K-pop Boy Band Shows Why It’s Been a Global Smash in Comeback Concert at Seoul

They’ve all completed mandatory service in the Korean army and are about to go on an international tour that promises to be even more successful than their last such tour seven years ago. The seven-member K-pop boy band BTS proved just that by introducing their new album, Arirang, before a live audience in Seoul estimated at 260,000, forming an image of new-age youth and old-style patriotism.The setting was the massive front gate to the ancient Gyeong Buk Palace at the intersection of two main avenues in the heart of the South Korean capital. Many millions more saw them on TV in Korea and worldwide via Netflix.The leader of the group, RM, was slightly hobbled by an ankle injury that stopped him from dancing fast and furiously like the others but didn’t keep him from singing and talking. Breathlessly, mingling English with Korean, he persisted in saying, “It’s great to be back.”All the members of the group chipped in with phrases of joy and gratitude, conveying how happy they were to be together again on stage for the first time since performing in the Korean port city of Busan nearly four years ago. Pure joy shone through the opening rap number, “Body to Body,” with lyrics in English that go on, “Skin to Skin.” More than 22,000 fans — the lucky few who scored tickets that let them get reasonably close to the stage — cheered, wept, and laughed as the group went through a repertoire that included titles ranging from the slow and touching “Swim” to the upbeat “Alien.”All were sung in the high-stepping style that’s likely to make the BTS comeback album — coming back from their patriotic service in the army — an even greater international success than their four previous albums.In the background, the notes of Arirang, a haunting traditional anthem that all Koreans know, evoked a touching folkloric quality for a performance that was also cool and with it, in the manner that’s endeared the boys to audiences worldwide.The name Arirang was in keeping with the setting facing the broad avenue leading from the palace, past government ministries and the American Embassy, on a route dating from the era of the 500-year-long Chosun dynasty that ended in 1910 with the onset of 35 years of Japanese rule.“Arirang can be interpreted in many ways,” RM tried to explain in an interview with the country’s international broadcast network, which happens to be named Arirang TV. He did not specify the ways, but during the performance said, “I’ve been thinking a lot about our identity as Koreans. We are trying to express our feelings with our songs.”The result was what the director of 17 NFL Superbowl halftime shows, Hamish Hamilton, wanted when he took on the job of directing and producing the show.“After finishing the Academy Awards ceremony, I rushed to Seoul just hours later,” Variety quoted him as saying. “Walking through the streets, you can feel the excitement in your entire body — it’s a remarkable event.”Mr. Hamilton said directing the BTS performance on the heels of the Grammy awards, the Superbowl halftime, and the Oscar ceremony felt like “winning four titles.”A noted Korean critic, Kim Hern-sik, also on Arirang TV, tried to explain what BTS means for his country. “It serves as a catalyst for worldwide attention to our culture.”If there was any real criticism of the show, it was in the extraordinary security measures planned well in advance by the national police. Subway stations beside the palace and Seoul City Hall were closed for hours before and during the one-hour concert. Upwards of 4,000 policemen were busy holding back the crowds, many of whom still watched the show on huge screens down the avenue.Large though it was, the number filling the avenues from the palace was probably smaller than some had predicted. “I was rather disappointed,” one Korean fan told The New York Sun. “I was expecting a lot more people,” she added, but “the quality of music seems a lot improved.”That assessment should herald still more phenomenal success when the group goes on a tour next month that will take them to 34 cities from Korea and Japan to America, Europe, South America and wind up back in Asia.Much of the program was almost unrehearsed. It was the ingenuous spontaneity of the seven boys that gave the show the extraordinary appeal that could make their upcoming tour a success on the level as that of Taylor Swift’s Eras tour in 2023 and 2024.“Without traditional rehearsals spanning three to four days, the trust and active participation of BTS members were essential,” the creative director, Guy Carrington, told Variety. “A few weeks ago, Hamish Hamilton and I met the members in Seoul to explain the entire show and share the process, and they understood perfectly.”

K-pop Boy Band Shows Why It’s Been a Global Smash in Comeback Concert at Seoul

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