OnlyOneOf Talks the Grand America Tour and Their Love for lyOns

Three hours before their performance, the six members of OnlyOneOf—KB, Yoojung, Mill, Junji, Rie and Nine—settle into the couch to chat about the Grand America Tour.

There's a quiet excitement increasing between the K-pop sextet; in less than 15 minutes, they'll begin one of their first international fansign events, commencing the start of the night's festivities. For hundreds of fans—also known as lyOns—ready to file against the barricade, tonight is bound to be one to remember. More than likely, they've been waiting for this tour since the start of the pandemic. As OnlyOneOf previously told KpopWise, the Grand America Tour has been in the making for a while, and it's only because of COVID-19 that it's taken them so long to come face-to-face with international lyOns.

But before Grand America finally arrived, there was the mini-album seOul cOllectiOn, an exploration of what it means to love, grow and simply exist in the bustle of the South Korean capital. If anything, this chapter of OnlyOneOf is about connection: this EP reunites the group for the first time since their string of solo releases in 2022, and to celebrate their return as a group, they're sharing the moment with lyOns around the world on the first tour in their career.

Ahead of their performance in Chicago, we caught up with OnlyOneOf about the preparation for Grand America and how lyOns are fueling their energy for their debut headlining tour through North and South America.

 

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Sweety High: The Grand America Tour marks your first performances outside of Asia. Are there any ways you've prepared differently for these shows than the ones in Asia?

KB: Coming to America, we thought we might struggle to interact with fans because of our English or lyOns might not be able to understand our Korean lyrics.

Rie: Throughout our first show, we realized lyOns already knew our lyrics, and they can support our songs just because they enjoy the sound of the music. Even though we're in America, we can communicate through the universal language of music.

 

SH: What are you most excited about going into this tour? 

Yoojung: Our favorite part of performing live is when we first enter the stage and see lyOns in front of us. Their cheering is always amazing.

 

SH: Was there a song that was difficult to prepare?

Mill: Definitely our solo songs. It was our first time performing those live for anyone. As hard as it was to prepare, the reaction was just as strong. Everyone enjoyed the performance, and it made all of our practice worth it.

 

SH: How would you describe the overall concept for Grand America, and where did you find the inspiration for it?

Rie: Rather than thinking about a specific concept for the tour, we thought of Grand America as the first opportunity to meet our international lyOns. We want to show them everything we've been working on and fill our show with our size and character.

KB: A lot of our international fanbase found us through our solo songs, so we want to perform those too. At the same time, we also want to show the crazy chemistry we have as a group.

 

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SH: Is there anything you've learned while preparing for this tour?

OnlyOneOf: Our lyOns in Asia love and support us well. We appreciate it a lot. But, we've learned that American fans expressed themselves differently. They're a lot louder. During the shows, they'll jump up and down. It gives us a lot of energy, which will keep us going to finish the tour.

 

SH: How are you keeping yourself grounded?

Rie: Trusting our lyOns' love and support. That always help us stay active.

 

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