Photo courtesy of face to face/ZUMA Press/Newscom (Infinite)
(This show has been moved to The Fillmore in Silver Spring, Nov. 13 @ 8 p.m.; fillmoresilverspring.com)
Last year, South Korean musician Psy took U.S. radios hostage with mega-hit and dance craze “Gangnam Style.” Though the song’s appeal has finally faded, it has opened the door for more hits from the K-Pop genre. But what is K-Pop, anyway? K-Pop—an abbreviation of Korean Pop—blends catchy beats and chords with Korean lyrics.
Like Western pop music, performances often walk the line between extravagant and ridiculous with vibrant costumes, flashy light shows and finely-tuned dance numbers a la Lady Gaga or Katy Perry. And here’s the best part: You don’t need to visit the Korea peninsula to witness the phenomenon.
Meet Infinite, the seven-member sensation performing at George Mason University’s Patriot Center Wednesday, Nov. 13. If you’ve never heard of the group, don’t feel behind on the times. This is the band’s first U.S. tour, and Patriot Center’s General Manager Barry Geisler says the group is relatively unknown here.
“They’re an up and coming group … but they have a very strong core audience that is growing.” Whether or not audiences have heard the band’s singles, their ‘80s-inspired synth melodies and choreography should strike a familiar chord with U.S. audiences. “It’s not unlike what One Direction is doing in pop music,” says Geisler. Could Infinite be the next Psy? With more than a billion YouTube views clocked under “Gangnam Style,” alone, it’s unlikely the group will reach that level of stardom. Still, K-Pop might be poised for a big surge in popularity—much like the British invasion of U.S. pop music in the mid-1960s. At least that’s what Geisler is betting on. “It may take more than just this one show in order for South Korean pop music to explode in the United States. We may be a year or two early on this. We’ll see.”—Tim Regan
(November 2013)