By now, I don’t think I have to introduce BTS to my readers anymore. I
think it’ll be sufficient to say that they are a South Korean music group who
have been nicknamed “The Beatles of the 21st Century” because
BTS-mania is as huge internationally as Beatle-mania was and because BTS is the
only group apart from the Beatles that has had three consecutive albums top the
Billboard charts within a year. Mind you, where the Beatles’ three albums were
compilation albums (“Anthology 1”, “Anthology 2” and “Anthology 3” released
15-16 years after the band had disbanded, the BTS albums were all new releases
(“Love Yourself: Tear”; “Love Yourself:” Answer” and “Map of the Soul:
Persona”) that charted upon their release.
BTS have managed to gain a huge, international audience that includes people
of all ages, nationalities, races, religions and gender identities, through
their talented and diverse musicality, their on-point choreography, their
lovable personalities and chemistry and last but not least, their deep and
sincere lyrics and social messages that even let them to give a speech in the
UN last year. On top of that they have been GRAMMY nominated and won hundreds
of national and international awards, including the Top Social Artist in three
consecutive years at the Billboard Music Awards along with Billboard’s Top
Duo/Group Award this year.
BTS debuted on June 13th, 2013, and although they have toured
internationally since their debut, they didn’t start touring in Europe until
last year. Here I was lucky to see them in Berlin, Germany, in October, 2018 on
their “Love Yourself”-tour, but when they announced a new tour, the “Love
Yourself – Speak Yourself” tour that would take them to Europe in June 2019, I
didn’t expect to go. mainly because I didn’t have the money.
Besides, it is always almost impossible to get tickets to BTS concerts,
especially to this short visit in Europe, as originally, BTS were only to give
two concerts here, one in Wembley Stadium in London and one in Stade de France
in Paris, whereas last year they gave seven concerts in four European countries,
although in smaller arenas.
As BTS have 130+ million fans who are willing to travel all over the
world to see them in concert, two more concerts were added, one to each of the
venues, and all of my BTS-friends were able to get tickets to Wembley whereas
my daughter and her boyfriend got tickets for Stade de France. Ticket prices
were quite reasonable this year, so when I got a tax return on the exact amount
of money I needed for a ticket and as my friend Milla who runs the BTS Danish
ARMY fan base on Twitter had a spare ticket to Paris, day 1, I was suddenly set
to see BTS in concert for the second time.
My trip to Paris was anything but smooth, though. Already in April, my
left leg started to hurt immensely due to my arthritis and I had to see my
doctor to get a blockade. And a second elbow stick. Normally I use a single
elbow stick to walk as I was diagnosed with a disabling spine disease thirteen
years ago and on top of that I’ve had surgery in my left knee three times due
to torn tendons and arthritis as well. Although I’ve travelled on my own a
couple of times with one elbow stick, it was quite a challenge to travel with
two AND a suitcase, but I had to manage, as my daughter and her boyfriend were
going to the concert on a different date and wouldn’t get to Paris until a day
after me and my friend Milla travelled from London instead of Copenhagen.
In any case I managed, and I arrived in France on June 5th,
where a very cloudy, cold and wet Paris greeted me. Coming from Denmark where
we had 27° Celsius and sunny weather, it was quite a change. Oh well, I soon
settled in my lovely little hotel in Aulnay-sous-Bois in the outskirts of Paris
and then went to the center of the city to visit the BTS pop-up shop in Rue de
Luxembourg.
As I had expected, there was a long line of people waiting to get in,
but for once my elbow sticks worked their magic and a security guard let me in
straight away, so I didn’t have to wait in line. I was so happy as otherwise I
wouldn’t have seen the shop as I can’t stand up for hours, which would have
been necessary to get in.
Inside I got a BTS snap-on bracelet like everyone else and I had a look
around the crowded shop where ARMY (the official BTS fanbase name) gathered
around a screen to watch BTS music videos and dance and sing along. It was like
one giant party!
Of course, there was different BTS merchandise that you could buy and a
preview of coming merch like the BTS dolls that Mattel, the Barbie company, is
making. There were also several photo option installations like the BTS wall,
but I didn’t have anyone with me to snap my pic and the line to have a staff
member do it was too long for me. I did buy some BTS pins, though, and met with
another BTS mommy my age whom I’ve only known from Twitter. That was really
nice.
When I left
the pop-up shop, it started raining again, so I went home to relax at my hotel.
Thursday, I went to Stade de France to buy an ARMY bomb, which is the
official BTS light stick. The stadium isn’t that far away from the metro
station, so I managed to walk there and after having my handbag inspected, I
was let into the merchandise line. It wasn’t that long, and I ended up next to
a Parisian ARMY who was very nice to talk to, so time went by quickly.
