So the world is in a shambles, our country’s choice is only between the devil and the deep blue sea, the poor get poorer and the rich get obscenely richer—but even if only for an hour Saturday night, we pushed that to the back of our punished minds, plopped ourselves down on the sofa, turned on Netflix, and watched the BTS return in The BTS Comeback Live Arirang. Exclamation point.
It’s been four years since the world saw the boys RM Jin Suga j-hope Jimin V and JK together onstage, before their military enlistment. Now they are one again, dispelling doubt once and for all that they could “un-one.”
As the ‘Arirang’ launch in Seoul proved, and as j-hope said, ‘BTS 2.0 is just getting started.’ (Photo by BIGHIT MUSIC / Netflix)
Now they are men, shaped not only by military experience but more so by the world fame and loyalty of ARMY, the worldwide fan base that turned these candid unassuming young men into a global force, and allowed them to cement Korea’s soft power before a dumbfounded world. (It is the Asian century, accept it.)
Saturday night these men were raring to share their music—baring their mindset, their anxieties, and even their bravura—in a free concert that took the most massive preparations a global city like Seoul has done.
Jin (Photo by BIGHIT MUSIC / Netflix)
The historic Gwanghwamun backlighting them, there they were, all seven standing onstage, in black outfits inspired by traditional Korean dress and early Joseon-era armor, their collaboration with Korean designer Jay Songzio. The camera zoomed in on BTS leader RM. His face so up close on your screen, his stare fixed at you, he said, “We’re back.”
Then the members began their performance of the high-energy Body to Body, the first of 14 tracks in their fifth studio album Arirang, which they were launching that night before the world watching the livestream on Netflix. This album launch done in a free concert at the historic Gwanghwamun Square, in a city all lit up in Arirang red, presaged a world tour to start in Goyang on April 9 and to run until 2027, covering 23 countries.
You think massive numbers when you talk BTS, but that night, we didn’t need a mental space for those numbers. The mom in us just felt— the boys are back, except that now they’re men who are perhaps better used to the glare and stare of the world, but they’re back—and you teared up, perhaps like countless other moms and titas did worldwide.
JK (Photo by BIGHIT MUSIC / Netflix)
You, me, and BTS have shared a story for the past 13 years
You, me, and BTS have shared a story for the past 13 years, starting when they were loosely held seven boys who couldn’t even snag space and airtime in mainstream media, who toured countries with one of them losing a passport (yes, just like what your son is bound to do), who composed, produced, performed music that would speak for their generation and would expand the range of pop music genre and raise the global bar for performance and production.
You, me and BTS have possessively owned a digital space that saw us through the uncertain and grim years of the pandemic—how their videos and music kept us sane in our cramped home-turned-prison. Now that the world is in the throes of self-inflicted “war,” BTS has come back to us, as one onstage.
After Body to Body, as the Korean traditional song Arirang played revealing women in hanbok, you were touched as you realized how the boys brought and kept their nation’s identity to the global feast, and how you wish and hope that other nations, including yours, could do that as well so that the world could truly be one. This inclusion of Korean heritage could have been overdone, but it was not. The message came across just right.
Jimin (Photo by BIGHIT MUSIC / Netflix)
Yet despite their impact the past decade, they wondered out loud onstage if in their four-year absence, they would be forgotten. They’re not, obviously.
Now their music has clearly evolved, from the days when they sang about dreaming and seeking their self-worth. But through that evolution, something stayed the same apparently—that night, they said they just wanted people to see “the most honest side of us.” Like we have the past years, honestly.
Through the entire performance, they repeated what they’ve always said, “We’re not special….we’re just like you….we swim together.”
Indeed the more things change, the more they stay the same. That’s BTS for us. The laughter and the tears.—Thelma San Juan
(Below, more of the show and the music)
RM (Photo by BIGHIT MUSIC / Netflix)
‘BTS 2.0 is just getting started’
Scrolling through my feed before the hour-long launch of BTS’ new album, Arirang, last March 21, as livestreamed on Netflix at 7 pm Philippine time, I was actually concerned that some fans were complaining that the new songs weren’t relevant enough, Korean enough, or didn’t sound like good old BTS.
