Hey! Hallie here!
Annie and I are back from PTD Las Vegas! We attended Permission to Dance On Stage in LA and talked about it on this blog, so I’m not going to spend a ton of time on exactly what the concert was like overall. If you want to know more about that, I recommend you check that post out! This time I’m going to talk about some of the more specific shenanigans that happened on stage, as well as the other BTS events that occurred exclusively for their Las Vegas run! Before I get into this though, I want to talk to the ARMYS attending days three and four of the concert. Please DO NOT throw anything at the boys. I would think that this would be common sense, but the amount that was thrown at day one of the concert was ridiculous and I’ve seen that day two was even worse. There are videos of pretty much all of the members getting hit with or dodging flowers, bouquets, and stuffed animals aimed directly at their faces. Jin, who is currently in a cast, narrowly missed a headband lobbed at his face and someone threw AN ACTUAL ARMY BOMB at J-Hope. These boys could seriously get hurt. Namjoon already asked ARMYs to stop throwing things. The people who got permission from the members to throw something to them get a pass, but in the future, just don’t bring anything to throw. Also, if you’re rushing barricade or to the front of a first level section to get closer to the boys, feel bad. It’s so rude to everyone around you and creates potentially dangerous crowding. I’m sorry to halt this post to rant about this, but this is putting everyone in potential danger. Anyways, let’s get to the more positive stuff!
PTD Pop Up:
There are a ton of BTS events happening in Vegas right now, but my group got our tickets after the reservations for places like the cafe or the exhibition were already filled. Fortunately for us, the pop-up photo op event at AREA15 takes walk ins. You need to wait in an extra line if you don’t have a reservation, but the line was short and moved quickly. Inside everyone, regardless of whether you have tickets or not, has to wait in another line to get to the entrance to the main areas, but it also moves quickly. The photo ops in this pop-up are extremely interactive. A replica of the dry cleaners from the “Permission to Dance” MV is the first major fixture you run into, and its accurately decorated windows are almost just as fun as the purple interior with familiar balloon-filled dryers. You can get your “Dynamite” fill by taking a picture next to the basketball hoop that Yoongi hangs around, as well as inside the record shop that’s Namjoon’s domain. The record shop was one of my favorite fixtures both because of the “Dynamite” albums lining the walls and the record player sectioned off to the side. Next is the “Butter” section. Far and away my favorite part of this area was the elevator from the MV, which I saw many people dancing in. You can also take a picture with the huge “Butter” sign while globs of butter drip down from the ceiling. They actually move. And finally, the last room is full of screens showcasing the “Butter” music video. This room is awesome for taking pictures next to your bias, because seven of the eight screens inside have each member’s elevator dance break from the MV. And if you’re OT7, the eighth screen has all seven boys together. I’ll keep the other details a secret, but I seriously recommend this pop-up. And if you can get tickets to the exhibition, it’s literally a few steps away so you can do two of the biggest BTS events at once.
BTS Merch:
If you’re keeping track of the things being said about the Las Vegas concert, you already know that the lines for concert merch have been just as insane as they were in LA. People have been standing in crazy lines that stretch down for several blocks at odd hours of the morning in order to get the merch they want. But, as someone who couldn’t get to the concert any earlier than 4:30 in the afternoon, I got the merch I wanted pretty easily. For one, the pop-up I discussed above has a merch booth at the end that had no line when I went. This booth didn’t have any concert merch, but it still had plenty of Las Vegas specific stuff, as well as shirts for “Butter” and “In the Soop” that sold out on Weverse. At the concert lines for merch were still very long. I wound up sitting these lines out and instead hunting down the cafe selling BTS cookies. They had plenty of cookies to spare and I recommend getting one. They’re called ‘Cafe Lola’ and everything my group got was delicious, from the BTS cookies to the strawberry rose lemonade. After the concert my party went on another merch hunt and was directed to the main tent, which had no line at all. Even at the end of the concert, I only saw a few things completely sold out. First, if you’re a Jungkook fan, I don’t think you’ll be able to wait for merch as long as I did. Everything Jungkook specific was sold out. Second, if you want any of the fans or a blanket, you’ll also need to get there early. But there was plenty of other member-specific merch left for all six other members, and most of the tees and sweatshirts were still available. So don’t worry too much about missing your chance! Allegiant stadium seems to be much more organized and also seems to have more in stock.
