[Recap]ONE OR EIGHT ‘GATHER’ with 1DERZ to An Epic End of Their North American Tour
Review by Crystal Li.
On May 5th, ONE OR EIGHT returned to New York City for the last stop of their North & South America tour. 1DERZ (ONE OR EIGHT’s official fandom name) gathered in Chelsea and filled up the iconic Racket NYC.
The eight-piece Japanese boy group, which consists of Mizuki, Neo, Reia, Ryota, Souma, Takeru, Tsubasa , and Yuga, toured in the U.S. for the first time following the release of their new mini-album, GATHER. Their most ambitious project to date, GATHER features the title track “TOKYO DRIFT,” written by Pharrell, a No. 1 Billboard Japan Heatseekers hit “Don’t Tell Nobody” (produced by Ryan Tedder & David Stewart) and a U.S. Top 5 iTunes Hip-Hop/Rap single, “KAWASAKI,” featuring Big Sean.
Amersnd Media was invited by 42 West and ONE OR EIGHT’s team for a full review of the show.
At 8:00 PM sharp, the show began with the group’s biggest hit, “TOKYO DRIFT.” From the get-go, ONE OR EIGHT’s immaculate stage presence and synchronization were apparent — they looked like a group of veterans of the industry, not a rookie that just debuted in 2024. They then wasted no time, following with energetic performances of “Young & Reckless” and “POWER.” The crowd’s energy was impeccable throughout, with fans chanting to the chorus word for word.
After a short round of greetings, with Neo being particularly fluent in English, the show resumed with a cypher from the hip-hop unit. Neo, Mizuki, Souma, and Ryota each took the stage to showcase their individual talents and personalities. The four members took turns covering a song of their choice, while the others vibed in the background. Neo, Mizuki, and Souma leaned more into their incredible rapping skills while Ryota danced his heart out (took his shirt off!) and set the crowd on fire.
The eight members then reunited on stage to perform “365”, “Don’t Tell Nobody”, and “Wanna Be With You.” I was very impressed by their ability to seamlessly transition between genres. Even though there was minimal choreography involved, I particularly enjoyed the pop sound of “Don’t Tell Nobody”, as it perfectly encapsulated ONE OR EIGHT’s energy.
The four members of the vocal unit then graced the stage with cover songs of their choice. Unlike the rappers who operated like a subunit, each of the four members had the stage completely to themselves. 1DERZ were fully immersed in Yuga and Reia quiet yet emotion-packed delivery and screamed to Tsubasa’s powerful belting and Takeru’s dance break.
As all the members returned to the stage, they performed several unofficially-released songs such as “Day Ones,” “My Lil’ Heart Attack,” and “Spellbound.” The live versions of these tracks were available on streaming platforms, so the fans were no strangers to them and sang along with the group. Of course, the show would not conclude without two of their biggest songs to date — “KAWASAKI” and “DTSM,” with the latter being a spin-off of Rihanna’s mega hit “Don’t Stop The Music.”
Not ready to say goodbye just yet, the members gathered on stage to get a group picture with the fans while holding a cake to commemorate their debut tour.
To the fans who missed the choreography of “365” and “Don’t Tell Nobody” — no need to worry! The eight members came back to the stage one last time to perform the choreographed versions of the two songs. The crowd energy was at an all-time high, as we also got a special performance of the unreleased track “Live Laugh Loud”, which I cannot wait to hear the fully produced version of.
The night ended in a full circle, as the group performed the opening song of the show, “TOKYO DRIFT.” I came downstairs to get close to the action for the finale, and could feel the floor bouncing as fans jumped to the catchy beat.
ONE OR EIGHT truly impressed me with their ability to capture the stage, we cannot wait to see how their music and performance evolve in the future. We hope to see them in New York again very soon.
