{"id":42791,"date":"2026-08-13T08:49:49","date_gmt":"2026-08-13T03:49:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=42791"},"modified":"2026-08-13T08:49:49","modified_gmt":"2026-08-13T03:49:49","slug":"head-in-the-clouds-2026-captured-katseye-industry-in-flux","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=42791","title":{"rendered":"Head in the Clouds 2026 Captured KATSEYE, Industry in Flux"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-id=\"1617458\" data-title=\"Head in the Clouds 2026 Captured KATSEYE \u2014 and an Industry \u2014 in Flux\" data-url=\"https:\/\/consequence.net\/2026\/08\/head-in-the-clouds-katseye-xg-review\/\" data-page=\"1\" data-pages=\"1\">\n<p>Yasmin Barranca of Pomona, CA brought her four kids to <a href=\"https:\/\/la.hitcfestival.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Head in the Clouds Festival<\/a> at Brookside at the Rose Bowl this past Saturday, August 8th.<\/p>\n<p>It was Barranca\u2019s first time at the music and arts festival that centers Asian talent, but she didn\u2019t know much about most of the acts. She just wanted to see the look on her daughters\u2019 faces when they saw their favorite group perform live for the first time. This was right before <a href=\"https:\/\/consequence.net\/artist\/katseye\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">KATSEYE<\/a>\u2018s headlining 8:55 PM set, and Barranca was as close as she can get, a stroller pushed up to a crowd that seemed evenly divided between buzzed twenty-somethings and elementary-age concert goers, parental cohorts in tow.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/vivid-seats.pxf.io\/c\/1882189\/952533\/12730?subId1=katseye-headinthecloudsreview&amp;subId2=&amp;subId3=&amp;sharedid=&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.vividseats.com%2Fkatseye-tickets%2Fperformer%2F211597\" class=\"button button-ticket\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Find KATSEYE Tickets Here<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p>\u201cAll the diversity [it] has, and the dancing, they love it,\u201d she said, cradling her baby son.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI love her,\u201d twelve-year-old Danielle, Barranca\u2019s oldest daughter, told me. She\u2019s referring to Daniela Avanzini, one of the KATSEYE members performing tonight. She loves her because they share a similar name, an affinity for dance, and \u201cI exaggerate my moves too,\u201d an excited Danielle told me, referring to the group\u2019s expressive choreography.<\/p>\n<p>Related Video<\/p>\n<p>When Lara, Megan, Yoonchae, and Daniela, young Danielle\u2019s favorite, finally appeared to loud screams, a five-year-oldish girl perched on her dad\u2019s shoulders that was clutching KATSEYE\u2019s signature lightstick looked beside herself.<\/p>\n<p>It was the biggest and youngest crowd the festival had ever drawn, and the group they\u2019d come to see was down a third of its members.<\/p>\n<p>KATSEYE\u2019s second-headlining festival came at a fraught time. When news broke that Laforteza, the charming 23-year-old leader, announced she was taking a break from performances and appearances\u00a0\u2014 after, the label said, medical professionals advised extended rest and ongoing care so she could focus on her mental health \u2014 \u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/reels\/DbwAcJ9veZO\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">the memes<\/a>, hot takes and headlines started to roll in, as she was the second member in six months to step away; member Manon Bannerman announced in February she was taking a \u201ctemporary hiatus\u201d and has yet to return. Their third EP, <em>Wild<\/em> is set to release on Friday, ahead of a 31-date world tour (get tickets <a style=\"display: inline !important;\" href=\"https:\/\/vivid-seats.pxf.io\/c\/1882189\/952533\/12730?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.vividseats.com%2Fkatseye-tickets%2Fperformer%2F211597\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">here<\/a>).<\/p>\n<p>What\u2019s in flux isn\u2019t the demand. The crowd was bigger and younger than this festival has ever drawn, the EP ships on schedule, the tour is on sale. What\u2019s in flux is the format: the premise that a pop group is a fixed number of people who arrive and leave together. On Saturday night, KATSEYE demonstrated that a six-member group can work as four.<\/p>\n<p>Shortly after \u201cPinky Up,\u201d standout vocalist Lara Raj acknowledged the absence of Sophia Laforteza, announced a few days earlier. \u201cOur sister Sophia can\u2019t be here tonight,\u201d she said, encouraging the crowd to show her some love. Later on in the set, she shouted out Sophia one more time.<\/p>\n<p>Seeing only these four members perform brings home that the strength of the group is in its casting. They held up their own during their hour-long set, adjusting their choreography formation, with Daniela and Yoonchae\u2019s magnetism helping to lessen the blow of the missing members. Lara punched up their songs with vocal runs while Megan\u2019s sincerity stood out. As she kneeled on the stage during \u201cMean Girls,\u201d one of their more underrated songs and one of their few ballads, you could feel she meant every lyric about \u201cblessing even the mean girls.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>KATSEYE\u2019s team knows its commercial appeal is young girls and leaves the policing to the parents. The day after performing \u201cPinky Up,\u201d their frenetic declaration of \u201cmaking out with your bestest friends\u201d before \u201cpartying until the world ends,\u201d a press release went out announcing an exclusive capsule collection available from Hello Kitty company Sanrio and KATSEYE at Target.