The Concert:
Ok, I’ve rambled about the other experiences for long enough. Let’s talk about the concert. My group sat in one of the C100s sections. We sat in a similar section last concert, but we were even closer to the stage this time than we were at the last BTS concert we attended. Unfortunately, we had to wait an extra forty minutes to see exactly how close the members would be to us. During a few of the last MVs before the concert started, one of the screens went partially black and they had to stop the concert to take care of it right before the boys’ entrance. But ARMYs were polite and patient. We even practiced our wave! The concert contents didn’t have many surprises if you’ve seen their Seoul performance. We got to see all of their recent English songs, plus some “Be” and a whole lot of their most popular songs they didn’t get to perform live for ARMYs during the pandemic. All of it was mind blowing. I adore every performance of “Black Swan”, and the opportunity to see it closer up than I have before was heart-stopping. I seriously can’t get over the wing effects they do for each member during the opening. I also really appreciated the blow-up statuesque hands that stood behind the boys for “Fake Love”. And shout out to the on-screen effects for Las Vegas! They were much less distracting than the ones used in LA. Similarly, I appreciated how slowly the boys moved around the stadium during “Telepathy” in Las Vegas as opposed to the faster pace in LA. I felt like I had more time to get to see them.
And yeah, seeing the boys again made me insanely happy! The energy radiating off of all the members was electric. Even Jin’s chair couldn’t hide how happy he was to be performing in front of a crowd that could more easily express themselves (Sorry about that Seoul). We got to see Namjoon and Jin doing dorky body rolls, Jungkook lifted his shirt for all the thirsty ARMYs MULTIPLE times, Taehyung already started throwing things being chucked at him back at the audience (As he should), Jimin’s attractive confidence actually left me speechless at parts, and J-Hope and Yoongi were so unbelievably cool every time they rapped that I almost felt like I shouldn’t be in the same room as them. At the end of the concert all of the members expressed how much they love us, which was lovely as usual. But Namjoon brought up the Grammys, which was very interesting. The members seem kind of done with the Grammys at this point, and yeah guys me too. Namjoon told ARMYs that BTS didn’t come to Vegas for the Grammys, they came for ARMY. He also said that the Grammys could be haters if they wanted and that BTS doesn’t need them. My favorite thing he said, though, was that he could talk about his frustrations to his friends in private but he wasn’t going to insult the academy in public because he’s an adult. This was such a good dig to the pompous jerks who’ve been going on podcasts to hate on BTS ever since they lost the Grammy. We all know that the Grammys are dying and that BTS doesn’t need them. Just look at the way Vegas had already dedicated itself to BTS by the time the Grammys rolled in. But Namjoon just confirmed their irrelevance while calling out their childish behavior. I love him so much.
This is where I’m going to end this post. I had such a good time at this concert. I’m already going through post-concert depression again, which is never fun. But none of that diminishes how amazing of a time I had or how much this experience will stay with me for years to come. I can’t tell you how grateful I am to be an ARMY. The members of BTS have pulled me out of some really dark times in my life and are constantly encouraging me to challenge my beliefs and to love myself. It means so much to me to take part in Hobi’s call and response at the beginning of each concert because he has been my hope in moments where I needed it most. But beyond BTS, ARMY has been such a warm and welcoming community and I won’t ever be able to repay BTS for introducing me to you guys. I very much hope that BTS goes on tour soon so as many ARMYs as possible get the experience of seeing the boys and this community in person.
Don’t do anything fun until I get back!
Hallie
Oreos & Peanut Butter 