It’s 7.30, long before the headline act usually takes the stage – and the devotees of the latest Korean pop sensations are out in force. Ateez’s fans call themselves Atinys – pronounced “a-teenies” – and are younger and dress more gothic than those recently drawn to the O2 by fellow K-pop sensations Blackpink: Ateez’s own look leans towards black clothes, eyeshadow and lipstick, which leaves the eight members looking both androgynous and strikingly pretty. But they’re just as susceptible to the lure of the merch stand. The hot ticket item is the Ateez lightstick, which illuminates in different colours in time to the band’s performance, like the wristbands at a Coldplay gig, and sells for – get this – £63, plus £3 for batteries.
Still, no one could complain they’re not getting their money’s worth when it comes to the show itself. It starts at 7.30 because it goes on for two-and-a-half hours. Some of that is taken up with interstitial videos, including one that features the members of Ateez spray-painting anarchy symbols on walls, devotees of Bakunin and Discharge to a man. And more of it still is taken up with between-song chat. Because there are eight of them, and they all get to have their say, the banter takes forever, a sensation heightened by the fact that the screaming that occurs every time one of Ateez puts a microphone near their mouth renders most of it incomprehensible.
