The Brilliance That Is… BANG BANG CON The Live

Virtual ticket? Check!

ARMY Bomb? Check!

Snacks? Check!

Fast internet connection? Check!

The last time BTS and Big Hit held an online concert, we barely made it out alive, since we were reminiscing BTS’ old-but-gold setlists for nearly eleven hours straight. Now what else would BTS offer through this 1.5 hours live online concert? Knowing Big Hit and BTS so well, it would be uh-mazing!

The concert was coordinated by Kiswe Mobile, a US streaming service offering multiview technology (up to 6 screens). BANG BANG CON started at 4 PM KST on June 14, but ARMYs could begin logging in at 3 PM to connect their ARMY Bomb, chat with other ARMYs, or watch satisfying statistics in the form of a world map to see where ARMYs were logging in from, to join the virtual concert. When it finally hit 4 o’clock, Tiny Tan in MIC Drop outfits (perhaps to hint at new merch) kicked everything off with concert etiquette video guides and new concert VR.

With his famous line, “Welcome, first time to BANG BANG CON, right?” RM started the setlist with the first song, Dope. The first room was incredibly cute—dominated with the colors purple, pink, and yellow—but the set itself consisted of six different rooms and two stages. As the song progressed they moved to the second stage, and the boys looked fresh with a casual, floral-themed outfit. Without a break, they continued with Boyz With Fun, and whew, what a good sweat ARMYs had as a result! The performance was so energetic that we couldn’t stop singing and dancing! The boys then took time to greet ARMYs from all over the world and read some of their comments. They even did a quick room tour!

Next was the third song I Like It, captured with the camera of their brand new Samsung Galaxy S20+. They then smoothly shuffled to the legendary Just One Day with its classic, innocent charm. We truly experienced a trip down memory lane, as the performances helped us realize how much BTS has grown as artists over the years, making the songs much more special and nostalgic.

Besides song performances, BANG BANG CON also served a cute ‘commercial break’ with BTS ASMR and staring contests, and a showcase of BTS’ ads, which included Lemona, SYSTEM, FILA, Seoul Tourism Organization, and more. Then, they surprised us with unit stages: the heart wrenching Jamais Vu by Jin, j-hope and Jungkook, the playful Respect by RM and SUGA, and the cute Friends by Jimin and V (and yes, that was them performing in their old high school uniforms!) The surprise didn’t stop there, as they suddenly gave us quick spoilers from the Ugh! and 00:00 (Zero O’Clock) performances right after j-hope gave each member an endearing bracelet that he made on past VLive streams. BTS also reassured ARMYs that they would give us the full version of both songs in their upcoming tour as soon as possible. We can’t wait for that!

Photos from BTS Official Facebook Page

After another short break, they once again changed their outfits to perform Black Swan, and wow, the BTS X SYSTEM apparels looked so good on them! The remix version of Boy With Luv came right after, and they incorporated a gorgeous “Singin’ In The Rain concept” in the performance with LED umbrellas! And… wait a second… was that a wall full of ARMY bombs as stage design that we were seeing? Yes, it was! An ARMY calculated how many ARMY Bombs were on the wall and there were approximately 1500. Here was probably a reason behind all the ARMY Bombs being sold out on Weverse Shop! Then, BTS performed Go Go and Anpanman before giving the ending ment.

We could see that BTS genuinely missed performing and seeing us in venues, especially when they had a group hug with space made between them for ARMY. As an encore, they gave us Spring Day and slowly went off the stage while giving us the last bow and shouting, “ARMY, we purple you!”

With a written promise, “We will go see you, stay there,” BANG BANG CON The Live ended beautifully.

Photos from @BTS_bighit Official Twitter account

According to Big Hit metrics, BANG BANG CON: The Live successfully gathered over 756,600 viewers from 107 countries and territories, becoming the biggest paid virtual music event in the world. It also brought over 10,000 new ARMYs to the family. Big Hit also earned approximately $20 million from ticket sales only, not including BANG BANG CON: The Live merch sales.

Aside from their huge earnings from the virtual concert, BANG BANG CON: The Live proved to be the oasis in the desert and healed our longing for BTS.

Until we can see each other face-to-face, please take care of yourself, ARMY, and keep supporting BTS! You can also read our previous blog about the first BANG BANG CON here. 보라해~

Written by: Avi

Edited by: Sno

Designed by: Batul

ARMY Magazine does not own any of the photos/videos shared in our blog. No copyright infringement intended.