Today I'm here for you as Army to tell you about when my dream finally came true, that is, the almost once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that a Bts fan has of being chosen for an event related to the band.
It all started on Suga's birthday, March 9, 2023, when during his live show on Wevers (portal for K-pop fans and BTS official press releases), his world tour coinciding with the release of his solo album was announced like a bomb. Consider that two of the group were already in the military Jin and Jhope, so if you're wondering what's going on in the Army's head at that moment, I'll tell you… hand grenade, amazement, tremor, joy and as De Sica would say "terrible anxiety"! Yes, dear unaware reader, terrible anxiety about getting the tickets that everyone wants at the same time.
Ticketing for Kpop and especially for a band as famous as BTS is also called the Hunger Games of tickets… that is, only one will survive and it is usually the one with the best connection.
However, to make a long story short, fans with membership sign up for the ticket lottery, so as to purchase it before everyone else and in a certain way, if you are not drawn, the sale will only go to all those who have the membership (and already here almost everything ends in a bloodbath because whoever manages to access the site first will prevail). After the fan war ends there will be a general sale, which is a joke because fans run out of tickets in a nanosecond.
After this premise on how difficult it is to be Army, I tell you that I tried to sign up for the lottery for the sale of the tour in America, but nothing… unfortunately, and due to a small family problem I had decided that the world was bad for me and I had put aside the idea of seeing Suga.
Well… Well… I signed up for the Seoul date lottery, not even hoping too much in reality, caught up in this dark period I didn't even check my emails. And instead like a bolt from the blue, I opened a notification on the Weverse app that said "You won"! I was shocked…. I had a few hours to finalize the purchase of the ticket on the Korean site eh… bham I had a ticket for my favorite artist.
In the following days I arranged the flight and hotel for June and in no time the departure date arrived.
Returning to the concert, I left the hotel in Gangnam very early, around 7 in the morning, and took the subway in peace to the Jamsil sports complex stop where the concert would be held in one of the arenas at 5pm. Fortunately in Korea, for many important concerts and where crowds of people who could disturb with camps up to several days before the start of the event are expected, there is a random system when purchasing the ticket, which already provides you with an entry number and a sector, so no matter what time you arrive you will know that no one has taken your place in line. I had a VIP place standing and under the stage… from this I began to think that in a previous life, I was not an exterminator of infants, but rather I had saved a nation. Yes, in my head before Suga's soundcheck and even many hours later the phrase "but how did I do it?" echoed in my head, "but look where I am", aware of the fact that only 72 hours before I had been compressed in the Metro B of Termini-Rebibbia.
I was under the stage in the second row, trust me, as soon as Suga entered for the soundcheck I immediately understood that it would be a moment that the people present would remember for the rest of their lives. He enters the scene and begins to look at everything, to look into the eyes of every single individual in front of the barricades. There I began to understand why he wanted small arenas and not huge and dispersive stadiums which he would certainly have filled and which would have brought him greater economic income. It was his Army fans that he wanted to see and remember in this period before his military enlistment, this synergy of relationship that Bts and Army have is touching, perhaps if you don't experience it you will never be able to understand, a sort of mutual attachment and trust, the energy that is transmitted by the public in their concerts is transformed by the artists into a show that has no comparison.
The whole performance fulfilled my expectations and even more, seeing and listening to a live performance of such a complete artist fills your heart, especially for the level of emotion and personality of the lyrics, very often accompanied by his piano and his acoustic guitar (remember that Suga is the author, composer and producer of his songs and of most of Bts' songs).
I must say I was very lucky because other members of BTS were also present in the audience: Jungkook, Jimin and V, so very far away I can say I saw them too!
Suga brings songs from his new album to the stage, including sounds from the cultural heritage of Haegum (string instrument), People pt.2 with singer IU, and the exciting Snooze with Woosung of The Rose and Ryuichi Sakamoto. But there were some hits rapped from BTS albums, Cypher 4, Killer, UGH! e Shadow where he sent the audience into raptures.
The last song The Last, marks a clear boundary between the personalities that Suga puts on stage: in fact in the last performance he sings surrounded by multiple microphones and cameras that film him from every angle to symbolize the public and social pressure that he has as a member of the most famous band in the world. However, once the song is over he turns his back on the audience and exits in strict silence while the lights come on and the staff prepares the equipment. This sudden detachment symbolizes his desire to externalize the "real Min Yoongi", those three seconds it takes for him to come out is nobody, or rather he is not AgustD and not even Suga from BTS, it represents a moment of liberation"the beauty of emptiness" as he called it, a kind of liberation from his obligations as an artist and from Korean society, to be reborn as a new free individual.
I must say that I deliberately hadn't read anything about the concert, so this cold outing took me by surprise. I remained for those five seconds without a shred of thought, only to then have the awareness of having attended the most beautiful concert of my life.
credit YouTube chanel Del Luna.
I hope I have brought you a little emotion by reading this long article, you don't hold it against me but in my opinion it is worth writing a little more about concerts.
Author
Vanessa Ranauro