During their solo sets, Hyunsuk chose LANY's pop-ballad "ILYSB," while Yonghee performed Troye Sivan's soaring "Angel Baby." BX, the designated rapper of the group, chose Marteen's "Left to Right," and came in to pinch-hit on the Latto rap during Bae Jinyoung's cover of "Seven," BTS member Jung Kook's global solo smash. Seunghun closed out the solo section with a tribute to one of New York's favorite daughters, Alicia Keys, by covering her early hit "If I Ain't Got You."
"Looking back, we all have grown a lot. When I compare our old performances and today, I think everyone improved in many aspects," Yonghee told USA Today last year. "However, I believe we still have a long way to go, so we'll stay humble and keep working hard."
The band echoed this work ethic in statements from the stage of the United Palace. After performing their very first single, the flashy "Movie Star" (which includes an impressive dance break), back-to-back with their most recent single, the funkier, extremely earwormy "Lovers or Enemies," one band member stated that they "really want to show us growing and getting better," and that the pairing of these two songs was meant to help illustrate that growth of artistry.
K-Pop bands have been making inroads with its American fanbase for quite a few years now. Boy band BTS -- which has had chart-topping English-language hits like "Dynamite" and "Butter" -- has been making Korean- and Japanese-language hits since 2014, but newer groups like Blackpink, Stray Kids, NewJeans, Tomorrow X Together (TXT), Seventeen, and Ateez have also proven they can chart in the U.S. According to Billboard, 35 different K-pop albums entered the Billboard 200 last year, and five of those took the top spot.
Much like any of those other groups, the members of CIX (pronounced C-I-X) came to the group through various Korean talent-grooming reality shows (think MTV's Making the Band) and industry training programs. Bae Jinyoung and BX were both winners on different shows, and in 2019, South Korean entertainment agency C9 Entertainment announced its newest group, CIX, with Bae Jinyoung confirmed as its first member.
According to the agency, the band's name is an abbreviation for Complete in X: "It connotes the meaning of 'completion of the unknown,' meaning that it will be completed only when all five unknown members come together." The five members have been together since then, and they've been steadily releasing EPs, touring Asia, Europe, and the Americas, and increasing their fanbase and chart rankings each year.
"When our group started, the whole preparation process was done rather quickly," Seunghun told USA Today last year. "But now, we created a great teamwork and balance among ourselves, and I feel very proud about it."
CIX, which has more than a million followers on both its Instagram and YouTube channels, will also perform in Atlanta, Dallas, Mexico City, and L.A. on this North American tour. See below for show locations and times.