MAMAMOO’s “4WARD” Hits All The Right Notes
- EC Stanzel
- 11 minutes ago
- 5 min read
Written by EC Stanzel Photos Provided by Arlene Chiu
The “4WARD” World Tour stopped at Fort Worth’s Dickies Arena on August 18, and twelve years in, Solar (솔라), Moonbyul (문별), Wheein (휘인), and Hwasa (화사) still sound like magic
Most K-pop concerts leave you completely exhausted the moment you leave the building. Three hours of jumping, screaming along, and trying to catch your breath during the tiny breaks between songs. The MAMAMOO “4WARD” World Tour at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, however, was a different kind of K-pop experience. If you told me the four members of MAMAMOO have some kind of magical healing power in their vocal cords, I’d totally believe you.
This is MAMAMOO’s 12th anniversary tour and it shows in all the best ways. Everything about the concert felt more mature and refined in comparison to a lot of the K-pop tours that have visited the US. The crowd’s energy felt more like polite excitement rather than chaos. I think that had a lot to do with two factors: how long MAMAMOO and their fans, MOOMOOs, have been together, and the nature of MAMAMOO’s music itself, which is a mixture of soul, R&B, jazz, and funky pop–genres that tend to attract an older, more relaxed crowd.
Tuesday night was MAMAMOO’s second time playing a concert in Fort Worth, the last time being in 2023 for their first world tour. The 4WARD tour marks MAMAMOO’s first tour all together in over three years after a stretch of solo projects. That reunion and the journey “4ward” was the core idea of the night. It showed in the stage direction, the up-close crowd interaction, and the setlist itself.
The show opened with a nostalgic VCR of the members sitting around a table watching videos of different highlights from their career, setting up a night built as a showcase of twelve years of releases. Things kicked off with “Mr-Ambiguous,” the group’s first single from 2014. To the audience’s surprise, spotlights revealed members Solar and Moonbyul entering from the audience. Moonbyul walked down the aisle right past me, somehow even more striking in person. The two made their way to the stage to join Wheein, Hwasa, and the dancers for the choreography of the funky, retro opener. "Destiny" and "Egotistic" followed in quick succession, highlighting right off the bat the members’ outstanding vocal stability while delivering high energy performances. You could tell from how the members carried themselves that they're seasoned veterans, moving and singing in an effortless way only over a decade of experience allows.
Following a quick introduction, the energy was sustained with performances of earlier title tracks, “Piano Man” and “Décalcomanie.” By the end of “Décalcomanie,” the entire arena was clapping and singing along, waving their light-up radishes (Moobong lightsticks) in the air. The pace then pulled back for a bit with “I Miss You,” a moment where the room felt suspended until the crowd erupted at the members’ skilled vocal ad-libs. This was followed up by a clear fan favorite, “Starry Night.”
The next VCR of the show, a five-minute animated bit about the members prepping to debut as trot singers, set up for a reworked, trot version of "Taller than you." The members came out in sparkly trot-style blazers for a playfully entertaining and vocally sharp performance. This was the perfect song for this twist, especially because it was originally created a decade ago as a lighthearted diss track over a 1 cm height difference between the members.
Then the jackets came off and the energy spiked with "Sleep In The Car," opening a five-song b-side stretch. After a break spotlighting the tour’s six-member dance team, MAMAMOO came back on stage wearing animal headbands and hats and cutely skipped into a medley of "AZE GAG” and "Waggy," followed up by "NEW YORK," "Freakin Shoes," and "Baton Touch," the last one turning into a choreographed dance-along with the audience.
Then the crowd became the stage. This was easily the most member-to-fan interaction I've seen at a concert. Hwasa worked her way through the arena singing her recent solo release "So Cute," high-fiving and hugging fans. Wheein sang her first fully-English pop punk song "The Symphony of Fxxkboys." Moonbyul had everyone chanting along to "Hertz" as she made her way through the crowd, and Solar closed out the segment with a powerful vocal performance of "Blues." Each performance spotlighted what the members had created while focused on their solo careers, and since the show was meant to pay tribute to the different eras of MAMAMOO, it felt like an important addition to the setlist.
The final VCR was a 10-minute variety game video that tied in the chemistry and humor that are key to MAMAMOO’s dynamics as a group, both on and off stage. Playing this fun content in between segments of the show rather than a typical concept VCR showed how the planning of their concert was done with MOOMOOs in mind.
The last leg of the main set opened with "4 Flowers," the title track off MAMAMOO’s newest EP, and rolled straight into three back-to-back hits, "AYA," "HIP," and "gogobebe," which got the loudest reactions of the night. "Dingga" and "Wind Flower (Dramatic ver.)” wrapped up the main set with an uplifting singalong on the final chorus.
Between the main set and encore, the crowd laughed its way through a mostly Korean "Girl Crush" singalong, most people only catching the English lines, and then hitting the same wall again on "L.I.E.C." The crowd repeatedly filled with lighthearted laughs and it was a fun moment despite our singalong failures.
Once more, the MAMAMOO members popped up in the crowd for the encore and made their way to the stage where they performed “You’re the Best,” “Yes I am,” and “Um Oh Ah Yeh.” The show ended with streamers that cascaded from the sky and caught a swift breeze that blew them all to the front of the floor and covered MOOMOOs. I saw fans in the front rows tangled together, laughing with each other. Moonbyul even laughed and asked them if they were okay.
After a fun, choreographed intro from the dance team and MAMAMOO saying goodbye to each side of the arena, the house lights came up. I left the arena feeling refreshed and my ears had definitely been blessed. It’s no wonder that MAMAMOO has a reputation as some of the best femalegirl group vocalists and performers in all of K-pop.
“4WARD” was a performance at the level I’d expect of four seasoned performers after a decade of honing their craft. My only wish is that more people would have been there to see it. Even at roughly over half capacity, thanks to the members and the MOOMOOs in the building, the place felt full that Tuesday night. Next time, I hope MAMAMOO returns to Fort Worth and performs for the fully packed arena they deserve.
MAMAMOO
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