Inside SEVENTEEN’s ‘NPR Tiny Desk’ Taping: 3 Things You Didn’t See

About forty-five minutes before the taping begins, the members emerge already in glam and almost fully outfitted (except Vernon, sans jacket in the warm afternoon office space) for the last round of rehearsal. As soon as they assemble behind the desk, Seungkwan corrals everyone together for a selfie; their staff rush around with vlogging cameras, always having content to make. Still, this is the group as the public seldom gets to see it, focused and discerning as they run through the setlist with their five-piece band — comprised of close, longtime collaborators like Park Kitae — one final time. 

Even in serious work mode, though, this is clearly a team that loves its job. Dino breaks Seungkwan’s composure by staring directly into his eyes while the vocalist belts ad-libs; Joshua gets a kick out of sharing a name with the shoot’s audio engineer: “Easy to remember!” quips sound guy Josh, as the L.A.-born singer smiles and laughs beautifically. Mingyu, meanwhile, gussied up in a cowboy hat and shades even before cameras are rolling, playfully pokes fun at how squished their keyboardist appears with his instrument and back flush against two different surfaces of the small stage. 

Since the Tiny Desk space is, after all, quite tiny, it takes some maneuvering to make sure every performer fits into the wide shot. Vernon has a habit of stepping back and vibing when it’s not his turn to sing, inadvertently making him disappear from view. (“I move a lot,” he nods in confirmation.) Since the rapper also has one of the softer voices, it also takes him a few tries to calculate exactly how close to get to the super sensitive mic. Then, once he finds that balance — “Don’t breathe!” someone jokes — the group is dismissed until it’s time to shoot the real thing.

After a hyped-up audience of NPR staff and guests clad in tour jerseys and bearing concert signs pile into the space, Mohamed gives a few brief opening remarks from her makeshift podium — that is, behind a light stick propped onto a mic stand. While Tiny Desk intros can often get quite emotional, the producer later tells Billboard, she forgoes her planned speech, instead simply imploring the room to give the guys their all.   

Explicit permission to bark is also granted, if the spirit so moves them. And while there is a distinct lack of barking during the taping — it is 1 p.m. on a Monday, after all — those present inside the office space deliver in just about every other way imaginable over the next thirty minutes: even before SEVENTEEN emerge from their green room, the small but mighty crowd is already chanting their name. 

It seems to go above and beyond their expectations, since they look bowled over by the sheer volume of cheers during high-energy opener “Super.” “We expected a more calm and quiet environment,” an extraordinarily smiley Vernon translates for Seungkwan, while Joshua finishes with an astonished, “Because…it’s an actual office.”

Would it be a SEVENTEEN concert without a little bit of audience participation? Like on their tour, the floor is opened to requests, yielding pleas for impromptu performances of overlooked b-sides, such as “My I” and “Q&A.” (During rehearsal, their staff suggests “Fronting,” to which the guys gasp, “It’s been ten years!”) On tape, “HBD” is the winner, and it doubles as a particularly heartwarming birthday message for one lucky fan in the crowd.

But their encores are another level entirely. In fact, it pays to practice: before the group comes out, everyone is asked to hop in place three times to get their blood pumping. By the time “Aju Nice,” their eternal encore song, rolls around, the crowd is warmed up and ready to jump — despite the concerned singers inquiring if it’s safe to do so. The building does indeed hold, though the bouncing is a hilariously muted version of what tends to go down at their live shows, since the carpeted flooring muffles all the footsteps.

In addition to grabbing the “Aju Nice” poster shown in the video, the guys take a moment to point out another banner with the faces of enlisted bandmates Jeonghan, Wonwoo, Hoshi and Woozi. (“They’re watching with us!” Joshua’s exclaims.) Then, once everything is a wrap, their crew finally whisks them away, but not before the members oblige a few photos and sign photocards, practically grinning ear to ear.