South Korean boy group BTS have been active all through the pandemic. From releasing new albums (Agust D’s “D-2“), to their appearance on “Dear Class of 2020“, and celebrating the monumental 7-year anniversary, a global lockdown hasn’t stopped them from connecting with their fans, the BTS ARMY. On 14th June, the members got together for a full-fledged virtual concert in the 2-hour long “Bang Bang Con: The Live”.
With close to 8 million fans logging into the Weverse live stream, the concert is sure to become one of the more successful virtual concerts in recent times. Thanks to their ARMY, BTS even occupied various trends on Twitter through the concert, amassing a couple million tweets at the end of the stream.
A Virtual Concert Like No Other
“Bang Bang Con: The Live”, which essentially means BTS’ Room (‘bang’ mean room in Korean), saw the seven member band performing songs old and new, giving fans world over a taste of their set had they been on tour this Summer.
BTS opened the show with their classic “Dope”. Stepping hard on the nostalgia breaks, they gave fans a fun version of some older hits like “Just One Day” and “Boyz With Fun”. They went on to tease fans with short performances of some of the songs that will feature on their upcoming tour set list. ARMY can expect tracks like “UGH”, “Zero O’ Clock” and more will play out as full fledged performances.
The BTS concert also featured some much anticipated unit performances. With the help of snazzy stylization and a revolving set, three units carried out their performances.
Unit Performances
J-Hope, Jin and Jungkook performed the emotional ballad “Jamais Vu”, while RM and SUGA joined hands for a fun, retro performance of their rap track “Respect” from Map of the Soul: 7.
Jimin and V stole the hearts of ARMY world over with their heart warming performance of their collaboration “Friends”.
The boys also got together for performance to the remix of their hit single “Boy With Luv”. BTS dazzled with new props, new sets and new music.
Commercials and Other Fun
Decked out, head to toe, in their new “BTS x System” luxury wear collection, the virtual concert also gave fans world over a look at some of their full fledged TV advertisements. Their FILA ad, Chilsung Cider commercial and brand endorsement for “Lemona” were just some of the visuals that played out in the breaks, for ARMY’s viewing pleasure.
Closing the concert with their emotional ballad “Spring Day”, BTS promised to see their fans the moment it’s safe to do so. The group began promotions for their latest album “Map of the Soul: Persona” as soon as the coronavirus pandemic hit the world in full swing, thus facing a lot of delays and missed opportunities. The concert ended on a happy note as the boys said goodbye, wishing ARMY health and happiness.
By: Ahalya Narayanan