BTS have shattered the image of K-pop bands as heavily manufactured by entertainment companies. They are taking over the world with their music, with lyrics that speak to contemporary issues, and with their authenticity.
The band’s popularity is reflected in their album sales. They were the second bestselling global artist of 2018, second only to Drake, and recently broke the record for most album pre-orders – one they had already set – with 2.6 million pre-orders of their upcoming album, Map of the Soul: Persona.
But it is their stellar live performances that have sealed their place among the greatest entertainers of the era.
They began the first of their four concerts in Hong Kong – the 19th stop on their Love Yourself World Tour – with a high-energy performance of their hit song Idol, wearing shiny black suits instead of the colourful printed ones in the music video. A sea of “Army bombs”, the band’s official light sticks connected by bluetooth, blinked in sync across the AsiaWorld Arena, while the audience – 99 per cent female – screamed their heads off.
The band greeted the crowd with some newly learned Cantonese phrases and Jin blowing his signature kiss, before proceeding to Save Me, I’m Fine and Magic Shop.
J-Hope, the group’s dancing king, was the first to perform solo, strutting his stuff on a rising platform to Trivia: Just Dance, followed by main vocalist Jungkook singing Euphoria. The rest then joined him on stage in white suits for a rendition of I Need U and Run.
The mood took a turn with the sensual Serendipity, featuring Jimin. There was none of his past shirt-ripping, but the occasional lift of his bejewelled black shirt, revealing flashes of his toned abs, was enough to drive the fans crazy.
After the rhythmic Trivia: Love from RM came the highlights of the night. In sparkly jackets to die for, the band also known as the Bangtan Boys performed the jaunty DNA, followed by a mash-up of several older songs including the funky Boyz with Fun and Attack on Bangtan, and the upbeat Airplane Pt.2 with its Latino vibe. Their complicated choreography and changing of formations dazzled the audience.
Most of the group got a brief moment of rest during the dark, soothing Singularity by V, in which he danced in a blazer (as in the beginning of the music video) accompanied by backup dancers in black robes and white masks (inspired by Harry Potter’s death eaters, maybe?). But they quickly returned in black leather trousers and harnesses for probably the most anticipated song of the night, Fake Love, which drove the crowd into a frenzy.
In the last solos of the night, Suga showed off his moves in a red burgundy suit, dancing to Trivia: Seesaw and Jin showed his amazing vocal control while playing the piano in Epiphany. The Truth Untold, an emotional song where the quartet of Jin, Jimin, V and Jungkook sang about their inner struggles, was unfortunately interrupted by frequent random screams from the audience. However, RM, Suga and J-Hope got the beats going again in the hip-hop sounding Tear with its rapid-fire raps.
The band wrapped up the set with Mic Drop, a song inspired by Barack Obama’s famous move at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in 2016, before returning for encores. Swapping their showy outfits for white tees and blue jeans (V accessorised with a red beret and matching scarf), the band drew the concert to a close with So What, Anpanman and Answer: Love Myself.
Although soaked in sweat, the band members showed no signs of tiredness as they kept the energy levels high throughout the night. They seemed to genuinely enjoy being on stage, making clever use of the onstage cameras to interact with fans.
In their closing remarks to the crowd, Jungkook, who suffered an injury before their show in London, admitted he felt nervous before the Hong Kong show and was worried about making errors, but soon forgot all those thoughts as soon as he was on stage.
“We’re here at this arena and this is a really special place,” RM said. “We’ve been coming here for five years since 2014 at MAMA [the Mnet Asian Music Awards]. We cried here, we shed our tears, like, hundreds of times in this place. We received our Daesang [the grand prize at MAMA] here.
“So tonight, I was just mind-blown. Thanks to you guys, I am so happy. It is Hong Kong, no words needed,” he finished, eliciting more shrieks from overjoyed fans. We left the concert with our ears ringing, from the screaming, not the music.
With their spectacular solo performances, the band members showed that each of them is a total package and can stand on their own as an artist; but together they make an unstoppable force.
