Concert Review: BTS Dominates Wembley And The Hearts Of Their Audience
BTS is a South Korean pop group consisting of seven bandmates: RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V, and Jungkook. The band made history by being the first South Korean group to headline Wembley Stadium. According to Metro, tickets for the first day (out of their two days on 1st and 2nd June 2019) had sold out in just 90 minutes.
Wembley weekend was the cherry on top of the cake, as the band has been having an extremely successful year so far. BTS topped the UK album charts in April with their newest album Map Of The Soul: Persona, played Saturday Night Live and Britain’s Got Talent, as well as scoring their biggest hit single to date when “Boy With Luv” entered the UK Top 20. This collaboration with Halsey also broke three Guinness World Records. As of May, BTS became the first band to maintain the top slot of the Billboard 100 for 5 weeks. This was only a month after the band became the third group in 50 years to score three number one albums on the Billboard 200 in less than a year — joining the likes of the Beatles and the Monkees.
RM expressed his admiration for music artists of the UK, as well as the honour of being on the UK charts. The band had scored their first ever BRIT Certified Silver Album for “Love Yourself: Answer”. RM spoke, saying, “The UK was like a big, big wall to me. But tonight we, and you guys, just broke the wall.” He expressed the significance of what ARMY meant to the boys, and hoped that the group could do the same for them, saying, “You guys are the true evidence that we are worthy to live and to keep going on. I truly hope BTS could be the same for you guys.”
Being able to perform on the Wembley stage is a huge deal in the music world, and the super boyband wanted to share their joy with all of their ARMY. ARMY’s around the world were able to join in the fun as the first day of Wembley was streamed live online.
The concert kicked off with the highly energetic track “Dionysus” from their latest album Map of the Soul: Persona. It was immediately followed by their classic hit “Not Today”, paired with their dancers who accompanied them on tour. “Outro: Wings” was also another number on their setlist for the night.
The boys all sported colourful overcoats as they walked into their performance of “Boy With Luv”. They followed it up with a medley of their hit songs, which consisted of “Dope”, “Baepsae” and “Fire”. The audience were going wild as the band members teased the dance moves from their music videos. Their high energy continued on in their performance of “Idol”.
The group’s Vocal Line made up of Jungkook, V, Jimin and Jin stunned the audience with their performance of “The Truth Untold”. Fans have been worried about members Jin and Jimin as they fell sick in between their New Jersey and Brazil stops of the tour. Fortunately, they were belting out their vocals smoothly during their performances — Jimin also pulled an impressive high note during his portion of the song.
Of course with a Vocal Line performance, the Rap Line would make an appearance as well. RM, Suga and J-Hope came on stage blazing with “Outro: Tear” while sporting their custom-made Dior outfits. The performance was electrifying through and through. Particular attention was also given to J-Hope’s stage presence and intense gazes during his verse of the song. With the energy being at an all-time high after the Rap Line hyped up the audience, all of the boys assembled on stage to perform “Mic Drop”. They performed the extended version of the song, which also involved a very well executed (and well-loved) dance break at the end.
Aside from group performances, each member was able to showcase their own solo performances during the Tour. Dance machine J-Hope commanded the stage with his powerful dance moves and high energy during “Just Dance”.
A high anticipated solo performance was Jungkook’s performance of “Euphoria”. This performance had left many fans in awe when it was first performed at the Rose Bowl Stadium. He did not fail to disappoint at Wembley as he effortlessly belted out his vocals while flying above the crowd on a zip-wire. Right after his landing, the track swiftly transitioned into “Best Of Me” — inviting the rest of the Bangtan boys to come on to the stage.
Jimin’s moves were nimble as he danced and sang his solo song, “Serendipity”. He was accompanied by the Tour’s backup dancers. RM followed suit with his solo “Love”, which involved his play on special lighting effects and the unique combination of his rapping and singing voice. He was also jumping around enthusiastically as colourful confetti rained on him.
V performed his solo “Singularity”, which included backup dancers in white masks in line with the concept of the track’s music video. After V’s relaxing vocals, the group then reassembled to perform “Fake Love”.
Despite having only 3–4 hours of sleep the night before, Suga remained cheery and enthusiastic throughout the concert. In a magenta suit, he performed his solo “Seesaw”. His energy never once faltered. Jin topped off their solo performances with “Epiphany”, showcasing his smooth vocals and high notes. His long gazes at the audience and his stage presence did not go unnoticed.
The boys then reassembled on stage, jumping into a crowd-favourite song: “Anpanman”. The set onstage was incredible, as it involved even a colourful bouncy castle in the background. Their high energy continued along with their song “So What”.
The boys dimmed it down with a more intimate setting with “Make It Right”. This was the track off their latest album that Ed Sheeran had contributed to. Drawing the night to a close, the boys sang “Mikrokosmos” — the song that has become the boys’ favourite to perform and fans to sing along to. Fans held up their phones, forming an array of LED lights shining all across the stadium. The boys then came together, linking hands on their final stage and bowed.
There were some moments shared between the boys and the audience during their 2 days at Wembley.
The boys teased the crowd with their attempts at British accents. Jungkook recited the well-known saying “easy peasy, lemon squeezy”, as well as a tongue twister — “Betty bought a bit of better butter to make her bitter butter better.” He received howls of approval from the boys, Jin saying “it was sick!” while RM exclaimed that Jungkook’s attempt was “lovely!.”
Suga teased the audience with his trademark saying: “make some noise!”. He once again expressed how Wembley has always been “the dream stage”. He credited the success of the band to the efforts of the ARMY as well, saying, “We need you in order to be able to achieve all this.” Jimin too expressed his love for the ARMY and how much playing at Wembley meant to him. V proclaimed his love for British culture: for the films, songs, and fashion. J-Hope reflected on how he’s thankful that he has become “someone’s love, someone’s pride.”
Jin shared that he had recently watched Bohemian Rhapsody. In paying tribute to Freddie Mercury, he led the crowd in his version of the Queen frontman’s “ay-oh” chant.
“Ey London!,”Jungkook grinned. Speaking to the crowd, Jungkook first apologised for not being able to dance during their London show the previous year. He had suffered a heel injury and was forced to perform seated as a result. He followed up, explaining, “I felt guilty because I could not fully show my performance. But I am now happy as I could finally show my real self.”
BTS, the 7 boys from South Korea who took the UK and the rest of the world by storm. They are talented, respectful — and ultimately, have always stayed true to themselves. When being asked on how they would like to be remembered by, their response describes the exact reason why their fanbase has grown as big as it has today:
“7 boys who are sincere in their craft, in their lyrics, and in their actions.”
