Seven years can seem like a lifetime when you’re a fan of arguably the biggest pop band in the world, but that’s how long it has been since BTS last played in the UK. The K-pop juggernauts rolled back into town as part of their comeback tour. The seven members had been on a three-year hiatus to complete compulsory military service in South Korea. Eager to pick up where they’d left off, they pulled out all the usual stops with an immense, high-budget production at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, even if some of the finer detail was lost in the commercial scale of the night.
At the unusually early hour of 7pm, traditional Korean music (gukak) drummed up suspense in what felt like a spirit of recalibration. Since 2013, BTS have evolved from a Korean hip-hop collective into a global pop behemoth. In doing so, their music has skewed increasingly Western, from 2020’s anodyne disco hit Dynamite to this year’s album Arirang, which is largely in English despite being named after a 600-year-old Korean folk song.
Keen to remind everyone of their roots, then, BTS attempted to weave traditional Korean elements into a stadium show. The in-the-round, runway-clad staging was apparently inspired by Gyeonghoeru Pavilion in Seoul and the South Korean flag, though the vast screens towering above the circular stage made it feel more like being at the cinema. A small army of dancers followed the band like a militarised entourage, often wielding various props – handheld screens with blinking eyes, swathes of fabric and LED flags – meant to represent aspects of traditional dance.
But these elements were drowned out by the sheer scale of the show. This tour is expected to make more than $1bn (£755m). Aside from the tickets, most of the 60,000 fans in London brandished £60 official “light sticks” programmed to flash in time with the music. Although there were fewer instances of the septet’s famously tight choreography, every inch of the night felt similarly programmed, from their hairstyles to their audience interactions.
The setlist featured much of the new album Arirang, with the odd older hit thrown in, though it was almost impossible to hear the songs – accompanied only by backing tracks – over the screaming of the crowd. If the music felt like an afterthought to the rest of the spectacle, BTS’s performance didn’t. They worked the multiple cameras like true professionals, dropped back into those thrilling dance formations for 2.0 and Mic Drop, and displayed as much athleticism as a football team during FYA, before parading round the entire stadium during Body To Body.
No wonder several long interludes were required during the two-and-a-half-hour show. But these interrupted the momentum, not helped by rambling speeches from all seven band members and a setlist that fizzled out with two mid-tempo tracks, leaving no sense of a big finish – until, of course, the obligatory, dazzling final fireworks display.
Playing Tottenham Hotspur Stadium again on July 7 then touring worldwide until 2027; ibighit.com