Stopping off in London as part of the European leg of their All My Girls Tour, the divas of EVERGLOW lived up to the lyrics of their recent hit “Slay” when they took over O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire on Jan 30th.

The two-hour masterclass in how to slay promptly began at 7:30PM, when Sihyeon, E:U, Mia, Onda, Aisha and Yiren fiercely stomped out for the appropriately placed opening number, “FIRST” – the first as part of a triple whammy of EVERGLOW’s signature ferocious electro-pop followed by two more slices in “SLAY” and “Pirate.”

Instantly captivating audiences from the get-go, EVERGLOW made it clear that they meant business this evening as they nailed every step of their complex choreography in combat military boots. It was a triumphant moment for the girls, marking their comeback appearances on European soil since taking part in HallyuPopFest in June 2022, their first European tour, as well as a general resumption in activities after a lengthy hiatus was broken on August 18, 2023 by the release of All My Girls, which came after 20 months without new music.

The stage design was extremely minimal and with just a simple backdrop depicting their logo for stage visuals, this forced the focus to be solely on EVERGLOW with nothing to distract us from them.

With a lot to prove, EVERGLOW’s setlist for the All My Girls Tour offered a concise reminder of what fans love about the group. A well-rounded curation of energetic B-sides like “Player” and “No Lie” (2020) as well as “Don’t Speak” and “Company” (2021) fared well with the crowd, but it was the fan-favorite, retro ‘80s synth number “UNTOUCHABLE” (2020) which received one of the loudest responses of the night, especially thanks to the theatrical extended bridge intro. The soothing R&B-synth ballad “Hush” had reduced some fans to tears, as the girls sympathetically encouraged fans to dry their tears and join in with them to sing along.

Aside from the seriously electrifying chair choreography for “Moon” (2019), the highlights of the show of course came via EVERGLOW’s huge hits. The sassy “DUN DUN” (2020) had audiences chanting along to its infectious “you’re so done!” hook, while the powerful synth beats of “LA DI DA” (2020) saw the members quite literally working every inch of the stage through the choreography’s part-pilates, part-voguing dance moves. Meanwhile, the polished and synchronized “Adios” (2019) kept the energy high until the last moment.

Returning once more to serenade the audience with their tender electro-ballad “Back Together” (2021), EVERGLOW closed out the set with their breakout debut hit “Bon Bon Chocolat” (2019), utilizing the instrumental-heavy outro to throw gifts out into the crowd and pose for final fan photos before slipping off the stage for good.

The show proved that not only are EVERGLOW performance machines, they have also begun to master the art of crowd engagement. Although each of the girls were clearly experts in working the room, Aisha in particular seemed to be a crowd favourite, never failing to interact with anyone in the crowd and posing cutely for fan photos at any given moment.

Reclaiming their rightful place on the stage, here’s hoping EVERGLOW don’t wait too long to come back once again.

All photography by Elizabeth Motley.

EVERGLOW EU TOUR [ALL MY GIRLS] IN LONDON – Setlist:

  1. FIRST
  2. SLAY
  3. Pirate
  4. Player
  5. No Lie
  6. Unholy (Cover)
  7. Shout Out to My Ex (Cover)
  8. Don’t Speak
  9. Company
  10. DUN DUN
  11. Hush
  12. Oh Ma Ma God
  13. <K-POP Dance Cover>
  14. Moon
  15. UNTOUCHABLE
  16. LA DI DA
  17. Adios
  18. [Encore] Back Together
  19. [Encore] Bon Bon Chocolat

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