Before we knew it, we were at the end of the line and let to the
merchandise booths were the real waiting began. In front of us were two Korean
ladies and the first one bought premium photos of all seven BTS members and
then started to inspect them for the tiniest cracks or other blemishes.
Whenever she found something, she demanded to have the product replaced. Seven
times she returned most of the photos although they looked perfectly okay and
we ended up waiting much longer here than in the line to the booths. After the
seventh time, the seller said that he couldn’t replace them anymore and when
the next lady started to demand to have her photos replaced as well, he said
that he could only do it once. When finally it was our turn, we got what we
wanted straight away, and I even bought a small ARMY bomb ring along with the
ARMY bomb itself. My new Parisian friend helped me get the ARMY bomb synchronized
and then we said goodbye, but of course not without following each other on
Twitter. I love how easy it is to stay in touch these days!
Then finally it was June 7th, the day of the concert. Already
at the hotel I saw a glimpse of BTS as they were on the news on the television
set in the hotel restaurant where I had breakfast. I was really looking forward
to seeing “our boys”, but unfortunately the weather was really, really bad. It
was cold and rainy and so windy that it was a regular storm.
The doors at Stade de France were supposed to open at 4.30 p.m. so I got
there a little later as I had been told by the stadium that because I use elbow
sticks I shouldn’t use the usual entrance gates but go to the staff members
left of my gate and show them my medical certificate stating that I was ill and
needed the sticks. I had purchased this certificate at my doctor’s, and it
wasn’t cheap, I assure you!
When I arrived it was past five, but the doors had only just opened as
apparently the sound check had been chaotic and ended way too late. Already on
the way to the stadium from the metro, our bags had been inspected, and now
people were gathering in long lines outside their gates, hoping to get in soon
as the rain was pouring down, but the lines only moved slowly. I had to cut
through several lines to reach my gate X, only to see that there was no staff
to the left of the gate. After some searching, I found a staff member on the
ground who directed me to the right of the gate, but when I got there, I wasn’t
let in as the staff at the gate said they knew nothing about letting disabled
people in despite their medical certificates.
I had to go all the way back, search the ground again until I found the
staff member from before, and then he took me to the right side of the gate,
where the other staff member who had just rejected me, let me in straight away!
Why couldn’t he just have done that the first time!
Anyway, my ticket was scanned, and I was let inside to a new line, where
people had to be frisked. With only two staff members to frisk the over 6,000
people who entered each entrance, it took forever. Eventually, it was my turn
and after that I received the BTS banner of the day, a very lovely one made thanks
to donations from ARMY, with the text “We love you more than yesterday but less
than tomorrow” in Korean, French and English, a quote that BTS member V (real
name Taehyung Kim) had used the last time BTS performed in Paris.
When you are disabled, you must buy “normal” concert tickets unless you
are in a wheelchair, so even if you walk as badly as me, you are confronted
with a lot of stairs. Sure, there were elevators to the different tiers, but on
the tier, there were steps both to my seat and to the toilets. This is not just
in Stade de France, but in most concert facilities, so I think it would be
nice, if tickets for disabled were for all people with a walking disability and
not just for those in wheelchairs.
The toilets were a disgrace, by the way, as there were only five women’s
toilets for about five hundred women in the section where I was seated.
Furthermore, even before the concert, there was no toilet paper in any of the
cubicles and no light at all, so all the women had to light up the room with their
ARMY bombs! If someone tried to use the empty men’s room, they were kicked out
by the staff. In Berlin last year, the staff had converted most of the men’s
room into ladies’ rooms as there are probably 80% women and 20% men at BTS
concerts, but the staff at Stade de France obviously didn’t care.
That said, my seat in the stadium was great with nothing in front of me
except for a small platform that you had to cross to get from one section on
the tier to another. Later, it turned out to be a problem, as many ARMYs left
their seats to stand on the platform, thereby totally blocking the view, but
then I or my friend asked them politely to move, which they did, except for one
girl. She refused to move, even when people sitting on the other side of the
platform asked her to as well, so in the end we had to get hold of a staff
member who removed her from the platform.
Before we
got that far, I waited a long time for my friend Milla to arrive. She had been
stuck in the line because of the long wait to be frisked and they had even
confiscated her Danish flag as security decided not to allow flags on the first
concert day in Paris. When finally Milla arrived, her other friend who was to
sit with us, was still in line and didn’t make it through until close to the
start of the concert.
Most ARMYs arrive in good time before a BTS concert as the venues
usually screen BTS music videos in up to three hours before the concert itself.
