The septet was announced as the final artist attending the Los Angeles portion of KCON 2016 Presented by Toyota. The group made their KCON debut last summer shortly after releasing their first EP, Trespass, and set the night in motion with a powerful performance that had the crowd clamoring for more. Billboard’s Jeff Benjamin compared Monsta X’s reception last year to that seen by BTS in 2014, which bodes well for the sophomoric boy band, since BTS is headlining both the East and West Coast legs of KCON USA this summer.
Ever since their appearance at KCON LA last year, Monsta X has kept busy by putting out two EPs — including last month’s The Clan, Pt 1 Lost, which peaked at No. 5 on the World Albums chart — and have raised the bar for dynamic performances from rookie K-pop acts. Their energetic style featured on the brassy “Hero” and their most recent single, the aggressive trap track “All In,” have resulted in a surge in popularity from the group and made them fore-runners of the newest generation of K-pop boy bands.
Monsta X will perform at KCON LA’s second concert on Sunday, July 31. Others who will perform that night are BTS, ASTRO, Girls’ Generation- TTS, and fresh-faced girl group Twice. The previous day, Saturday, July 30, will feature SHINee, I.O.I, GFRIEND, CNBLUE, DEAN, and Block B, the only other act to return to KCON LA for the second consecutive year.
The three-day convention returns to the Staples Center and Los Angeles Convention Center on July 29-31. The East Coast counterpart, KCON NY, will return to Newark, New Jersey’s Prudential Center a month earlier on June 24-25, and feature Mamamoo, DAY6, Seventeen, Ailee, BTS, BTOB, Eric Nam, Crush and Dynamic Duo.
KCON LA combo and platinum tickets go on sale tomorrow, June 10, at 10 a.m. PT. Regular ticket sales begin on June 13. Tickets for KCON NY are already on sale and diehard fans have already bought up the first round, so make sure to act quickly so as not to miss out on this year’s festivities!
Park Sa-lim, Seoul