[Sportschosun Jo Min-jung] CORTIS's first solo concert since its debut has been engulfed in controversy over its production. A setlist that repeated the same songs several times, along with a relatively short running time, left fans disappointed.
CORTIS held its first tour, "PUT YOUR PHONE DOWN," at Inspire Arena in Incheon from the 18th to the 19th. As the group's first solo concert since debut, expectations among fans were high.
After the show, however, complaints about the setlist quickly spread online. On the first day, CORTIS performed its signature song "REDRED" four times, including the encore, and "YOUNGCREATORCREW" as many as five times. Since the two albums released so far contain only 12 tracks, the group appears to have repeated the same songs to fill out the setlist.
The issue is that many rookie groups these days enhance the quality of their concerts with unreleased stages, remix versions, band arrangements, or covers of other artists' songs. In contrast, CORTIS drew criticism for placing the same songs on the setlist multiple times, with some saying it felt careless.
The concert length also came under scrutiny. Tickets were priced at 143,000 won, but the show ended after about 1 hour and 40 minutes. Some fans were also disappointed that the group performed in a single outfit throughout the concert without any costume changes.
Messages shared online showed that even the shuttle bus schedule was changed because the concert ended earlier than expected. Some attendees reacted with surprise, saying, "It ended earlier than planned, so the shuttle time was moved up too."
In particular, because the venue was Inspire Arena in Incheon Yeongjongdo rather than Seoul, some concertgoers who had traveled a long distance said the performance was "too short."
On the other hand, some observers suggested that the group may have been trying to pursue a freer concept that breaks away from conventional concert formats, as reflected in the title "PUT YOUR PHONE DOWN."
Still, criticism continued online, with comments such as, "We heard the same songs too many times," "For a 140,000-won concert, the overall structure was disappointing," "There weren't enough new stages for fans," and "The setlist was too repetitive."
Meanwhile, CORTIS will continue its 14-show world tour across nine cities, including New York and Kanagawa, through September, starting with the Seoul concert.
Jo Min-jung
This article has been translated by GripLabs Mingo AI.