The music videos were screened in Stade de France too, but most of the time,
French commercials cut in during the screening in the middle of a song to the
annoyance of most of the fans. At the same time, the storm had increased, and
it was still raining, so we were all bitterly cold in the outdoor stadium.
Because of the delayed soundcheck, the concert was delayed as well and
started fifteen minutes late. At least when BTS got on stage, the rain stopped
a bit, but not totally. As for the setlist, it was pretty much the same as
during last year’s “Love Yourself” tour, but a few songs had been removed and
replaced by new ones like “Dionysus”, “Boy With Luv” and “Mikrokosmos” as well
as old ones like “Not Today” and “Wings”. The medley was the same both days,
though, whereas last year BTS had different medleys on day one and day two in
the same concert venues .The medley itself was loosely based around the day two
medley and added “IDOL” that had been the opening song last year.
This year it was “Dionysus” that opened the concert in what was probably
the most spectacular stage show of the evening, complete with Greek columns and
huge silver tigers. The energy level of BTS was through the roof and had
everyone (except for the disabled) up off their seats and dancing. The audience
remained on their feet for the rest of the evening, despite of it being an all
seat concert, so I was glad that nobody was sitting in front of me as I would
then have spent the night bobbing to the sight of, not ARMY bombs, but ARMY
bums!
After the first three songs, BTS’ leader RM (real name Namjoon Kim) talked
to the audience and said that no matter the weather they would go on with the
concert and only afterwards I understood what that implied.
You see, due to the bad weather, a lot of the new scenography and
special effects during the show had been cancelled, so the show we saw was
rather “amputated”! This was mostly visible during the solo songs of the seven
BTS members. The songs were the same as last year, but all added new
scenography and effects.
My favorite member j-hope (real name Hoseok Jung) did his “Trivia: Just
Dance” dancing on movable, lightening cubes, but the water cannons that had
been added this year, were not used during the concert, as it was cold and wet
enough to begin with. Still, Jimin (real name Jimin Park) did his “Serendipity”
sitting in a giant bubble that he burst, RM did “Trivia: Love” while making
magic hearts in the air and V started off his “Singularity” lying on a bed
where last year he danced with a coat stand. SUGA (real name Yoongi Min) who
had been lying on a couch last year was supposed to go through a glass door
this time in his song “Trivia: Seasaw”, but the door somehow never made it to
the French stage, and apparently something had been cut from the song
“Epiphany” by Jin (real name Seokjin Kim) too, although his old-fashioned piano
from last year had been replaced with a modern, silvery piano and piano stool
in one, in the shape of a tear.
And then there was Jungkook. Last year, he had hurt his foot before the
first show in London, so he had to make the Europe tour sitting down on stage
instead of dancing like the rest of the guys. This time he was supposed to fly
over the audience like he had done during the US leg of the tour in May and at
the two concerts in Wembley as well, but because of the storm, it was too
dangerous, so he didn’t fly after all. That made me think that last year I
didn’t see Jungkook dance, this year I didn’t see him fly, so if I go again
next year, I wonder what I won’t see him do! At least I got to see him dance this
time.
About one third into the concert, BTS sang their current hit “Boy With
Luv” and during the performance, who suddenly appeared on stage? None other
than Halsey. The American singer, who is mostly known for her “Closer”
collaboration with The Chainsmokers, her problematic tweets and the drug
scandal in Sweden last year, is featured on the “Boy With Luv” track and has
popped up a couple of times on BTS’s tour to share the lime light. It was only
her second public performance with the boys, though, the first one being at the
Billboard Music Awards in May and as such, I should probably be grateful that I
saw here live. Many ARMYs have embraced her because of her collaboration with
BTS, giving her career a big boost, but personally I’m not a fan of her music
or her two-facedness, so I would have preferred a flying Jungkook over her any
day! She disappeared straight after the song, though, and BTS went back to
concentrating on the show and ARMY again.
All in all, it was a really great concert, which I presume all BTS
concerts are as they really know how to put on the show. The scenography is
amazing, the choreography is out of this world, the music is top notch and both
BTS and ARMY had a lot of fun. Too bad, though, that during the song
“Anpanman”, BTS didn’t seem able to use the bouncy castle that they had so much
fun on during all the other concerts, but I suppose, it was too wet and
slippery that evening. There weren’t really any fireworks, either, like they
usually have, but at least BTS was on fire, and the great chemistry between them
and the close connection between BTS and ARMY gave us all some hilarious,
thought-provoking and heartwarming moments.
