KATSEYE make striking European debut in London with Melanie C
With girl-group royalty on their side for a Q&A, KATSEYE show why they're being tipped for the biggest of stages.
By Juno Dawson
On the advent of their first sold-out North American tour, global girl group KATSEYE performed their debut European date in London last night. This is a band on cusp of super stardom.
Consisting of Americans Lara Raj, Megan Skiendiel and Daniela Avanzini, along with Swiss Manon Bannerman, Sophia Laforteza from the Philippines and Jeung Yoonchae of South Korea, the group was selected from thousands of girls in online survival show Dream Academy for their places in the band, also documented in Netflix series Popstar Academy.
The band’s debut single, ‘Debut’, followed in June 2024, but it’s this year that the upward trajectory has really kicked-off. Viral single Gnarly became their first song to enter the Billboard Hot 100 while follow-up Gabriela became their first UK Top 40 entry. Add to that a GAP campaign which broke the internet, and the band looks poised to be the Next Big Thing in pop.
Last night’s special guest was Sporty Spice herself, Melanie C, who kicked off proceedings with a group Q&A. This seems fitting. While the band was very well-behaved last night, their online reputation has become built on their legendarily chaotic live sessions. KATSEYE are, dare I say it, the Spice Girls of the social media age, channelling that same anarchic spirit. They are ungovernable. It’s right that Melanie was there to greet KATSEYE to the UK and offer the fledgling group her wisdom.
For their first UK appearance, the girls chose a tight showcase over a full concert, performing to an intimate audience of competition winners and guests. There’s no doubt the UK will ever see the six-piece again outside of an arena tour, so this UK-first was something special.
The word is slick. Mics were definitely on throughout, but the members didn’t slack off on their incredibly tight dance routines. The idea behind KATSEYE was to take the rigour of K-Pop and blend that razor-sharp precision with contemporary western sounds. This means they have to prove themselves on two fronts, which they more than accomplished, making the whole set featuring singles Debut, Touch, Gabriela and Gnarly seem strangely effortless.
Highlights were the super viral dance break in Debut, which sees 17-year-old Yoonchae take centre stage, and viral track Gnarly. Five hundred fans shrieking “making BEATS for a BORING DUMB BITCH!” is cathartic. The sly humour the girls bring to social media is present on the song, and they’d be smart to lean-in to that in future.
The ingredients are all there for pop domination. What KATSEYE need next is an undeniable UK chart hit: their ‘Espresso’, their ‘Sports Car’. With that, I think they will become the defining girl group of the 2020s.