Almost 1,000 people gathered at the Roxian Theater in McKees Rocks last Friday evening for American and K-pop artist Eric Nam’s “House on a Hill” tour. The tour promotes his newest album, also called “House on a Hill,” which was released last month. Pittsburgh was the eleventh stop of the international tour. He performed a mix of new and old songs for the packed crowd to enjoy.
The evening kicked off with Canadian singer Alexander Stewart, who is opening for the first half of the U.S. leg of the tour. Stewart performed with a guitarist and keyboard player and matched Nam’s traditional pop style fairly well. The half-hour opening was filled with good rhythms, catchy melodies and even a few covers.
After some technical difficulties and great anticipation, Nam opened with an interlude of “Sink or Swim” from the new album. The blue and white flashing light sequences in conjunction with the band’s powerful opening was the perfect start to the concert. Nam’s two backup dancers joined him on stage near the end of the song.
While the stage was small, the set was fairly intricate, with leafy plants scattered throughout. Nam and the dancers would go in and out of two openings in a white wall spanning the stage, which mimicked the look of a house. The stage matched the album’s cover art nicely, keeping the theme throughout the entire show.
Nam’s energy throughout the concert was absolutely impressive. Almost every song had choreography for the entirety of their length, and the setlist was about an hour and a half long. Nam’s stage presence was evident, getting several cheers from the crowd when he would master a two-spin turn or perform a quick step sequence. The backup dancers kept up with Nam and complimented him well, exchanging small talk and laughs in between songs.
Nam worked the crowd well. About halfway through the show, Nam held a segment titled “Tea Time,” where he asked about six fans’ lives and tried to give some advice, and even ranted for a few minutes about self-care. He ended the segment by thanking the crowd for coming to his “Ted Talk.”
The encore consisted of one of the top songs from the album, “Only for a Moment,” and his 2019 song “Congratulations,” which talks about someone finally leaving a relationship, a perfect ode to the conclusion of the concert.
Nam will be working his way out west for the 25 stops left of the U.S. leg of the tour and then will end the year in Latin America. The “House on a Hill” tour will continue in 2024 in Europe, Australia and New Zealand. The Asian leg of the tour has yet to be announced.