<\/p>\n<h2><b>\u201cWhere is the big cloud?\u201d<\/b><\/h2>\n<div id=\"attachment_1617787\" style=\"width: 1034px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1617787\" src=\"https:\/\/consequence.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/head-in-the-clouds-2026-1-scaled.jpg?quality=80&amp;w=1024&amp;fit=1031%2C580&amp;strip=\" alt=\"head in the clouds 2026 1\" class=\"wp-image-1617787 size-large\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https:\/\/consequence.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/head-in-the-clouds-2026-1-scaled.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/consequence.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/head-in-the-clouds-2026-1-scaled.jpg?resize=150,120 150w, https:\/\/consequence.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/head-in-the-clouds-2026-1-scaled.jpg?resize=300,240 300w, https:\/\/consequence.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/head-in-the-clouds-2026-1-scaled.jpg?resize=768,614 768w, https:\/\/consequence.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/head-in-the-clouds-2026-1-scaled.jpg?resize=1024,819 1024w, https:\/\/consequence.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/head-in-the-clouds-2026-1-scaled.jpg?resize=1536,1229 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-1617787\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo courtesy of Head in the Clouds<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>As far as festivals go, Head In The Clouds has an intimate feel, with only two stages, and most of the action happening on the 88rising Mainstage. It\u2019s held on the lush, rolling grounds of the Brookside golf course next to the Rose Bowl. Last year\u2019s edition, which doubled as 88rising\u2019s 10-year anniversary finale, ran two days over May 31st and June 1st, was headlined by G-Dragon and 2NE1, and drew more than 75,000 people. This year presented as a scaled-down one day, even as it booked the biggest crossover headliner yet.<\/p>\n<p>The Toyota Music Den was just far enough to not be affected sound-wise from the mainstage while still being a short walk away. This year featured Filipina-Australian singer-songwriter Ylona Garcia, multifaceted artist Rhea Raj (Lara Raj of KATSEYE\u2019s sister), and a DJ set from rising hyperpop artist Tiffany Day. During Rhea\u2019s set, influencers snapped photos in front of a red Toyota.<\/p>\n<p>Despite the heat, early attendees could snag umbrella seating or set up camp along the grass. The reward for a spot on the small, grassy hilltops was a comfortable view of the mainstage and its two large flanking screens.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut where is the big cloud?\u201d a guy in his twenties asked me while waiting in line for the festival\u2019s main photo ops, a giant Metro bus. He\u2019s referring to the signature cloud logo available on merchandise, but unlike last year, there were no giant inflatable clouds with which to take fun pics. Somehow, the Metro bus doesn\u2019t have the same appeal.<\/p>\n<h2>Shedding Names<\/h2>\n<div id=\"attachment_1617788\" style=\"width: 1034px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1617788\" src=\"https:\/\/consequence.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/xg-head-in-the-clouds-1-scaled.jpg?quality=80&amp;w=1024&amp;fit=1031%2C580&amp;strip=\" alt=\"xg head in the clouds 1\" class=\"wp-image-1617788 size-large\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1067\" srcset=\"https:\/\/consequence.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/xg-head-in-the-clouds-1-scaled.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/consequence.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/xg-head-in-the-clouds-1-scaled.jpg?resize=150,100 150w, https:\/\/consequence.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/xg-head-in-the-clouds-1-scaled.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/consequence.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/xg-head-in-the-clouds-1-scaled.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https:\/\/consequence.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/xg-head-in-the-clouds-1-scaled.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w, https:\/\/consequence.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/xg-head-in-the-clouds-1-scaled.jpg?resize=1536,1024 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-1617788\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">XG, photo courtesy of Head in the Clouds<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>KATSEYE wasn\u2019t the only act on the bill mid-reconfiguration. Everywhere you lookede, groups were shedding members, names, and the collectives that made them.<\/p>\n<p>Dabin.Kr, a Korean hip-hop artist formerly known as DPR Live, turned his set into a confessional. He co-founded Dream Perfect Regime and released four projects as DPR Live before dropping the prefix in late 2023, taking his birth name, and starting his own label, CTYL.