K-pop rookie group CORTIS will celebrate their first anniversary this week and have a lot to show for it.

CORTIS – comprised of members Martin, James, Juhoon, Seonghyeon, and Keonho – has dominated the global music scene. The group have charted on Billboard multiple times and winning several major industry awards, including the iHeartRadio Music Award for Best New Artist; the rookie award from Golden Disc, Asia Artist Awards, and MAMA Awards; Tencent Music Mid-Year Awards for K-pop First-Time Championship Winner, K-pop Best Group Artist, and K-pop Best Song for "REDRED;’ and, Record of the Year from the KM Chart Awards. In their rookie year, they’ve performed at Lollapalooza, headlined the opening night of the NBA Crossover series, and become the first K-pop group to lead the NBA All-Star Game and halftime show. They also launched their first World Tour: CORTIS Tour: Put Your Phone Down!, including a North American leg that began in Chicago before their Lollapalooza appearance in July, then continued across the rest of North America.

The “next generation creator crew” has always thought and executed their music and plans outside of the box – hence their name – “COLOR OUTSIDE THE LINES.” The group is best known for their heavy participation in their music production, establishing their own identity and sound as a K-pop group. It's why their concert doesn’t feel like a typical K-pop concert, filled with VCRs (themed videos in between sets) or costume changes. Instead, CORTIS focuses on making the mood feel like one big party, setting the tone with catchy tunes, blazing lights, and the members’ high energy.

CORTIS, whose members range in age from 16-21, has always appealed to the Gen Zalpha (both Gen Z and Alpha) as they’ve incorporated addictive hooks, memes, and popular soundbytes to their music (their recent single, “Motion” (featuring Juicy J), features the Brainrot sound, “Fahhh”). But the group differs from their generation regarding the use of phones during their concert – preferring that fans just put their phones down and take in the moment____ __in front of them. This has __sparked divisiveness among fans, who’ve spent hundreds of dollars to attend the concert and are part of the digital era, where everything is recorded/documented.

Yet it’s reasonable, given what many artists, especially CORTIS, have dealt with since their debut – seeing a phone rather than their fans’ faces. During their opening performance at the NBA Crossover event, rows of phones were raised throughout the audience, which bothered the members as they asked fans multiple times to put their phones down and rock out with the group. Although the group didn't have many songs to perform during the set, they repeated several songs (or remixed versions) so fans could dance this time if they'd been focused on recording the first time. It did not change the outcome. So when the tour title was revealed, it wasn’t surprising that they asked fans to “put their phones down,” even creating an app to curb phone use.

At the YouTube Theater in Los Angeles, CORTIS started their show with the group using the phone projected on the big screen as they walked on stage and welcomed the crowd. They then told the crowd to be sure to “Put Your Phone Down!,” and opened with their signature track, “YOUNGCREATORCREW,” loud and high-energy, like a DJ Club set. The pumped-up crowd began dancing, feeling almost like a rave – yet there were still many phones out. They continued with popular hits, “FaSHioN” and “REDRED.”

Keonho, still recovering from an injury, participated as much as he could but was given a decorated couch to rest on when needed. Unsurprisingly, he may have overexerted himself at times due to the excitement of performing. It was nice that the members checked in on him, dancing toward him during some sets (when he did actually stay still).

Their entire show felt like a dance party, which, after viewing footage from the live theater shows, is how CORTIS wanted it to be. The first half of the show was pretty exciting, as they continued with more high-impact songs like “ACAI,” “TNT,” and “Mention Me.”

Things slowed down as they entered their second set with their ballads, “JoyRide,” “Lullaby,” “Blue Lips,” and “Wassup” – a reminder that the members can actually sing – and very well. It was a nice break from the constant earworm songs – while entertaining, it’s nice to hear their sweet and raw vocals.

The group jumps back into the fast-paced songs, including crowd participation, having them sing along to “What You Want.” Their directions were rather confusing, as they asked the crowd to sing or shout certain parts of the songs. Martin would point to a section and ask them to do one part while another section did the other, but then James would conduct another side to do the opposite. In the end, though, fans all participated in the song.

Then the repetition begins, which allowed fans to dance again – hopefully, without their phones. Sometimes the repetition__ worked__, but other times it felt tiresome. There’s only so many times one can sing “YOUNGCREATORCREW,” “ACAI,” and “GO!” with the same amount of energy as the beginning.

But there was a rather interesting moment, as the group requested everyone be quiet as they began setting up their third “YOUNGCREATORCREW” track. It was quite difficult to get the crowd, filled with young adults who are vying to capture their artists’ attention, to remain quiet – which prompted other fans to start yelling expletives at fans to “shut up.” Similar to an EDM DJ set, the group and crowd waited patiently for the beat to drop before exploding into song and dance. That brought the energy back, with fans whipping their hair and heads back and forth.

The group ended on a light note, thanking the fans for coming, and expressed their love for Los Angeles – the city they called their second home. The group spent a few months in LA for songwriting camp for their debut EP.

James told the excited crowd, “You know, LA is the only place I can do this. You know, sit down and be comfortable. LA is a great place. LA is a very special city. It’s in LA that we first put our heads together and wrote our first line of lyrics. It’s in LA that we got into the practice room and choreographed our first choreography. It’s in LA that we made this album called COLOR OUTSIDE THE LINES, [which] started our careers. LA is a melting pot with so many cultures all together. I see every single type of people. Everyone beautiful. Everyone united. Every single one [of you are] enjoying music, enjoying life, and enjoying everything. This is why we’re on tour – to see every single one of you enjoying yourselves. LA, you’re a special city, and you will always be our base. We are grateful to be here and share this moment with all of you guys.”

They then ended with “Joyride,” written while they lived in LA, based on real drives and experiences in the city. It’s a nice goodbye song as it represents just escaping and enjoying the ride, which in this case, was their concert.

CORTIS are great performers, but there’s only so much audiences can hear songs, even different versions or remixes. Hopefully, the next time they perform, it will be at a bigger venue and with a more diverse setlist. It’s understandable to repeat songs to recapture missed moments. Still, the most lasting impression for audiences is wanting to listen to the song again after the concert ends, and the redundancy can affect that.

CORTIS performs next on Saturday, August 15 in San Francisco at The Theater at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium.