It has been five years since Baekhyun graced the stage in Los Angeles for his first solo World Tour. Los Angeles was his final stop for the North American leg of his 'Reverie' Tour, named after his latest album, Essence of Reverie. Throughout the high-impact concert, the K-pop artist was greeted with sounds of barking from the audience. He's heard these types of cheers from his American fans throughout the tour. He smiles, asking the LA crowd, "Do you guys do this at other people's concerts too?"
As fans began to bark more, he asked them, "Can you tell me what it means?" He raised his thumbs up and then formed a heart gesture, "Oh, love? Good?" He begins to bark with the group, and then shrugs with a smile.
"I thought the [barking] was a different form of applause - a sort of thumbs up approval of satisfaction," Baekhyun says through an interpreter over Zoom from his Los Angeles hotel. "Each country has a different way of showing appreciation and reacting to performances. It's definitely something that I'll remember at the start of this world tour."
The 33-year-old EXO member is all smiles after his LA show two days ago, now relaxing a bit before heading for the European leg of the tour. He says he gets energy from his shows and the excitement he feels seeing his American eris—the name for his fans—dancing along to his music. He enjoyed the vibes that the fans gave back to him.
"First and foremost, I feel like I made them wait too long," he says. "Seeing all the fans [making] the best of our time together was so beautiful. This was a very meaningful time [for me] being able to greet everyone, and make fun and happy memories together."
Baekhyun initially wanted his Asia "Lonsdaleite" Tour to be a World Tour, but realized there was not enough time to thoroughly flesh out the details internationally. He wanted to be fully ready to meet his fans globally. He knows those in North America, Latin America, Oceania, and Europe have been patiently waiting for him. He felt that love from them during their sweet messages at the end of his final show.
"I am so grateful that my fans have waited for five years and, yet, they still show me so much love, and watch my performances with eyes full of love and sincerity," Baekhyun says with emotion. "There was a time on stage [when] I said, 'What did I do in my past life to receive this much love?' I really mean that. I am eternally grateful. I will try my best to give back all the love I've received on this tour."
It's another reason why he felt the 'Reverie' tour, which promoted Essence of Reverie, was the perfect time to see his international fans. The album was all about his fans because he created music and songs that he knew they would want from him. It was made with eris in mind. He wore different, fun accessories during his concert encore to showcase the cute and cool sides of himself, as well as his vocal range. He wanted the concert to feel like an amusement park—a place full of nostalgia and magic—so that they could add this moment to their happy memories.
"Reverie, to me, is to protect the version of myself that my fans treasure in their memories," he describes. "There may be other directions I may want to go for the album, but as my [fans who I consider] partners, I wanted to focus on what the fans want."
During the encore performance, Baekhyun surprised his fans with "Paranoia," his League of Legends song with the virtual group Heartsteel, in which he provides the voice for the character of Ezrael. He noted that there were a few people from Riot Games, and he wanted to do more with the character.
"I want to do something with Ezrael," he admits. "Inside the game, Ezrael uses light as a weapon. My 'superpower' in EXO is also light. In that sense, we are [very] similar. I'm hoping that there will be more opportunities to work together - maybe an Ezrael solo album - and collaborate on more projects."
He also mentioned the popular Netflix animated movie KPop Demon Hunters during the encore, which was met with cheers. One of the film's songwriters revealed that the fictional K-pop boy group Saja Boy's song "Your Idol" was inspired by EXO songs "Obsession" and "MAMA."
"It always makes me feel good to hear that our music has inspired others," says Baekhyun. "Knowing that EXO's music and history influenced other artists is amazing. Saja Boys are so popular nowadays, and I hope that we as artists can continue to inspire and positively influence each other."
When asked if he would love to try a different genre of music for his next album, he says there are so many he wants to try but doesn't want to lose his identity and color. He may explore these challenges through other opportunities such as digital singles but wants to add more depth to his current R&B and pop style. He does want to try new songs in different languages; he already has a few English tracks.
"I want to try Spanish too," he reveals. "Being on tour made me think that I want to sing in various languages with the [hopes] that fans can enjoy my music even more. English is a very global language but it would be nice to possibly record in different languages to be able to flow freely between the different versions at future concerts. I want to challenge myself in this way."
Until then, Baekhyun is focused on the rest of his World Tour, which ends in Asia at the beginning of November. He wouldn't mind participating in an international festival one day, like Coachella or Lollapalooza, as it would allow him to showcase a different side of himself. He says, "Each festival has its own unique vibes. It would be great to combine the unique festival vibes with my own. I hope to participate in one someday."
As long as the fans are there, Baekhyun will be happy.