BTS: PTD in Seoul

Hi! It’s Annie!

I wasn’t sure I was going to write about this but, with the addition of their new Vlive and some recent news, I couldn’t not. I watched two nights of this one, though it was all virtual. Considering that they locked down this concert so only people with South Korean phone numbers could attend, there was no way possible for international fans to go. Which is a move I seriously agree with. There were a lot of international fans talking about how much they would like to go to this concert when it was first announced, but this concert really should have only been for Seoul residents. Partly because of how much more strict Seoul is with Covid precautions than any place in the states. And these restrictions definitely affected the concerts in several ways. I know that one of the nights of this concert was widely released in theaters, and though I didn’t watch this night I definitely want to talk about this too. Because more and more ARMYs are talking about their positive and negative experiences having watched it in theaters. So, with all of this I’m just going to get into it!

Jin:

I think the first thing I want to address is the fact that Jin severely injured his finger recently. Which may mean that Jin will be in a cast for several concerts coming up. We don’t know how exactly this may impact the performances, but the most important part is that he recovers quickly and gets plenty of rest. I really hope he gets well soon!

Day 1 Online Streaming:

One of the biggest shocks of this night was that Namjoon’s hair is now blonde! It’s very common for at least one of them to have colored hair, but it usually isn’t Namjoon who ends up with it. So seeing him make this change was pretty surprising and it’s always a look he pulls off well! From there though, there were only a few changes to the setlist. One of them being the addition of ‘Wings’, which was one of the song performances that most people speculated they would add on. Most of the set changes people were expecting, however, didn’t actually happen in any of the days of this concert. I know many ARMY were hoping for ‘Louder Than Bombs’. And it was widely speculated that they would perform it on one of the days, especially after a clip with edited audio went pretty viral making it seem as though they were practicing it in the venue. Other speculations included ‘Pied Piper’ and ‘Sea’ because of promotional billboards that had lyrics from these songs on them. But it became pretty clear why the set list remained the way it was for the most part, especially after it felt as though they were speaking to the audience less and their ending ments were significantly shorter than in LA. While the show was pretty similar, each night had a shorter run time than what we saw in LA because of Covid precautions. The stage itself had much more room for background sets, though. I loved the greenery in the background during ‘Black Swan’ and the giant sculpted hands for ‘Fake Love’ especially.

Day 2 Online Streaming (Theater Viewing):

This is all going to be based off of experiences that I’ve heard from other ARMY and some clips and photos that were leaked. This day was particularly bad for performance because it actually started pouring rain. The boys were completely soaked through in some of their costumes and the floor became slippery, causing Yoongi to slip and fall on one occasion and Jimin to slip and fall on two occasions. None of them really got hurt, but it was clear that performing in those conditions wasn’t the best. Still, they all made the most of it and still seemed to have fun doing it! The biggest concern for this day, was actually what many ARMY were reporting happened at the theaters. I was very glad to hear that ARMY were cheering as if it was an actual concert, but many were reporting that some of the boys were receiving less cheers than others. A couple people said that people weren’t at all cheering for Namjoon or Hobi at their showings. We talk a lot about how each of the boys should be getting your equal support. It’s ok to have a bias, but don’t only cheer for your bias! It’s been pretty clear that as new fans join, there’s a lot more popularity with the maknae members or with Yoongi than with the other hyungs. Your bias is based off of your personal preference, so that’s fine! And Jin, Hobi, and Namjoon still have plenty of fans! But you need to also give them love too. I personally can’t wait to go to my next BTS concert in all Namjoon merch!

Day 3 Online Streaming:

There were two events in particular that stood out to me this day. One was Jungkook’s button, which is now being widely talked about. Including by Jungkook himself. Jungkook through part of the concert wears a black jacket with no shirt underneath. This is the same look as in LA. But this time, Jungkook’s button couldn’t quite keep it together anymore. He might as well have been shirtless, which of course is one of the most talked about bits of the concert. The other was that Namjoon was fairly tired from having had insomnia the night before, mostly involving some anxiety over what he was going to say for his ending ment for the last Seoul concert. This caused him to start yawning uncontrollably during the ending ments, which Jin called him out for. Jin and Tae then made Namjoon stand up with his arms over his head until he stopped yawning or until it was at least his turn for his ending ment. I laughed so hard during this bit!

Ending Thoughts:

I absolutely loved these concerts and I love that they were able to play in Seoul for only the people who live there who have been waiting for them! But, you could tell that they were frustrated with the lack of cheering. Namjoon even noted in the recent Vlive that they actually couldn’t hear the fan clappers when they had their in-ears in. Which made it even more frustrating for them. Though these concerts were amazing, I do hope they are able to perform in Seoul again soon without having the fans have to use clappers. They deserve to hear cheering in their home country! Hopefully cases continue to go down. I also prefer the longer concerts because they talk to us so much more casually and it really feels like there’s a connection between the boys and ARMY. Hopefully longer concerts will also be in the cards for them soon in Seoul! But nevertheless, these concerts were just as well performed and I loved seeing them! Even if I did have to stay up to ungodly hours to watch them, which for BTS is always more than worth it.

I’m still holding out the smallest hope that I will possibly be able to go to the Vegas concert, but whether or not I’ll be able to go, I’ll at least continue to watch the online streams! I always love them, there are always adorable moments, and there’s always a good excuse to watch BTS do anything! But these concerts really had the warmth and love from so many people having waited for them for so long.

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie