name—and singing along to the choruses. “Since this is our first time back on the stage in a long time, I really wanted to hear people say, ‘That’s the GFRIEND we know and love!’” SOWON said, “and I think the rest of the group felt the same.” And no doubt BUDDY’s impression of the concert lined up with what she had hoped for—an unmistakably GFRIEND performance.

SOWON, who’s also recently been dipping her toes into the world of acting, “started practicing on her own ahead of time to create the right circumstances to allow her to dance,” Lee noted, adding that both the group and their staff operated under a mindset that “if we’re doing this then we’re doing it right” and that “we’re not doing this haphazardly.” Even though they were busy with their own lives all throughout, the group members kept themselves focused on training for the concert, getting themselves into shape through an exercise regimen. “Instead of making the set list with our energy levels in mind, we came up with the best set list first, then practiced to keep up our energy levels to keep up with that,” YUJU said, reflecting a collective determination to put on a great show. “Because the members had worked together for so long, they quickly got themselves in sync, as if they’d been working together just the day before,” Park elaborated, highlighting how the chemistry among the group’s members made up for any lost time and powered their performances. “They hit the sweet spot sooner than expected, which helped them get themselves fully ready without any major setbacks.” The Directing Team head also explained how “recalling and getting physically reacquainted with the choreography, and getting all six of them on the same page for every detail, wasn’t easy at first,” including for some tracks that were never singles. But the group ultimately readied themselves for a great concert thanks to their incredible teamwork. They were even comfortably running through ideas together while rehearsing the day before the show, gladly going back over their timing as a group when one of them suggested they try it one more time through. “I couldn’t believe how smoothly it all went, never talking over one another or having any long pauses,” SINB recalled. “It just flowed naturally.” The girls even charmed their audiences with adroit crowd work and animated banter among themselves whenever there was a break in the set list, ensuring there wasn’t a dull moment the entire show. The deep connection the group has built up with BUDDY over time is also what gave the members the energy to keep going throughout the entirety of the concert despite its length. “I remember how when we sometimes felt our energy slipping, we would purposely hold each other’s hands even tighter during those dance moves,” YUJU said, “and energize each other.”

“It’s been so long since we did a concert in person,” EUNHA said, “and I wanted to make sure we made something every single person in the audience could enjoy.” Indeed, the concert marked the first reunion between GFRIEND and BUDDY post-pandemic, and it reflected the group’s ideas and care, from the thoughtful set list to the fantastic performances and even the way they made the rounds on the stage to better connect with their fans. “It was the group members who proposed holding microphones in their hands and going around to the fans in the audience as they sang a group of songs including ‘Tarot Cards,’ ‘Water Flower,’ and some from the ‘wind series,’” Lee explained. Such meticulous touches transformed the concert into more than just a special event—it became “a concert painstakingly arranged piece by piece,” the production head added. “Given how monumental this concert would be, we wanted to perform as many of our singles as possible,” UMJI said, “and we really thought we should include some of our other songs that got a lot of love, too.” The result was a concert packed with more than 20 songs that all flowed together seamlessly with back-to-back choreography, reflecting the group’s earnest wish to honor their 10th anniversary. The dedication GFRIEND put in gave their audiences a show that encompassed the group’s iconic clockwork dance routines to songs like “Crush” and “RAINBOW,” a fresh dance break in “FINGERTIP,” and the classic kicks of “Glass Bead” looking as energetic as ever. The group also spiced things up by opening the ballad segment of the concert with a different song each night—they went with “TRUST” on the first—and choosing songs that hold special meaning for their fans, like “Here We Are,” the song they closed their previous (online) concert with, giving the audience plenty of opportunities to listen closely to the lyrics. “We wanted to capture the feeling of joy that came with being together again in concert, especially with the end of the encore,” Lee revealed, discussing the significance of the B-side off the Season of Memories special album that was chosen to be the concert’s last song. “‘Always’ was a song the members were particularly fond of and even helped write the lyrics for, and we’d envisioned it as the final track for this concert from the moment it was included on the album.” With its upbeat vibe and promise to “always and forever be by your side,” “Always” transformed what would otherwise have inevitably become a bittersweet farewell into a heartfelt celebration of GFRIEND’s 10th anniversary milestone.

“I wanted to hear BUDDY chanting all our names individually more than anything else, and they were amazing at singing along and doing the fan chants,” YERIN recalled. “I was so happy.” The resounding cheers and enthusiasm from BUDDY were more than just a grateful response for the return to the stage—they were also thanks to the sincerity and trustworthiness GFRIEND conveyed through their performance. “Getting this concert ready within the constraints of such a short timeframe was no easy task, but everyone was incredibly determined,” Lee said of GFRIEND. “I think the reason the members of GFRIEND were able to so quickly get ready for the show and make this concert possible was because they always kept the group close to their hearts.” Putting on a concert that celebrates the group’s 10-year journey together might seem simple at first glance, but it’s anything but. It’s a feat that only GFRIEND could ever pull off—in the season of compassion they share with BUDDY.