!!!!!! Finally! Ha. This has been…just a BEAR to complete. I almost didn’t WANT to complete it cuz it was like…once it’s all down on paper (ykwim) and released into The World…it’s out of my hands…there’s a THE END at the bottom, it’s done, it’s OVER.

But…it’s already been over a month (whoa). So. Yeah. It’s time.

If you read Part 1, you know that I was very disappointed in the venue and the organization/knowledge of the stadium staff.

BUT.

BTS? Made up for it. THEY were wonderful. They have clearly been working REALLY HARD. Not that they ever DON’T, but…in fact right now they’re on an extended break, the FIRST TIME since their debut in 2013 to have this free time at the holidays…to spend with their family, relax, do personal projects and travel…my point is, they really NEVER take breaks. It seems like they work 24/7/52 year after year. I don’t know how they do all they do. EVERY DAY so much new content comes out – interviews or performances they’ve done, new commercials for their brand partners (Hyundai, Samsung, Fila, Coway, Louis Vuitton, to name a few), magazine shoots, their own content on YouTube, Twitter, and now, INSTAGRAM – that’s new. They each created personal accounts right after the concerts. Within a few hours they all had like 10,000,000 followers. Ha. It’s just INSANE. Taehyung is just about to hit 30,000,000 (30 MILLION) followers and it hasn’t even been a month.

Anyway, I was saying…clearly they worked REALLY HARD to get in concert shape. I was a little concerned. They’ve not done a live concert (let alone 4 nights in a row) since October 2019 when they completed their Love Yourself: Speak Yourself tour that ran from August 2018 til October 2019. They did 62 shows in 14 months, that’s like 5 shows a month, with travel and practices in-between. They were REALLY in concert shape. I didn’t “know them” then but there is so much footage from old concerts. I could see it.

Kim Seokjin / Jin /”World Wide Handsome”

So two years of not being concert fit…AND being two years older. I watched their online Permission to Dance concert in October…just about a month out from the live concerts in LA. And. I love them but…they were POOPED. They kept sitting down between songs (fine with me), were sweating like CRAZY, had a hard time staying on tune cuz they were so out of breath. They laughed about it and were as charming as ever and I find EVERYTHING they do endearing, so…I still loved watching, but…I had my concerns about how they would do at the live concerts in Nov/Dec.

Well, they must have been practicing non-stop…cuz for the most part their performances were GREAT. I was EXTREMELY impressed with their dancing and singing. They wisely modified quite a bit of their choreo to accommodate the situation…no one wants to see Jimin fall on Hobi when they do this amazing move like they used to. And they created medleys of some songs so you got to see just the best choreo parts from each, but they didn’t have to perform the entire song and dance.

I give the performance an A++ and 3 Thumbs Up and a 100/10.

Min Yoongi / Suga

I WISH I could have understood them talking during their opening and closing statements (acoustic issue, not language). Yes, I heard them all later on social media, but…that’s not the same. Still, I could SEE them on the giant screen and they all seemed genuinely pleased and emotional to be performing live again…and seeing Army in person. They all looked amazing and just Being In the Same Airspace as them made me feel a certain kinda way.

But honestly, THEY were just ONE wonderful part of the day.

If you know me, you know that I am NOT a communal type person. I’m not a joiner or a follower or a with-the-crowd-goer. I’m a solo act. Happiest AWAY from all the bodies, NOT engaging, stay away from me thank you very much.

HOWEVER. This was DIFFERENT. This was a rare day for me. For once in my life I felt like I was PART OF SOMETHING BIG. And I LIKED it.

Jung Hoseok / Hobi / J-Hope

When I lined up at the entrance I was immediately buddies with two young (20s?) girls. The one asked me who my favorite member was and she gave me a whole pack of Yoongi photo cards! There were lots of people just walking around giving stuff out. Cards, stickers, etc. Not vendors. Other fans. Then we three joined in with another young girl who was there with her parents…so we were a group of six navigating the waiting and lining-up and protecting our places in line. For HOURS. They held my valuable place in line while I went to validate my vaccination card and I loaned the one girl my cell phone charger thingie when her phone was almost dead. We were buddies. I don’t give my cell phone charger out easily. God forbid my phone dies AT A BTS CONCERT!!!

The people-watching was AMAZING. You know I love me some good people-watching. People of all ages, from kids to (a handful of) people my age and even older. Men, women. ALL kinds of outfits. It was a veritable smorgasbord of fashion. It was like Korean Fashion TikTok came to life in front of my eyes and I was so there for it. From the hotsy-totsy “concert” girls in pleated mini “schoolgirl” skirts, thigh-high fishnets, platform combat boots, teeny cropped tops…to BTS-inspired outfits…either dressing like members (they all have their own unique style) or like different songs: western wear a la Permission to Dance, Saturday Night Fever-esque 3-piece bellbottom suits like Dynamite, etc…and my favorite, the minimal street-style looks that I obsess about on TikTok and Instagram but really never see in my real life.

