In their Australian stage debut, 7-member K-Pop girl group Billlie brought their Our FLOWERLD (Belllie’ve You) World Tour to Melbourne’s 170 Russell as the first stop on their Oceania leg.
The group, managed by the company Mystic Story, originally consisted of six members upon debut in 2021; Moon Sua, Suhyeon, Haram, Tsuki, Haruna, and Siyoon, before Sheon was added to the line up following the release of their debut EP, The Billage of Perception: Chapter One. Since their debut, Billlie has been recognised as somewhat of an underdog among girl groups of their generation, with nominations for Rookie Awards and wins for Icon and Rising Star awards from the Hanteo Music Awards, Seoul Music Awards, and Asia Artist Awards, three highly respected industry events in South Korea. In the Western musicsphere, Billlie were listed in a 2024 Teen Vogue article as a “group to watch” and were even included in the lineup of Texas’ 2023 SXSW festival. All that to say: these girls have incredible talent.
As they prepared to kick off the Australian leg of their FLOWERLD (Belllie’ve You) World Tour, Billlie first joined their eager fans (collectively called Belllie’ve) for some exciting fan events. VVIP+ and VVIP ticket holders were treated to some exclusive benefits, including a chat session with each member, album and poster signings, a hi-touch, and group photo.
Following the end of the show, some fans even took part in a solo snapshot with their favourite members, where they can strike a pose and leave with a unique keepsake. At the merch stand, fans could get their hands on exclusive Asia and Oceania tour t-shirts and tote bags. Although fans had organised to bring their own Billlie’s signature lightstick, a few of which were floating around the venue lit up in the group’s official colours, Mystic Blue and Mystic Purple.
When it came time to hit the stage, an opening VCR flashed on the venue’s screens, introducing each Billlie member with MV and photoshoot behind footage, before the girls took their formations to perform the title track from their third EP, ‘Ring Ma Bell (What a Wonderful World)’. The rock heavy song was the perfect opener, instantly hyping up the Melbourne crowd with its strong guitar riffs and the group’s sharp and precise choreography. As Billlie moved into performing the English version of their single ‘DANG! (Hocus Pocus)’, the cheers from the Melbourne audience turned into proclamations of love and affection, with the boys in the crowd calling out the names of their favourite members in a booming baritone.
Like many K-pop concerts, Billlie’s FLOWERLD (Belllie’ve You) tour incorporated a lot of talking breaks, giving the members many opportunities to interact with their fans and gather themselves between performances. Throughout the talk breaks, the Billlie members discussed the Australian animals they wanted to see, asked for food recommendations, and led the crowd into cheering competitions, waves, and even the “Aussie Aussie Aussie” chant.
At the halfway point of the show, a special VCR of the girls playing a dance mafia game was played, where the members had to perform the choreography to their most recent single ‘Remembrance Candy’ from their fifth EP Appendix: Of All We Have Lost while wearing headphones, one of which was playing a completely different song. The video then cleverly led Billlie into a live performance of the song where the members ad-libbed yelling “Saranghae (I love you)” in the pre-chorus before performing the album’s pre-release track ‘Trampoline’ and ‘Lionheart (The Real Me)’ from their EP, The Billage of Perception: Chapter Three.
Following this performance, the members encouraged the Melbourne crowd to guess who the mafia was, with Tsuki eventually being crowned the winner as nobody correctly guessed it was her. It was a fun addition to the night that simultaneously showed off Tsuki’s talents as a performer and the personalities of the other members, especially Moon Sua as she playfully scolded Belllie’ve for thinking she was the mafia.
All strong and capable performers, the Billlie members broke into two units; vocal and performance, to showcase cover performances. Main vocalists Suhyeon and Haram performed Alicia Keys’ ‘If I Ain’t Got You’ as a duet, showing off their powerful and rich voices, while the remaining members performed a strong mashup of Le Sserafim’s ‘Antifragile’ and Aespa’s ‘Armageddon’. Probably the most prominent characteristic of Billlie is their incredible energy as they dance.
With some of the more complex choreography I’ve seen of girl groups, Billlie are unbelievably engaging to watch and Tsuki especially is very expressive, even going viral in South Korea for her unique and eye-catching stage presence. Ultimately, while all the members were really impressive, Haram and Suhyeon stood out the most throughout the evening, with both girls enriching every song with ad-libs and high notes, especially when they performed their duet as their voices slotted together perfectly, layering to create effortless and gorgeous harmonies.
As the night drew to a close and the ending VCR played video messages from each member, Billlie broke out some of their biggest hits to send Belllie’ve off to, including their songs ‘GingaMingaYo’, ‘Eunoia’, ‘Flipping a Coin’ and the English version of the friendship anthem ‘BYOB (Bring Your Own Best Friend)’ with Tsuki throwing hearts and kisses out to the Melbourne crowd.
Doing their best to speak in English, the Billlie members each gave a brief send-off, expressing how grateful they were to Belllie’ve for coming to see them and how exciting it was for them to be touring Australia. Announcing that they would be back, the girls affectionately performed ‘Back 2 Where We Belong’ for their Australian Belllie’ve, a fan song that the members helped to write lyrics for.
Despite already knowing about the group and being a casual listener of their most recent releases, I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect from Billlie’s live show. I can say with absolute honesty that I was totally blown away by how effortless they made being on stage look. If I hadn’t been able to hear the breathing through their microphones, I genuinely would’ve thought they were lip syncing – that’s how close their live performances sounded to their studio versions. As I watched the girls on stage, it became very apparent to me as to exactly why this formidable K-Pop girl group had been marked as ones to watch.
Through a range of genres, deft rapping that blends seamlessly into smooth vocals, and captivating choreography that is as punchy and refined as some top-level boy groups, Billlie is absolutely brimming with talent. I know that Melbourne would love to see them again soon.
Billlie performed in Melbourne at 170 Russell on Wednesday 19th February as part of their FLOWERLD (Belllie’ve You) World Tour, presented by Studio Pav with local assistance from Box Live, The tour continued at Brisbane’s The Princess Theatre on Friday 21st February before visiting Sydney’s Metro Theatre on Sunday 23rd February to close out the Oceania tour leg.
For more information, visit:
http://www.mystic89.net/artist/Billlie
https://www.instagram.com/billlie.official
https://www.instagram.com/studiopav_apac
https://www.studiopav.com
Photography by Grant Alexander.