I have to say, though, that not only was this concert very different
from the other concerts on the tour due to the weather, it was also very
different from the concert I had seen last year, despite the songs being almost
identical. The reason for this was, that in Berlin I had a seat fairly close to
the front stage with only the pit separating me from the boys, but this time I
sat way back in the stadium, which was four times larger than the Mercedes Benz
Arena in Berlin. Because of this, I could only see BTS as small ants jumping
about on the two stages, but of course the big screens gave me a much better
view of what was going on. Instead of seeing BTS closer up, I was now part of
the ARMY ocean, all the faceless people in the upper tiers who each wave their
ARMY bombs in time to the music. The venues are in control of the light in the
light sticks, so they change the colors and the intervals during blinks to fit
with the music and it was a great experience to sit in this everchanging
multi-colored sea of people who all love BTS.
Before the encores, BTS each addressed the audience as usual, and where
in Berlin only j-hope had tried his hand in German and the rest of them spoke
in Korean with a German interpreter, except for RM who spoke in English, Jimin,
V and j-hope all talked solely in French in Stade de France, whereas RM spoke
in English again and the three others talked in Korean with a French
interpreter. This way, I had no idea what most of them said as my French is
rather rusty, and so far, I haven’t been able to find a translation online,
whereas last year I understood the German and besides, everything was
translated on the internet.
To be honest, I was glad that I had already seen BTS in concert before,
because although the Stade de France concert was extremely good and it was a
great experience to be part of the ARMY ocean, it was not as nice as the Berlin
concert. I don’t know why, but neither staff nor ARMYs acted as nice as they
had done in Berlin, some were actually rude and besides, many ARMYs were
screaming and chanting a tune that the French usually chant during football
games all the time, even while the guys were talking, so no one were able to
hear a word of what they were saying. They also chanted the football chant
during the break before the encores. Here ARMY usually sing a BTS song and the
one that we were supposed to sing was “Born Singer” but most of the audience
ignored that to chant the French football chant. As France and South Korea met
each other the same evening in the women’s football world cup, it sounded a bit
disrespectful to me, as if the fans were more interested in gloating over their
football team than actually listening to what BTS said and make them happy with
singing their songs.
Oh well, I had an enjoyable evening anyway as seeing BTS live is always
great and there were many funny moments like when Jimin tried to eat RM’s hair,
when SUGA sang “I can be your hero” to j-hope or when BTS asked us to do a
wave, not realizing that we had been doing waves for fifteen minutes during the
break! Musically the highlights for me were “Dionysus”, “Trivia: Just Dance”,
the medley, “Trivia: Seasaw”, “Epiphany”, “Outro: Tear” and “MIC Drop”, but I’m
sure every ARMY has their own favorite songs, and with a setlist consisting of
twenty-four songs, there are enough to choose from!
The concert ended on time at 10.45 p.m., which means that at least
fifteen minutes had been shaved off the show, although all the songs were
there, so I guess that was the time that should have been used for all the
extra effects that we didn’t get to see.
Going home after the concert, wasn’t a problem for me as I was taking
the metro to Aulnay-sous-Bois in the direction away from Paris, so hardly
anyone was on the metro in that direction, and the next day when my daughter
and her boyfriend went to the show, the weather was nice and they saw the full
show. As this was my daughter’s first BTS concert I am glad she had a great and
complete concert. They didn’t even get frisked and flags and banners were
allowed inside the stadium as well.
As for me, I went to Musee D’Orsay the day after to see all the great
art there is on display in this museum and I also swung by what was left of
Notre Dame after the fire. The sight was devastating. On my way home on June 9th,
my leg gave up completely in the Danish airport and since then I haven’t been
able use my right leg but have to drag it along while using the elbow stick. I
guess that’s the prize I had to pay to see BTS again, but it was worth it.
Lastly, I have something that I want to get off my chest, something I’ve
found it a bit sad. You see, after the concert, it was difficult to find
anything about it online, which surprised me. Usually there are lots of photos
and concert reviews afterwards, but I hardly saw any. But come to think of it, no
one except for the French ARMY had bothered to hype up the Parisian concerts to
begin with, and it kind of felt as if they were seen by international ARMY as some
sort of discount concerts that just should be over and done with after Wembley
so BTS could get back to Korea. No one was excited for Paris and it made me
sad.
Furthermore, our concert was one of only three with bad weather during
the tour, the first ones being in Chicago on May 11th and 12th,
but where the bad weather in Chicago made the concerts legendary, I don’t think
anyone who wasn’t there even realized how the weather conditions had influenced
the concert on June 7th in Paris and that we didn’t see Jungkook fly
or had any of the other special effects just like in Chicago. Furthermore, where
American ARMY were thanked for braving the weather in Chicago, the Europeans in
Paris only got a meh. That made me sad. End of story.
© Lise Lyng Falkenberg, 2019
