In the past few weeks, I'd been following a Facebook group called "BTS in Sydney/Melbourne" and found out about many fans who flew from different states in Australia - and even countries to attend one of their Australian shows. The page was really fun as (BTS fans aka) Army were posting up photos of their fansigns, combining hotel fees and meeting new friends. If you're going to a show, try looking up a Facebook group for your city, or making one!
Getting Tickets
Tickets were $129 for general admission and $199 for VIP ones where you get to high-five the group members. However, when tickets were on sale, VIP tickets sold out in less than 5 seconds and all tickets sold out in less than a minute.
I didn't know this earlier, but I got the first two printed tickets in Sydney
Waiting For the Gig (July, 10th)
3 days ago, BTS had their first Australian concert. I really wasn't sure what to expect because I'd never been to a k-pop concert before and I know that Koreans really step their game up (in comparison to Western artists) when it comes to performances. Unlike Melbourne, there was no seating in Sydney so there were fans who camped overnight to get to the front of the line.
With the concert starting at 7:30pm, I arrived at 2pm to see a really long line of fans. In the line you could see all kinds of people: both genders and noticeably many different cultures (yes, I mean non-Asian fans but there's nothing wrong with that).
About 3 hours before the show, we could see the boys rehearsing through the window. Outside, there were also people (Australian twitter accounts?) giving out banners. The atmosphere was really fun as many people were wearing BTS-inspired outfits and even merchandise from other k-pop groups haha.
At around 7:30pm, our bags were checked by security as we threw our food and water out and our tickets got taken. It was also made clear by the venue that we couldn't take any photos/videos due to copyright reasons. I did happen to take some a few shots and videos though.
During The Show (July, 10th)
Unlike other shows I'd ever been to, BTS had no opening act. Our venue had a ground floor and an upper floor where half of it was barricaded for their crew to watch the stage. When the lights went dark, it was stunning to look down to the ground floor which was filled with many light sticks including the official one. The show began with an opening VCR: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7rtpbUny9M followed by the performance of 'N.O', 'bulletproof', 'we on' and 'hip hop lover'. Although the stage wasn't grand, they began their show really well and created that intimate atmosphere.
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| The infamous Suga derp fansign. |
Badass vibes from the songs they performed turned into a sea of emotion when they performed 'Let Me Know' with a foggy background on the big screen. At some point in time, BTS introduced themselves in English and although they couldn't say too much; you could really just appreciate how playful they were being. This just reminds me of what Ji-min once said in a video: "English is not a barrier when you're as cute as me".
A few songs later, the second VCR was played and they returned to the stage with a change of clothes performing 'No More Dream', other songs and Cypher parts. After other songs including 'I Need U', the final VCR containing pre-debut videos was played and you could see some of their fans just crying.
"However as long as we have the eyes that miss us and as long
as we have the voices that shout for us. Even if this road does not have
and end we are willing to walk as we might."
After that VCR, we were all hyped because they performed Dope for the first time on The Red Bullet tour. They also performed 'path', 'fun boys' and 'rise of bangtan'.
Saying goodbye
When it was time for them to [say goodbye] Rapmon told us about how he once travelled to New Zealand as a kid and always hoped to go to Australia
They then left the stage with a final VCR :').
At the end of the day, my friends and I really really enjoyed the concert. The show was really organised, they performed exactly as they would for a televised awards show and there's no way of explaining to someone who hasn't seen them live how enjoyable their concert is. Even after what was a super long day for me, I came home smiling and woke up happy. Days later I still feel smile thinking about the gig.
Ps. if you're going to one of the remaining Red Bullet shows and you're not allowed to take photos, do not be caught taking long videos (one of their crew members called a girl out of the crowd and made her delete her video and I never saw her come back). Other than that have fun!
Here's a funny interview they did with SBS Pop Asia btw.
Here's a funny interview they did with SBS Pop Asia btw.
:),
Tina.
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