BTS enters the stage at Oracle Arena for the concert on Sept. 12.
BTS Love Yourself Tour
The sea of purple lights shimmered with apparent excitement. The stadium reverberated with the chanting of anticipating fans, waiting for the appearance of BTS in Oakland, the third stop of their tour. With the release of their newest album “Love Yourself: Answer” earlier this month, record breaking K-pop boy group BTS began their comeback promptly embarking on the Love Yourself world tour, currently with 16 stops and 33 performances totaling at 800,000 seats, far from their 2,000 person audience at their first concert more than three years ago. In addition to the stadium performances, BTS also spoke at the UN to represent their Love Myself UNICEF campaign and appeared on several American television shows during their tour.
The day of the concert, general admission standing ticket holders lined up for the 8:00 p.m. show early that morning at Oracle Arena in Oakland, California. Nearly all concert goers purchased the must-have $55 Army Bomb light-stick that connects to the venue via bluetooth and enables a synchronized color changing ocean in the audience. Although the three hour long concert was scheduled to begin at 8:00 p.m., merchandise sales closed two hours before the start of the concert.
The mid-week concert opened with their most recent title songs with overpowering excitement from the audience. Decked out in prince-like suits for their first set of performances, BTS performed powerful dances in perfect unison and formality. The show was paused for a short celebration of RM’s birthday. After each segment, a short video clip played, the contents of which suggested the theme of a future album and kept the Army content even during breaks.
Solo songs were also spaced out throughout the concert, showcasing the members’ individual talent and charm. The solo performances incorporated the prominent symbols that show up throughout their music videos, featuring props including intricate carnival masks and roses. The boys also performed a medley of classic BTS songs to further hype the audience up, with lively performances of “Boyz with Fun,” “Dope,” “Fire” and the bouncy “Baepsae” that showcases J-Hope and RM’s dancing. Throughout the concert, the boys maintained a bright aura with glowing skin and elegantly styled outfits that were able to channel their individuality, yet coordinated with the rest of the group.
The Love Yourself concert ended with speeches from each member in nearly fluent English. Finally, they performed a half-hour long encore, leaving the stage with promises of returning to the Bay Area for another concert soon.
After debuting in the K-pop industry back in 2013 under the entertainment company BigHit, BTS experienced a slow yet steady upwards climb to success. BTS, an acronym for 방탄소년단 (romanized to Bangtan Sonyeondan), roughly translating to “Bulletproof Boy Scouts,” lends to their consistent concept of individuality and perseverance that is present throughout their discography. The fans of BTS are called “Army,” consistent with their military title. Their introspective theme also sets them apart from other major players in the industry who sing catchy, light hearted tunes or love ballads. Rather than vague declarations of romantic love, many of BTS’ songs examine societal and personal burdens and touch upon youth and success, topics which resonate deeply with their largely adolescent audience.
BTS initiated the “Love Yourself” concept during the fall of 2017, starting the album trilogy off with collaborations with Steve Aoki in creating a remix of “Mic Drop” and The Chainsmokers in the song “Best of Me.” BTS quickly rose on American charts through 2018, achieving number one on the Billboard 200 charts twice with “Fake Love” and “Idol.” In addition, BTS was able to break the record for most viewed music video on YouTube within 24 hours with “Idol,” beating Taylor Swift’s “Look What You Made Me Do” by 2 million views. Just before the American leg of their Love Yourself world tour began, BTS released a second version of “Idol,” this time featuring American hip-hop artist Nicki Minaj.
