[The Guardian, 5/5⭐️ Review]
‘BTS review – pure joy and astonishing versatility at K-pop titans’ first UK show in seven years’
“It’s a film that comes to mind while watching BTS play their first UK show in seven years, an unbelievably enjoyable spectacle of pyro and panoptical staging, and the purest distillation of what makes a boyband precision-engineered to capture fans’ hearts. BTS are the biggest K-pop group in the world. With more than 40m albums sold, they have a fanbase so fervent it is called the Army.
…No matter how drilled we know K-pop bands to be, BTS’s versatility is still astonishing. The stands literally shake as they thunder through pop-rap crossover Hooligan; the Tame Impala-indebted Like Animals cements their prowess with balladry, soft and floaty enough to feel like it’s being sung directly to each of the 62,000 people in the room. The industrial-level bangers mid-show are a thrilling energy release and the surprise songs that aren’t usual setlist fixtures seem to delight even the band, who grin and sing along to each other’s parts.
The joy onstage is reflected back approximately one million-fold. It reverberates through the wall of screams and the sea of lit-up Bomb sticks. Girls have photos of their favourite members woven into their hair and dangling off handbags. They end on a gentle note, motioning to each other to take out their in-ear monitors to hear fans sing Into the Sun back to them. I started the show ambivalent and by the end I had a favourite member (Jimin) and an urge to learn Korean. I wanted to make them my wallpaper and bump into them at Duck & Waffle. I didn’t even have a Bomb stick so if they were controlling my mind it was through other means. Whatever BTS has, it’s potent.“
#BTS_WORLDTOUR #BTS #BTS_ARİRANG_LONDON #BTS_WORLDTOUR_LONDON #BTS_ARIRANG_WORLDTOUR
Thanks for your critique, Janet. We actually tried a couple of episodes where House (Hugh Laurie) (please put the brackets in the right place) gets it right first time, but they were only 6 minutes long. NBC weren’t happy. Then we tried some where House never gets it right and the patient dies. The audience wasn’t happy.
One could apply your trenchant analysis to other art forms: JS Bach wrote 30 Goldberg variations on the same chord structure; Frida Kahlo painted 50 portraits of herself; Henry Moore, what??
The point is, or was, variations on a theme; if all you see is hospital, medical blah blah, then it wasn’t meant for you.
Nonetheless, I look forward to your first novel!
ATINY! We’re excited to announce that @flolikethis, Taemin, @mtmofficialband, @altego_music, @dearalicemusic, Tommy Lyon, Girl Group and Jazzie Martian are joining @ATEEZofficial at American Express presents @BSTHydePark on Sunday 28 June 🏴☠️
Plus, more artists still to be announced!
Book your tickets now at https://t.co/5mkuFInTd3
🎥| “Yeah, I could... tell everyone dress up as like... what, sometimes people do like... dress up as like sunflowers or like lemons for this tour, which is mildly comedic, but I'm not sure I'd put everyone through that. But no, no, there's no dress code. If you want to wear a football shirt, great. If you want to wear a tracksuit, great. If you want to wear your nicest dress, great. If you want to wear a suit, you do you. Whatever... whatever you feel most comfortable in.”
Louis Tomlinson on whether there would be a dress code for his shows in Latin America, via Billboard Argentina.