Having to sing without an audience that is screaming and cheering at the top of their lungs is definitely a new experience for our favourite artists.
Staring at a screen is not the same as seeing, hearing and experiencing it with your own eyes, but the restrictions of the Covid-19 pandemic mean musicians have had to find ways to share and connect with their fans through live-streamed concerts.
After having to re-schedule their live-streamed online concert from December 27, 2020 to January 31, 2021 due to the outbreak in Covid-19 cases in Seoul (South Korea), the K-pop quartet, whose agency partnered with Youtube Music to make this happen, finally held their most anticipated concert. They sang songs from their new record titled The Album as well as the ones from their previous releases.
The 90-minute concert, held at 5.00 am (BST) was only available for those that purchased the tickets, starting with £25.99 for a standard membership (which would be considered a general admission) and £35.99 for a plus membership (which would be considered a VIP admission). The plus membership allowed users to see behind the scenes content as well as early access to a soundcheck the day before the concert.
Noticeably, the concert itself was not entirely “live performed” and surprisingly, they didn’t sing their entire discography as their fans were hoping. However, the girls didn’t disappoint, providing their fans with an outstanding performance with different stages, surprising remixes, and breath-taking choreographies for each one of their songs.
The comments sections were full of positive comments and words of encouragement for the girls, who have worked tirelessly to make The Show possible. Their fans, known as Blinks, tuned in from all around the world to see Jisoo, Jennie, Rosé and Lisa, some having to wake up early in the morning and some others having to stay up until late at night.
During the concert, BLACKPINK made sure to interact with their fans by giving small speeches about how they were thankful to be able to perform for their fans after such a long time, although they would’ve preferred to visit and perform in each country, as originally scheduled.
“We’ve had this dream since we were trainees and concerts were one of our biggest dreams… I think it was a very precious moment,” Rosé said.
“Watching our concert, I hope you get the feeling that we’re all together,” she continued.
What made The Show more exciting was BLACKPINK’s member Rosé’s solo announcement a week before the live stream. Her debut song Gone amused Blinks who have been waiting for her to release her individual project after BLACKPINK’s member Jennie released hers at the end of 2018.
Of course, Jennie sang her own track titled Solo but surprisingly, she also rapped at the end of the song which made her fans very happy to hear that “rapper Jennie” was back.
The rest of the members performed different songs than they sang on their previous world tour. Jisoo, gave Tove Lo’s song Habits a twist with Korean lyrics, written by her and Lisa shocked her fans with her singing and dance performance of Doja Cat’s song Say So.
Although their tracklist didn’t include their collaboration and featured songs Kiss And Make Up (with Dua Lipa), Bet U Wanna (with Cardi B) and Ice Cream (with Selena Gomez), they did perform their collaboration with Lady Gaga on the song titled Sour Candy.
Fans were left wondering how their songs with Cardi B and Selena Gomez would look and sound live-performed, but this will remain a mystery.
Towards the end, BLACKPINK showed a clip where the members were in an empty stadium, the same one where they first performed, sharing their thoughts about how BLACKPINK has evolved.
The pandemic has left everyone reminiscing about what they enjoy doing the most, and although performing day-after-day can be extremely exhausting, Jisoo, the eldest member of BLACKPINK said: “Strangely, when I see those waves, it’s not so tiring anymore.”
Starting with their hit song Kill This Love, the girls ended their concert with their song Forever Young and post-it notes from their fans who left sweet messages for the girls were seen around the stage.
BLACKPINK never stops giving their fans their best, which is the reason why they’ve become so popular internationally.
Thanking each and every one of their staff members, back-up dancers and their live band’s support who have helped deliver The Show successfully, they also mentioned their gratefulness to their Blinks for sticking by ever since the K-pop girl band debuted.
Visuals, vocals and a lot of talent… The 90-minute live-stream was worth the time and money.
To see a glimpse of The Show, check out their performance on James Corden’s The Late Late Show:
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