Pardon me, but—you fools. The boys left, and came back as men.
Of course, the visuals got us first. Set against Korean palaces in Gwanghwamun Square, the scene opened with dancers in black. Drone shots showed that Seoul the city’s hard work paid off wonderfully—fans were sectioned off in orderly squares, and there was no evidence of chaos around the humungous stage. In fact, several giant screens disseminated the experience to ARMYs far away from the main square.
And then, the seven appeared, launching into a song from Arirang, Body to Body, cutting to several women in hanbok,singing a version ofArirang the universal Korean folk song.
There they all were: RM, walking slower, with a chunky foot brace after he injured himself during rehearsal; Jimin, whose long K-pop-idol blonde hair was utterly beautiful; Suga, whose short hair made him look like a boy of 12; Jungkook, wide-eyed from the size of the crowd; Jin, his nose red from the cold; j-hope, ever smiling; and V, gorgeous and with his voice full as ever.
The outfits were perfect: different iterations of flamboyant black jackets over white shirts, loose black pants, and in some cases, overskirts that they pulled off with much flair. There were none of the pastels and cutesy looks of songs past; these guys were here to serve.
They went straight into Hooligan, with RM at a mic stand that looked like his fancy staff from the Dionysus performance. It was only after this that they had their opening greetings, and their very first ever Bangtan Sonyeondan bow after four years brought many an ARMY to tears.
V (Photo by BIGHIT MUSIC / Netflix)
The banter was there, of course—V sitting on RM’s stool, Jimin being teased about his English. They performed 12 songs, eight from Arirang, all with different flavors and sophisticated beats while still referencing where they came from. Like a true BTS tita, I wanted to scream at RM to please stop jumping around on one foot during the Butter and Dynamite dancing, or you won’t heal in time for the concerts on April 9!
Their music now shows the higher level of sophistication and worldly wisdom of these young adults
The spiels were touching as well as funny. They all spoke of dreaming of this moment of reunion with fans. “Seeing how happy you all are makes me happy, too,” said Jungkook. “Can you feel that?” asked Suga. “That’s the honest side of the seven of us. We worked hard to show a more mature and evolved BTS, and I’m so happy to finally present it.”
“We had anxieties about whether people would keep waiting for us, or if we would be forgotten,” j-hope added. RM said that while preparing the album in LA, they had to think about “what kind of artists we want to be remembered as. We found that the answer wasn’t outside, but within us.”
Suga (Photo by BIGHIT MUSIC / Netflix)
Indeed, they have most definitely evolved. The songs in Arirang are deep, provocative, and even downright sexy; from Like Animals (where Suga and RM both sang solos, along with a brilliant V), how about lyrics like Eat this life till your heart is full, if you want you can have it all? Or from Normal: Kerosene, dopamine, what I gotta do? Can we call this shit normal?
We also got to see their first new choreography in years, for their first single Swim, although the choreography of Alien was chaotic and powerful, as well.
It was only an hour long, but it was enough to deliver the message, as j-hope said, that “BTS 2.0 is just getting started.” Much has happened in the years between BTS’ hiatus and today—military service, solo explorations, time for reflection. In my humble opinion, they have all grown from the life experiences, and their music now shows the higher level of sophistication and worldly wisdom of these young adults, even as they keep the traits that have endeared them to ARMY everywhere. As the lyrics in they don’t know ‘bout us go, “Ah, you said we changed? We feel the same.”
So if you can’t get with the more mature BTS 2.0, I guess it’s okay to stay in their old world of Boy With Luv and Dynamite—but you’d be missing out on a lot.
After concluding with Mikrokosmos, BTS said goodbye and left fans excitedly awaiting their concerts. And then sweet Jungkook turned around and said, “Thank you very much for coming out to see us even if it’s cold outside! Safe return home!”
Welcome back, gentlemen. We really missed you.—Alya Honasan
j-hope (Photo by BIGHIT MUSIC / Netflix)
