Last Friday (6 December) was a dream comes true for Black Roses in Malaysia as rising South Korean boy band The Rose brought their ‘We Rose You Live’ tour to Kuala Lumpur. The 4-members boy band gave an entertaining setlist with a combination of their singles, unreleased tracks and even covers that went up to 2 hours approximately – making the night out very worthwhile.

Soon after the lights dim, the inside of KL Live is all aglow with fans waving the group’s official lightstick. Everyone was there for the same reason – The Rose. The band began with a soft-rock tone of ‘I.LY’ followed by fans’ favourite ‘Insomnia’ and ‘I Don’t Know You’. The voices of Black Roses singing along hit tracks of the band undeniably gave everyone goosebumps.

With just a quick greeting from each member, the Rose immediately played ‘Beautiful Girl’, ‘Like We Used To’, ‘California’ and ‘She’s In The Rain’. Woosung and Dojoon’s emotional vocals paired with the instruments definitely worth an attentive listen. What made the night more special was the LED rose fan project. When the melancholy track ‘She’s In The Rain’ was played, LED roses were beautifully lightened up, filling the venue with a sea of roses.

As the set progressed, the quartet The Rose performed some great covers like ‘ILYSB’ by LANY, ‘Breakeven’ by The Script and ‘Hey Judge’ by The Beatles. The crowd interaction during ‘ILYSB’ was absolutely phenomenal.

The show then continued with a sequence of solo stages, where each member was given the opportunity to shine at the mic. Main vocalist, keyboardist and acoustic guitarist, Dojoon started by covering James Bay’s ‘Hold Back The River. Bassist Jaehyeong and drummer Hajoon then did a duet of ‘Soldier’ by Before You Exit. Lead singer Woosung however performed his solo tracks ‘Moon’ and ‘Face’. Each performance undeniably highlighted the signature flavour of The Rose.

The most distinct moment of the night had to be when The Rose performed their unreleased track ‘OMG’. We had heard loud crowd belting out screams and cheers but we had never heard one that loud for that long. The loud cheer was almost drowning out Woosung’s powerful voice. “You guys are too hot till my guitar broke,” said Woosung and Dojoon added, “I think KL is the second loudest city I have heard”. The crowd cheered even louder and longer after that which had Dojoon smiled in satisfaction and said: “Okay~ Kuala Lumpur is the loudest”.

Hyping up the already heated crowd, The Rose continued to play ‘Can’t Let Go’, ‘Baby’ and their debut track ‘Sorry’. The members’ high-energy had everyone in the audience moving and jumping around with their hands in the air.

Closer to the end of the concert, Woosung delighted fans with comment “This is our first time to Southeast Asia and we definitely will come again.” The band then wrapped up their set with ‘Take Me Down’ and ‘Red’. Before saying goodbye, The Rose took a group photo with the crowd, left everyone wishing for a little more time together with the band.

The Rose ‘We Rose You Live’ tour in KL was incredibly slick. Vocally, it was fantastic. The band brought life into every song they played, making the tunes stand out and have a vibe of its own. The show not only reflects their identity as a band but also showcased each member of The Rose - full of charisma, talents and brimming with passion.

Hopefully, The Rose will return to Malaysia soon with their new album and a full concert. If you are in Manila, Seoul or Busan this December, do get the chance to see The Rose live on their current world tour.

Lastly, we would like to thank mymusictaste and J&Star for the invite!

Check out what went down: