BTS Dazzle London Wembley Stadium – Variety



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At a press conference that preceded the BTS at Wembley Stadium in London on Saturday, rapper Suga spoke about his goals when he decided on the set list for his "Love Yourself: Speak Yourself" tour. "We wanted it to be more of a festival than a concert," he said. And judging by the party atmosphere in the stadium, well before the group appeared, it was not hard to tell where the idea could come from.

While their video clips played on the screens flanking the stage, the crowd shouted, singing with lyrics in Korean and English. After the video for the single "Idol" went black, a showreel debuted, featuring the seven members who walked on the screens, posing as if they were in fashion ads, staring at the crowd in adoration. They did not sing, but they still received shouts of enthusiasm – the BTS, after all, often speaks much more of the seven people in the band than music.

When the group arrived on the scene, they opened their stage with a meticulously polished "Dionysus" (and suitable for the party). Far from the impression given by the lyrics, which deal with drinking and partying all night long, the seven and their support the dancers were perfect, the high-energy choreography being the show's first star. But the crowd was also, if not more, moved when the group stopped after "Not Today" to talk to them for the first time. Although their jokes on stage were probably almost as repetitive as their dance steps, the reaction of tens of thousands of fans showed how strong the connection was.

The concert was broadcast live and the group performed in front of the camera, as well as in front of the crowd, with the streams being broadcast both on the big screens of the arena and on smaller screens around the world. Their faces were darkened and accentuated by carefully selected CGI effects.

As the show continued, the band continually followed this line between a flawless staging and more authentic moments. Dancer and rapper J Hope was perhaps the best to retain his personality, maintaining an energy that surpassed that of his fellow bandmates, even though they (and the audience) became more and more excited during the performance which lasted two hours and a half.

Even the rhythm of the concert was planned at the slightest ebb. After particularly explosive numbers, such as "Best of Me" or "Idol", the members descended under the stage and their digital representations came back, one or two at a time, acting as models showing a simple product: themselves . Then, only one artist appeared in person, recalling that each of the seven people who make up the whole thing can also work alone (though not without the support of presumably dozens of support staff members.)

Most of them were also good performances, especially Jung Kook's "Euphoria" which made it soar above the stage. The most interesting, however, was Jin's "epiphany", a proclamation of self-love that pushed the boundaries of the older member's vocal talents, and even surpassed them sometimes.

But the more shakier performance was more endearing, especially for a fanbase who built a story about Jin being under-appreciated by the Big Hit label. He gave the fewest lines in albums, the shortest screen time in music videos. But he's a member of the BTS, and the fans will raise him, even – or maybe most importantly – where he seems to be giving the group's weakest performance.

In fact, everything fits in with the group's messages of love: Jin's performance and the audience's reaction to it may be the best demonstration of the evening that something does not have to be perfect. the voice has little meaning: he is an idol, not just a singer.

Conventionally, the sun went down during "Epiphany": K pop concerts often include chopsticks, lanterns at the end of handles that can be synchronized via an application so that the whole crowd shines in unison, and from Jin's solo, these "army bombs" allowed fans to be integrated in the performance itself, flashing white, swaying in purple, or sending rainbows in the arena. During the songs "Tear" and "MIC Drop", the screens are cut in black and white, the bombs of the Army providing the only color, the entire arena shone green then red.

But the four songs still showed us what was missing from a lot of the super soft performances of the evening: fun. Despite the accuracy of the previous two hours, the songs did not contain the lavish energy that fans have used to see through other BTS products, such as the variety show "BTS Run! Anpanman ", but still proved that the group is at its best when it is slightly chaotic and may not be so polite.

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