I went to the BTS show: It was “smooth like butter”
Erkki Forster, Co-Editor-in-Chief Editor
I had given up on ever being within a football field’s reach from V, on ever hearing Jungkooks’s high notes live, on ever witnessing all members of BTS line up and dance “IDOL.” After the South Korean government made it clear that no exemption from the mandatory military service would be granted for the K-Pop supergroup and the pandemic led to the cancellation of their third world tour, I was certain that BTS would never grace the stage ever again.
But here I am, writing about going to a BTS concert. On Dec. 1, I attended BTS’ third show of their four “Permission to Dance on Stage” concerts. The group hadn’t performed in front of a live audience since Oct. 29, 2019, when they closed out their world tour in Seoul. But, if their two year hiatus was cause for any nervousness or blunders on the member’s part, it didn’t show.
Rather, it was me who was all jittery as I set foot in the new SoFi Stadium that evening. Though BTS had not emerged on the stage yet, the whole stadium of ARMYs (the name given to BTS’ fanbase) was already chanting their songs. The chants erupted into eardrum-bursting screams as Jungkook, V, Jimin, RM, J-Hope, SUGA and Jin finally appeared to start the concert with “ON.” Jimin’s opening verse of the song, “I can’t understand what people are saying,” applies fittingly to the rest of the night, both because I don’t speak Korean and because the screams of the audience––mine included––drowned out any attempts at conversation.
That didn’t matter, however, because BTS’ flawless performances left me speechless anyways. Their tightly choreographed dances to songs like “Fire” or “Dope” heightened the already vibrant atmosphere. When Jungkook’s jacket (un)accidentally slid down to expose his chest, the stadium lit up in screams and glowing “ARMY Bombs.” ARMY Bombs, by now staples of BTS concerts, are lightsticks which concertgoers bring and connect ot the stadium’s bluetooth––allowing them to light up in sync to become part of an engineered lightshow. The setlist itself was perfectly curated for this occasion, with a balanced mix of old but golden numbers such as “I Need U,” and newer songs like “Black Swan” and “Dis-ease.” At the end, BTS hyped up the crowd with an energetic, bouncy performance of “So What” that almost led to the loss of my Army Bomb.
“[Blank] got me through the pandemic,” has by now become a painfully common saying––but it really was BTS who got me through the pandemic. Before joining my Zoom classes, I would binge watch episodes of Bon Voyage, BTS’ travel show. All the free time I suddenly had, I devoted to learning “Stay Gold” or “Lights” on the guitar. To be able to watch the seven members perform and interact with each other on stage felt as liberating as finally being able to perform in front of a live audience must have been for the group, who had been restricted to performing in front of virtual audiences until recently.
“We’re just here to have a good time with the ARMYs, the actual people, not AIs,” RM said in an interview with Entertainment Tonight.
Before closing the concert with “Permission to Dance,” each member gave passionate speeches, though V was difficult to take seriously due to his random “Squid Game” costume he chose to wear for the occasion. The speeches, interrupted by periodic name-chants, shone light on the members’ hope to go beyond performing solely in Los Angeles next year.
“I want to say thank you and I love you [ARMYs] for joining us… I now wish to visit ARMY around the world,” Jungkook said.
On Dec. 6, BTS’ entertainment company announced that the group would take a break from activities to rest and spend time with family during the holidays. Included in the announcement was a pleasant surprise: BTS is working on making a new album. And so, while their break means that I will suffer from a withdrawal of BTS content in the next few weeks, I and other ARMYs also have something to look forward to as we head into the new year.
K-Pop group BTS raise their hands, bowing a final time to the audience