A dream come true for fans
Bibi Nurshuhada Ramli recounts her life-changing experience attending one of BTS’ epic sold-out concerts
IT’S crazy incredible how fast BTS has risen globally. The South Korean pop and hip-hop boy group debuted in 2013, won its first major grand prize award locally three years later, and took home its first Billboard award the following year. Since then, it has set and broken quite a few records locally and internationally. And since it has become a household name everywhere, it has begun to hold concerts around the globe.
BTS has chosen enormous venues too, like the Rose Bowl Stadium in Los Angeles and Wembley Stadium in London, with 90,000-seating capacities. And the tickets are mostly sold out!
As a huge (and almost obsessive) fan, I’m happy for those who got to see them perform live. But at the same time, I wanted to be part of the action.
Late last year, BTS’ agency announced the Asian leg of the group’s Love Yourself world tour. Unsurprisingly, Malaysia wasn’t in it. (BTS did come to town back in 2015, and I was able to attend but that was so long ago!)
Instead of wallowing in despair, I was determined to score myself a ticket to one of the shows in the neighbouring regions, whatever the expense.
For BTS fans, purchasing a concert ticket online is like an extreme sport. Your ammo comprises as many devices as possible, enough manpower to handle them, an excellent Internet connection, lots of patience and a boatload of luck.
I failed trying to get one for the Singapore gig but I was lucky enough to grab a ticket to one of Hong Kong’s four shows. Yay!
A BANG OF A START
My body shook with glee and anticipation as I stepped into the AsiaWorld-Expo Arena on March 21. The long queue and the massive crowd didn’t even bother me.
AsiaWorld-Expo was smaller than almost all of the other Love Yourself concert venues, which was great since that made the interaction between fans and the seven members more intimate.
When the large screens began playing an introductory video of the boys looking cool and macho, the screams were deafening and they got even louder when BTS finally made its appearance on stage.
The boys opened the show with a literal bang, thanks to pyrotechnics and strobe lights, by performing Idol. The party tune and lively choreography whipped up the crowd into a jumping frenzy.
I was busy screaming my head off along with everyone else at the sight of the seven members on stage. I even cried a little bit, and thought, “Is this really happening?”
The boys all looked so good! V and Jimin stood out with their bright-coloured hair; as group leader, RM gave off an authoritative air; Jin and Suga looked cute and handsome at the same time; and J-Hope blew everyone away with his exceptional dancing.
Still, I had my eye mostly on my favourite member, Jungkook, who was skilled at both dancing and singing, as well as the charismatic centre of the group.
LIGHT SHOW
The seven members were still bursting with energy as they presented the following songs, namely Save Me and I’m Fine.
Adding to the atmosphere throughout the concert were the sea of lights that changed colours according to the song’s beats.
This breath-taking effect was due to BTS’ light stick (called the Army Bomb), which fans came armed with. The colours were customised via Bluetooth.
The ambience mellowed down somewhat with Magic Shop, a number that Jungkook produced for fans, with a heartwarming message.
Through its lyrics, BTS asked the listeners to open their heart when in pain, letting them know that they weren’t alone.
Fans sang along to the catchy repeating line in English: “So show me (I’ll show you), show you.”
Up next were I Need U, Run and DNA. Here, the fan-chants for parts of the lyrics that accompanied the fast tempo were super loud!
SOFT AND SEXY
A medley of older songs, namely Boyz With Fun, Attack On Bangtan, Fire, Silver Spoon and Dope, ensued.
During these fast-tempo tracks, the boys chose simply to walk around the stage and waved to fans as a way to interact with them, instead of showing off some hot choreography.
BTS is known for its difficult, yet skillfully-presented dance routines but sometimes it’s nice to also see them just enjoying themselves.
But they did showcase some groovy freestyle dance moves to the camera that was placed right in front of the stage.
With the feed connected to a huge LED screen, their sexy hip thrusts and winks naturally had the fangirls (and yours truly) squealing in delight.
What also warmed hearts was when the boys showed off their adorable side by making cute faces and acting cute with one another.
BTS is known for its edgy tunes, so this cute side thing was more than welcomed.
Still, the boys didn’t slack off on their vocals. The rappers (RM, Suga and J-Hooe) were just as badass, while the vocalists (Jungkook, Jin, V and Jimin) nailed every note nicely.
They resumed to their tight dance performances on the songs Airplane Pt. 2, Fake Love and Mic Drop. These are three of BTS’ biggest recent hits, so the screams and fanchants were earth-shattering!
SIMPLY OUTSTANDING
The individual members also performed their respective solo tracks from the Love Yourself: Answer album.
These were Trivia: Just Dance (J-Hope),
Euphoria (Jungkook), Serendipity (Jimin),
Trivia: Love (RM), Singularity (V), Trivia: Seesaw (Suga) and Epiphany (Jin).
Before each performance, a short clip featuring each member was played. The different themes were cute, funny, adorable, masculine and mysterious.
I was most looking forward to the uplifting tune Euphoria, since it’s one of my alltime favourite songs and performed by my favourite BTS member.
But when the neo-soul track Singularity came on, I couldn’t stop squealing because V’s sexy charisma was off the charts. His little smirks and bedroom eyes made my heart flutter! Jin’s ballad performance was also top-notch, especially when he hit the high notes like a pro.
The members then divided themselves into rappers and vocalists to respectively perform Tear and The Truth Untold (both were magnificent in their own right).
The latter was a heart-wrenching ballad that saw the vocalists emotionally belting the lyrics, while explosive Tear proved that the rappers are three of the best in the Korean music industry.
JUST AWESOME
Unfortunately for me, an English and Malay speaker, BTS’ speech was translated into Cantonese.
Judging from the crowd’s reaction though, the boys probably were expressing their heartfelt appreciation for their fans.
But BTS has history with Hong Kong, based on RM’s closing speech on its first concert, where he said: “We’re here at this arena, and it’s a really special place. We’ve been coming here for five years since 2014 for the Mnet Asian Music Awards (Mama).”
It’s a prestigious annual ceremony where BTS received its second ever Daesang (grand prize award) for Artiste Of The Year. In 2017, it won the same award, as well as Best Music Video and Best Asian Style.
Then last year alone, BTS won two Daesangs, namely for Artiste and Album Of The Year, plus eight other awards.
“We cried here, we shed our tears, like, hundreds of times. Tonight I’m just mindblown. Thanks to you guys, I’m so happy,” said RM.
ALL ABOUT THE LOVE
For the encore, BTS performed two of its catchiest and most upbeat tracks, So What and Anpanman, that got the crowd singing and dancing along.
The boys then closed the show with the poignant semi-tempo song, Answer: Love Myself, that perfectly summed up the theme of the tour.
“You showed me I have reasons I should love myself.” the fans sang along.
Besides being known for producing its own unique music, BTS has been revered for its advocacy towards self-love and antiviolence.
Well, after that concert, I definitely knew that I had chosen the right group to idolise. And I couldn’t help loving myself for it.
Here’s hoping that Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman and/or AirAsia chief executive officer Tan Sri Tony Fernandes will fulfil their promise to bring BTS onto Malaysian shores.
Seeing the Korean boys once is not enough. Saranghaeyo, BTS!