[Herald Review] K-pop diva Taeyeon leaves audience in awe with a cappella performance

It took more than three years for Taeyeon of Girls’ Generation to hold a solo concert in-person.

The excitement from thousands of fans seated at the KSPO Dome in Seoul on Sunday to finally see their star onstage fired up the venue even before the concert began.

As soon as the lights dimmed to signal the beginning of Taeyeon’s fifth solo concert “The ODD Of LOVE,” the audience aroused an ear-deafening cheer and the dome was rippling in pink lights coming from the fan lights.

The diva signaled the grandiose opening of her concert with her recent hit track “INVU.”

The fan chants as she appeared on a lift wearing a long black dress was impressively passionate, enough to leave one with goosebumps.

Led by a live band session, Taeyeon did not perform any choreography for her dance track “INVU” to focus on her vocal performance.

When the first part of the concert came to an end with beautiful fireworks, an English-speaking fan shouted out loud, “We missed you like crazy!”

“It’s been a long time. Thank you for waiting three years. I missed you guys too. I know you’ve got a lot you want to tell me. I’ll be listening. Please enjoy tonight’s concert,” Taeyeon told fans.

Taeyeon took some time to make eye contact with her fans on all sides of the dome, and to take in the moment.

She expressed her gratitude to her fans for their love and support by singing her fan song “Heart.”

The performance brought tears to many in the audience.

The diva then brightened up the atmosphere with cute and energetic performances of her tracks “Weekend,” “No Love Again” and “Stress.”

Concertgoers were on their feet, dancing and singing along with the artist.

Taeyeon also seemed to be enjoying the concert, making the most of the wide stage to communicate better with her fans.

“I hope you release your stress with me. That’s why I came up with this setlist full of bright songs. I see a lot of foreign fans here tonight. I will make sure to gift you a memorable night,” she said.

Taeyeon tried to incorporate a lot of live instrumental sounds with not only a live band session, but also with an acoustic guitar perfect for her performance of the track “Playlist.”

She even directed the spotlight on the concert's band and dancers, giving some time to each to perform.

“Most of the tracks on tonight’s setlist is from my third LP, which I dropped during the pandemic. I wanted to perform them in this concert because I was not able to do it back then,” said Taeyeon.

There were many celebrities at the concert showing support for Taeyeon. Among them were Yoonah, Sooyoung, Tiffany and Hoyeon of Girls' Generation.

When the girl group members were shown on the big screen onstage, they made different cute poses, which made the audience -- many of which are also Girls' Generation fans -- go wild.

Then came the highlight of the night, as Taeyeon unleashed her full vocal skills for “Fine,” filling the dome with her voice.

For the second verse of the track, the band went silent, and she sang completely unaccompanied.

Taeyeon’s 30-second a cappella performance left the audience awestruck.

She wrapped up the concert with “Drawing Our Moments” during which the stage was adorned with silver glitter that filled the air.

But it was too soon for her fans to let her go. The audience chanted for an encore, chanting, “Kim Taeyeon, we love you!” until she came back on stage.

“At first, I was worried that I would be too exhausted to carry out this concert, but instead, I am leaving here with all your energy. I hope to see you in many more concerts to come,” said Taeyeon as she wrapped her two-day concert in Seoul.