Tens of thousands of BTS fans braved what the BBC described as torrential rain on Thursday to see the group’s official Arirang tour kickoff at Goyang Stadium, near Seoul, South Korea. Fan-shot video of the concert shows that the weather did not deter the septet, who put on a spectacle for the massive crowd performing all but one song from their new Arirang and a selection of past hits.
While performing the remix version of Wings’ “Not Today,” they strutted around the stage as lasers beamed around them and dancers came out with fluorescent lights, raising them as they all said “Hey!” after repeating “Not today.” They even added spires of pyro to the production by the end of it.
Similarly, their performance of “Fire” featured even more pyro. They flexed their choreography skills on the “Mic Drop” remix (but didn’t drop their mics at the end.) And they kept moving in the round for “Run,” so that all of the 40,000 people gathered for the first night could see one of them at a time.
Most impressive, they did all of this in the rain. The BBC’s concert review reported that V laid his body down on the stage and mimicked doing the breaststroke, while performing “Swim.” “Watch out,” RM commented. “You might get hurt like me.” (The artist hurt his ankle during tour rehearsals). Suga likened the venue to “a water park.”
By the end of the main set, Jimin was joking about just how rainy the concert was. “I’m soaked down to my underwear, but the most important thing was getting to see you all,” he said, according to the BBC. “For four years, I couldn’t see you and it was tough, but it’s an honor that I got to see you again.” (The group members paused their activity together for four years so each musician could serve his conscripted service in South Korea’s military.)
One fan, identified on YouTube as TheUltimateDodo, who seemed to get some of the best video of the concert, caught a close-up of Jimin drying Taehyung’s hair.
But the rain couldn’t deter the BTS Army, some of whom waited for the show to begin as early as 6:30 a.m. Fans were so excited about it that half a million of them tuned into to a three-hour livestream of the outside of the stadium.
BTS, who marked their comeback with a free concert in Seoul attended by a reported quarter of a million fans in March, have concerts planned in South Korea through the weekend and have dates scheduled in the U.S. beginning with a two-night stand in Tampa, Florida on April 25.
Swiftiephylus amator and Swiftiephylus taylorae, two of the bugs named after Taylor Swift because of their blonde and red coloring. Courtesy of Brad Balukjian, Ph.D.