NEXZ makes debut at Rock in Rio with performance in Portuguese and Japanese

They entered the stage doing somersaults and jumping over each other. They were wearing rock band t-shirts (Ramones, Black Sabbath), very baggy jeans and caramel ankle boots all the same.

“Rock In Rio, so, are you ready to enjoy it?”, they asked in Portuguese while standing on a large part of the catwalk that is close to the public.

Throughout the show, they used many other words in our language, such as “let's go to the next song” or “make a lot of noise”. They introduced themselves to the public, one by one, also in Portuguese. In a few moments, however, they preferred to communicate in their own language and a translator returned the speeches to the audience.

It was Hyui, Tomoya, So Geon, Yuki, Seita, Yu and Haru's first time at the festival and in Brazil.

For the septet made up of six Japanese and one Korean, the situation was very favorable, let's face it: the band is managed by JYP Entertainment in partnership with Sony Music Entertainment Japan, the same companies that take care of Stray Kids' career, and follow an artistic proposal very similar to that of the group.

Even so, it was beautiful to see how the “organized crowd” of the main attraction welcomed the “pupils” who took to the World Stage punctually at 4:40 pm with lots of shouting and the beating of colorful fans.

With just two years on the road, NEXZ was created in the reality show “Nizi Project Season 2”, and initially aimed to make money in both the Japanese and South Korean markets.

At Rock in Rio, the group sang a good part of their lean discography. The tracks “Beat-Boxer” “I’m Him”, “Want More? One more!” and “SAUCIN’”, a new song that they repeated at least three times.

The debut also had symbolic weight: for the first time in 41 years of Rock in Rio, K-pop had its own day on Palco Mundo, bringing together, in addition to them, K-pop diva Hwasa and Stray Kids, one of the biggest groups of the genre.

Without a band on stage, the band's performance was based on instrumental bases and backing tracks, leaving the focus on the seven members' meticulously synchronized steps, as in the track “Mmchk”, their biggest hit.

NEXZ arrived at Rock in Rio at an important moment in their career: they released, weeks ago, their fourth EP “SAUCIN”, along with the announcement of their first Asian tour, “SAUCIN’ THE WORLD”.

Before stopping their light flows, bubblegum choruses and leaving the stage, they walked through the pit close to the fans and repeated reactions like “wow”, “that's it!” and “it’s hot”. They seemed to be ecstatic.