ROSEMONT, Ill.—Chicago’s Rosemont Theatre was the scene Sunday night for a live performance by K-pop phenomena DAY6. Chicago is one of the first stops on DAY6’s ‘Gravity’ World Tour. Ignoring the rain and Monday looming large, fans gathered from all over the Midwest to see the band in their first ever Chicago area show.

Fans lined up for hours before the concert to receive their wristbands and buy merch for the five-member band. The band, composed of guitarist Jaehyung “Jae” Park, rhythm guitarist Sungjin Park, bassist Younghyun “Young K” Kang, synthesizer and keyboardist Wonpil Kim, and drummer Dowoon Yoon, debuted with their first mini-album The Day in 2015. Some fans like Chicagoan Isis McClure have been a fan since they debuted, while other fans like Sammy Sorg from Glenford, Ohio, six hours away from the venue, have only been invested in the group for a few months.

“When I found out that they make their music themselves, that’s when I really liked it,” Sorg said.

Both Sorg and McClure explained that they appreciate that DAY6 plays a large part in writing and producing their own music. They also said that this is something that drew them to other groups like the internationally popular boy band BTS. Since BTS began to blow up in America in 2016, K-pop has begun to see a rise in popularity with Western audiences.

“I think it’s pretty cool that other people who aren’t English speakers can break into the Billboard charts and make a name for themselves worldwide,” McClure said.

Fans like McClure and Sorg have become more invested in Korean culture itself because of their connection to Korean pop music and, despite not having any background with the Korean language or culture, they have not been held back by the language barrier. During the show, the band had the crowd sing along as Wonpil played the keyboard to guide them and, though some of the words were unclear, the band congratulated the audience on how well they sang the Korean lyrics. Earlier on, east met west when the band mashed up their songs “Like That Sun” with “Shape of You” by Ed Sheeran, “days gone by” with “Treasure” by Bruno Mars, and “Blood” with “Get Lucky” by Daft Punk featuring Pharrell Williams. K-pop proved to be about more than just Korea when band member Sungjin delivered a farewell message entirely in English to show off the studying that he had done in preparation for the tour.

After leaving stage briefly to change into their final outfits, the group performed an extended encore which included their songs, “Cover,” “You Were Beautiful,” “Congratulations,” “DANCE DANCE,” and “Freely.” The band thanked their fans for the opportunity to make music, travel, and perform, with member Jae even apologizing for how often he thanked the audience through the course of the show. The show proved to be an opportunity for the band to showcase their talents as a group and as individuals, including instrumental solos by each member and new ad-libs in songs.

Brianne Bittenbinder from Naperville, Illinois summed up the experience and expansion of the genre. “There’s a whole bunch of groups who are super talented within K-pop and within the Korean market, and I think that it’s really deserving that they also receive attention for their talent outside of Korea.”