WOODZ Opens New Chapter with 2025 ‘PREVIEW CONCERT : index_00’—First Solo Show Since Military Discharge

Following roughly one year and ten months of military service, WOODZ (Cho Seung-youn) returned to fans with his first post-discharge solo concert, ‘2025 WOODZ PREVIEW CONCERT : index_00’, held on November 29–30 at Jamsil Indoor Stadium in Seoul. Designed as a 360-degree in-the-round show, both dates sold out immediately during pre-sale and general booking, filling every tier of the arena with MOODZ and their light sticks. Korean media described the concert as both a proving ground after his ‘military service chart-reversal phenomenon’ and the starting line for a new chapter in his career as an all-round musician.

The show’s opening sequence highlighted WOODZ’s attention to stage storytelling. A 360-degree main stage was set at the center of Jamsil Indoor Stadium, with hooded dancers appearing at various points around the arena. Just as the audience was trying to spot him, one dancer removed his hood to reveal WOODZ under the spotlight, launching straight into ‘Who Knows’, ‘HIJACK’ and ‘Trigger (방아쇠)’. The decision to blend in with the dancers before the reveal was read as a concrete expression of his belief that ‘concerts are made together,’ emphasizing that not only the artist and fans but also the dancers and band collectively shape the experience.

For listeners who first discovered WOODZ through ‘Drowning’, he may be synonymous with emotionally charged rock ballads. In reality, he is a 12-year veteran who debuted in an idol group before evolving into a singer-songwriter and producer. During the ‘index_00’ concert, he moved fluidly between hip-hop, rock, R&B and softer ballads—firing up the arena with rap-driven tracks one moment, then picking up a guitar for intimate performances the next. Improvised corners where he rearranged the set list based on audience requests gave each night a ‘show-exclusive’ feel. Critics noted that his ability to handle choreography, lead vocals, rap and live instruments on a single stage proves that the term ‘all-round artist’ is more than just a tagline.

The emotional peak of the night came with ‘Drowning’ and the encore song ‘Journey’. On a stage dressed with rain-like visuals and immersive lighting, WOODZ rose on a lift to perform ‘Drowning’. After a military-stage video of the track went viral, the song climbed back up the charts, earning him the title of a ‘reverse-charting soldier’; naturally, the live rendition here turned into a massive sing-along. During the encore, he chose ‘Journey’ as the first song, explaining that it had been the last track he sang on stage before enlisting. Returning to the same venue after discharge to perform it again, he said, symbolized both closure on one journey and the beginning of another.

Toward the end of the concert, WOODZ described ‘index_00’ as a ‘cue sheet that will never exist again’—a show positioned between an ending and a beginning, unlikely to be replicated in the same form. Closing with the unreleased self-written track ‘To My January’, he noted that as the new year approaches, everyone quietly makes wishes and expressed his hope that his fans’ desires would come true as naturally as January arrives. With his first post-military solo concert wrapped up so successfully, commentators agreed that WOODZ is ready to move beyond being known solely for a viral ‘reverse-charting’ hit and into the true first act of his career, centered on a full-length album and more extensive live activities.

[KStarLoud Deep Dive] In many ways, ‘index_00’ functions as a soft reboot of the WOODZ brand. The 360-degree production and full live setup help pull him out of the narrow frame of a single reverse-charting hit, repositioning him as a live-focused musician who spans songwriting, arrangement, instrumentation and performance. At the same time, unveiling multiple unreleased tracks turns the concert into a living testbed for his first full album, inviting MOODZ into the process of filtering songs and calibrating the project’s emotional tone. Within the crowded male solo landscape, this ‘concert first, album next’ approach is a relatively high-risk strategy—but when it works, it tends to create a much deeper sense of attachment between artist and audience.