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s the end of a chapter for DPR for me,\u201d he said in a moment of vulnerability. \u201cI started losing my sense of self for a bit, and I think I kept trying to become what I thought I needed to be. It got to a point where I couldn\u2019t hear my own voice anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/consequence.net\/artist\/xg\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">XG<\/a> is a seven-member group who has broken through globally. While they couldn\u2019t be more different from KATSEYE, they arrived at Brookside mid-pivot themselves. In January, the group changed what its initials stand for, from Xtraordinary Girls to Xtraordinary Genes, and stopped being billed as a girl group. The same month, four years into a career built on singles and EPs, they released their first full-length album. Dancer and rapper Cocona came out as nonbinary earlier this year.<\/p>\n<p>Despite having all Japanese members, they embody cultural crossover by performing almost entirely in English and spending some time training in Korea, with a discography of singles and EP releases drawing heavily on nineties- and 2000s-era American-inspired rap and R&amp;B.<\/p>\n<p>One of the few groups that played with a live band, their incredible vocals, flawless rap, and energetic dance moves felt more captivating. More pop groups should have their music arranged for live instrumentation; it makes a big difference.<\/p>\n<p>And XG had the best fashion of the festival. With her short-cropped blond hair and bustier, lead vocalist Chisa was channeling a Vogue-era Madonna, while the rest of the group was dressed in a mash-up of Harajuku-meets-Alice-in-Wonderland-meets-early-nineties-clubwear, different for each member yet still visually cohesive.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/consequence.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/head-in-the-clouds-umi-1--scaled.jpg?quality=80&amp;w=1024&amp;fit=1031%2C580&amp;strip=\" alt=\"head in the clouds umi 1\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1617790 size-large\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1067\" srcset=\"https:\/\/consequence.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/head-in-the-clouds-umi-1--scaled.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/consequence.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/head-in-the-clouds-umi-1--scaled.jpg?resize=150,100 150w, https:\/\/consequence.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/head-in-the-clouds-umi-1--scaled.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/consequence.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/head-in-the-clouds-umi-1--scaled.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https:\/\/consequence.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/head-in-the-clouds-umi-1--scaled.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w, https:\/\/consequence.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/head-in-the-clouds-umi-1--scaled.jpg?resize=1536,1024 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\"\/><\/p>\n<p>UMI, a Japanese\/American neo-soul singer, was another memorable performer, coming out to sing with audience members and bringing out Atlanta-based R&amp;B singer 6LACK as a guest. Female and queer artists shone throughout the day \u2014 UMI is queer, along with Lara and Megan of KATSEYE.<\/p>\n<p>The main attraction this year was a group drawing in new festival-goers who might not otherwise be exposed to the sheer depth and diversity of Asian talent that has far too often been either overlooked or lumped together in a nebulous category. (I\u2019m looking at you, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/pro\/bts-brings-new-attention-to-grammys-asian-pop-category\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Grammy Awards<\/a>.) The power of KATSEYE even down two members is clear as parents guided sleepy-eyed young girls wearing branded T-shirts back to the parking lot, huge smiles on their faces.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script>\n\t\t!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s){if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?\n\t\tn.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;\n\t\tn.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=1;\n\t\tt.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window,\n\t\tdocument,'script','https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js');\n\t\tfbq('init', '1753966171496536');\n\t\tfbq('set','agent','tmgoogletagmanager', '1753966171496536');\n\t\tfbq('track', \"PageView\");\n\t<\/script><script defer crossorigin=\"anonymous\" src=\"https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/sdk.js#xfbml=1&#038;version=v7.0&#038;appId=434175690014\" nonce=\"6gwmbCtM\"><\/script><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Yasmin Barranca of Pomona, CA brought her four kids to Head in the Clouds Festival at Brookside at the Rose Bowl this past Saturday, August 8th. It was Barranca\u2019s first time at the music and arts festival that centers Asian talent, but she didn\u2019t know much about most of the acts. She just wanted to&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":42792,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/consequence.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Katseye.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42791","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsweek-trending"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42791","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=42791"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42791\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/42792"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=42791"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=42791"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=42791"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}