Kim Namjoon / RM / Rap Monster

And SO many Korean people! Ha. I don’t know why this surprised me, but…I live in such a small, whitebread area…I don’t often see ANYONE different than myself. LA itself is a pleasure in that regard (as is NYC), but this was like…half the people there were Asian.

People were there, literally, from all over the world. The people in “my group” were from San Diego and Houston. I sat inside with a girl from Florida. I heard there was quite a large contingent from S Korea. Now THAT’S loyalty. That had to have cost a FORTUNE.

Once we got inside and I was parted from my Line Friends, I made NEW friends (ha ha ha who even AM I?) with the people in neighboring seats. When the show started, Girl to My Left (oh. did i get her name? what do you think? I’m just Bettye on BTS Speed, I’m not Bettye From Another Planet) and I grabbed one another’s arms and screamed as each new member appeared or did something spectacular.

I GRABBED A STRANGER’S ARM AND SCREAMED “OH MY GOD HE’S BEAUTIFUL” IN A PUBLIC VENUE SURROUNDED BY 50,000 PEOPLE.

Park Jimin / Jimin

We sang along, laughed, did fan chants, and danced THE ENTIRE TIME.

It was A Day to Remember.

Just…the feeling of being surrounded by other people…SO MANY other people, who understood and shared my love for these seven men…was SO GOOD.

I don’t usually give a sh*t what the people around me think or do. It doesn’t affect me. But THAT day?? I was ONE OF THEM and it was amazing. I’ve NEVER felt that before. I don’t even know how to…fully express that. But I was on such a high that day. It was surreal. And wonderful.

BTS gave that to me. Like a gift.

Kim Taehyung / V

The show itself was a spectacle. Even if you didn’t know who the heck BTS is, it might be a fun show just to watch. Cuz they are FUN. And they look like they are HAVING fun. And that fun is contagious. The music, the choreography, the graphics on the giant screen, the surprise guest (Meghan Thee Stallion), the fireworks, streamers, giant balloons, set props: the giant sofa they sat on during Life Goes On and rolled around the stage…the giant trolley that drove around the entire stadium RIGHT UP CLOSE TO THE SEATS (and I could have enjoyed more if Tall Girl in Front of Me could have stopped waving her arms, cell phone, and light bomb for JUST ONE MINUTE so I could have had EYE CONTACT with Yoongi) (SIGH). All the things. It was a fun, happy, joyous, excited, grateful –experience? Ambiance? Environment?

And when it was over, man. Whoa. LIFT ME UP. DROP ME DOWN.

Jeon Jungkook / Jungkook / JK

I still see TikTok and IG’s with videos from the show…and the sad music playing, and the hashtags #postconcertdepression and #takemehomeagain and #itwaslikeadream and that’s exactly how I feel. Like…I waited so long…then it was over in a surreal instant…and now it’s slipping away.

And to THAT I will say this. I will NEVER AGAIN “put down my phone and just enjoy the experience,” cuz the EXPERIENCE is over in the blink of an eye and then what do I have? My MEMORIES? HA HA HA HA HA! I don’t remember where I parked my CAR this morning, you think I’m going to remember every detail of a 2.5hour show/endless day? Oh how I wish I now had pictures and videos! I’m watching everyone ELSE’S videos and…it’s not the same…cuz THEIR experience was not MY experience. And I have no one to blame but myself for that. Granted, you weren’t allowed “real” cameras, only cell phones, disposable cameras and Polaroids. I think they don’t want you to have high resolution images that you can sell. But still. That is my one regret from the day. AND that I didn’t exchange contact info with any of my new ARMY friends. But, you know, Baby Steps. I TALKED to people. Rome wasn’t built in a day. NEXT TIME.

So…most of these pictures are not mine. They’re pulled off the internet…but I wanted to be able to share the visual…and the few pictures that I DID take pretty much sucked cuz I was just not focusing on PICTURES.

And that’s the story of my first (yes, FIRST…not ONLY) BTS concert.

Was it worth it? Cuz it was a LOT of expense…and I NEVER do extravagant things like this…between the tickets, airfare, parking, being away from home, ubers…I guess I spent close to $1500 all in. Was it worth it? YES. Yes Yes Yes.

Yes.

After the 4-show concert ended, I learned (chart date 12/13/21) that BTS grossed $33.3 million and sold more than 200,000 tickets; their SoFi run is one of the best-selling concert runs at a single venue in history. I think all 200,000 of us thought it was worth it. And will go again as soon as we are able.

Not The End 🙂