On April 24th, 2022, aespa officially debuted at Coachella Valley Festival - one of the
largest international music events.
Being the third K-pop girl group after 2NE1 and BLACKPINK to perform on this eminent stage,
aespa both captivated the attention and drew mixed opinions surrounding their performance.
The appearance of a girl group that is still in the infancy phase at Coachella has caused
many people to question whether aespa has the ability to own the stage and compete with
several seniors who have performed on the same stage.
Some even regarded aespa’s stage as “unimpressive” and “disappointing”, especially when comparing
with BLACKPINK who delivered phenomenal performances at the same event.
After taking a closer look at aespa's performance, netizens pointed out 4 main points that make
aespa sadly considered “inferior” to BLACKPINK this time.
1.
No remix or live band
So, to the surprise of many people, aespa performed at Coachella completely using the
original soundtrack of the songs without having a new remix version that would be strong and
bold enough to be suitable for the outdoor stage.
Some said that the way aespa used their pre-recorded instruments as if they were performing at
a weekly music show in their homeland showed the lack of thoughtfulness in their preparing
for the night and ironically, their Black Mamba performance at Music Bank was even believed
to be way better than the same performance at Coachella.
Despite singing fully live, it seems that aespa were not able to win over the crowd
and stand out among other famous artists of the festival with their so-called mediocre
performance.
Meanwhile, at Coachella 2019’s stage, BLACKPINK got to perform with a live band.
The live band made a huge contribution to BLACKPINK’s lively and vibrant performance.
The heavy rock elements and strong bass boosted the vigorous beat of the songs and stirred
up the whole crowd.
It seems that the band has breathed new life into the group’s iconic songs and allowed
the girls to rock the stage.
According to netizens, aespa is a promising group and their performance held much potential
to be Kpop’s next iconic Coachella stage yet the music was not inviting enough, especially
to Western audiences who are looking for artists with wild and free aura.
Their songs were already hype and adequately exciting for any outdoor events, and SM Entertainment
only had to amplify them a bit, but they didn’t.
Had the company put more effort into aespa’s stage and hired a live band for the group
or at least remix the soundtracks, the girls’ performance could have been much more appropriate
for this large-scale festival.
2.
Random lighting and backdrops
Another reason why BLACKPINK’s stage was considered so much more enticing and captivating
was because of their fire backdrops and lighting.
The production team had utilized the screen to fit in every part of Blackpink’s songs
and dance movements.
When the beat dropped and the music reached its climax, the lighting mimicking explosives
really burned the stage, adding to the irresistible aura of the performance.
[chèn đoạn cao trào khi BP biểu diễn Du-ddu-du-ddu - âm thanh gốc] BLACKPINK
- '뚜두뚜두 (DDU-DU DDU-DU)' 2019 Coachella Live Performance.
It is safe to say that the powerful backdrops had successfully complemented every beat in
BLACKPINK’s songs, providing a helping hand in creating one of Kpop’s most historic
moments.
On the other hand, taking a closer look at aespa’s performance at Coachella, it is
clear that the background was underwhelming, tedious and inadequate to such an important
stage.
Additionally, the backdrop hardly had any connections to the songs and even appeared
randomly on the screen.
At times, the whole stage even went dark and it was hard to see what was going on there.
Many fans have expressed their discontent about how negligently SM Entertainment prepared
for the girls’ backdrops and said that the company should have paid more attention to
this part of the performance to accentuate the exciting vibe of the songs.
Netizens also claimed that more proper lighting effects could have given more life to aespa’s
stage, complimented the vibrant beats of the songs and made a huge difference.
3.
Hardcore choreography
Frankly speaking, aespa’s choreography is more sophisticated than that of BLACKPINK.
The choreographies of “Black Mamba” and “Next Level” have become one of the most
iconic choreographies of Kpop gen4 due to their extreme level of difficulty, and aespa
never fails to overwhelm Kpop fans with their amazing dance performance.
However, when it comes to performing on big stages like Coachella, they seem to be outshone
by their senior group’s simpler and synchronous choreography.
For BlackPink, their dance movements allow them to open their body widely, move more
freely and give off a wild aura - which is much sought-after by international audiences.
The choreographies of BLACKPINK were relatively visually speaking, especially when seen from
afar.
Moreover, instead of paying full attention to perform each difficult dance correctly,
with simple choreographies, BLACKPINK can truly enjoy the stage and command attention
from the crowd.
That’s also said, since aespa’s choreographies were more complicated, they had to concentrate
more on each of their dance moves and that seemed quite stressful and distracting.
Some netizens claimed that the group gradually lost their energy toward the end of their
performances and performed in a somewhat dissatisfying manner.
Their movements are considered not strong enough or even lackluster when compared to
that of BLACKPINK, if not like they were doing “exercises”.
Maybe it was the anxiety that caused aespa to lose their usual confidence, and we can
see evidence on their tense faces.
In addition, these difficult choreographies were also said to deprive aespa of the stamina
to deliver decent vocal performance and varying facial expressions.
Perhaps the group should have sit down with the choreographer to recreate some parts of
the choreography to truly rock the stage or even create some extra freestyle dance movements
to bring a more wonderful performance.
4.
Unsettled stage presence
It is undeniable that BLACKPINK’s stage presence at Coachella was overwhelming.
The girls gave off a natural powerful aura and charmed every audience at the festival.
We can feel that every single member of the group was fully enjoying their performance
and they all burst with energy.
Everyone knows that music and choreography are two extremely important factors for a
successful performance, but Blackpink’s confidence and great stage presence are said
to be the ones that took the whole performance to the next level.
BLACKPINK also made better use of English to connect with the audiences.
Rose’s bold statement “This song is called ‘As if its your last’ so I want everybody
to dance like its your last” really hyped up the crowd and prepared the audience for
another amazing music experience.
Aespa’s members, however, failed at both giving off their confident aura and captivating
the attention of the audience.
Although Giselle and Ningning were outstanding, the remaining girls were said to not feeling
themselves on the stage, therefore, their connection with the crowd was loosened.
Many netizens claimed that as a group, aespa couldn’t deliver a continuous and synchronous
performance since Winter and Karina were outshone by the other two and were quite nervous.
It's not surprising that most of the comments said that aespa is the worst among all the
Kpop groups that have ever appeared at Coachella.
Besides, many people also believe that aespa should practice and gain more experience before
appearing on any high-class stages.
However, it seems that the most frustrating thing still went down to how hasty SM was
to let aespa, who are only a 1.5 year-old rookie with an unsettled stage presence, perform
at such a big stage like Coachella.
Although aespa is a potential act of Kpop and they deserved their chance to perform
at Coachella, maybe they were not ready for that.
So, do you agree with the reasons above?
Are there any other points that you want to add to the list?
Comment down below to share your thoughts with us.