JUNE 16, 2021
BTS celebrated their eighth anniversary with two online concerts themed around the bond they’ve built with their fandom, Army, since their debut in 2013.
The fan-oriented Sowoozoo concerts on June 13 and 14 were the latest in BTS’ 2021 anniversary series of “Muster” concerts. The title, which means “little universe” in Korean, is a nod to their 2019 song Mikrokosmos that has come to represent their relationship with Army.
Both nights, the South Korean superstars performed a variety of songs, including recent and older hits.
The band members reminisced about their eight years together, talked about their hopes for the future, and shared updated remixes of songs. All seven members of the group also gave special performances of Suga’s solo track Daechwita and J-Hope’s Chicken Noodle Soup collaboration with Mexican-American singer-songwriter Becky G.
BTS debuted eight years ago with the release of their first single, No More Dream, and their first EP, 2 Cool 4 Skool. The seven-member group has gone on to make history time and time again. They dropped their single Butter last month, setting several records with its release.
The band made several references to the coronavirus pandemic and its impact on their plans for world tours, during the concerts. They expressed hope that they will be able to perform with live audiences and connect in-person with fans once again.
One altered lyric from RM during a performance of Move (also known as Moving On) on the first night, when he cursed out the pandemic and looked towards the future, got a lot of love.
“As soon as we meet again, our struggles will go away,” said Jungkook at the end of the second show. “I’ll sing until I die. Let’s run until the end.”
Following the second concert, BTS announced that they are releasing a physical copy of Butter, which will arrive on July 7 along with a new track. Last month, the band revealed they were working on a new album.
That same night, Billboard announced Butter had topped its Hot 100 singles chart for the third consecutive week.
According to Hybe (formerly Big Hit Entertainment), 1.33 million viewers from 195 regions across the world joined in over the two days of concerts to celebrate with BTS.
The morning after the second concert, Hybe announced that its market capitalisation had surpassed US$8.95 billion (S$11.8 million). The company reached the milestone for the first time since going public last October.
By TAMAR HERMAN SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
