You know who we’re talking about.
BLACKPINK performed not one but two sold-out shows at the Malawati Indoor Stadium in Shah Alam over two days.
The ‘BLACKPINK 2019 World Tour with KIA (In Your Area)’ in Kuala Lumpur was initially planned as a one-night concert.
But Malaysian BLINKs – the official name for the BLACKPINK fandom – grabbed all 8,000 tickets in a blink of an eye (pun intended).
Due to the overwhelming response, the concert organiser, MacpiePro, decided to add another show to the joy of all BLINKs. Of course, all seats for the second show were conquered almost instantly as well.
Not bad for their first concert in Malaysia!
To be honest, we are not surprised to hear about the girls crushing their concert ticket sales following the success that they are already enjoying.
BLACKPINK’s latest and most successful song, “Ddu Du Ddu Du” achieved the most viewed music video in the first 24 hours on YouTube and the second most watched music video of all time in less than a day.
As a passionate K-pop fan and big admirer of artists under YG Entertainment in general, I stepped into the stadium with high expectations.
Putting all biases aside, it is safe to say that I did not leave disappointed.
#1 The stage charisma
If you ever bump into the four members of BLACKPINK – Jisoo, Jennie, Rosé and Lisa – on the streets, their cute and sweet girl-next-door appearance may make you look twice.
But when the girls were on stage, they transform into some of the most captivating young artists you will ever see today.
The massive stage did not stop them from flooding the entire stadium with their charisma.
They did not even need an army of dancers to help them fill up the stage visually. All they had were four female dancers who were just as energetic joining them at different points of the show.
The energy was infectious.
#2 The atmosphere
I have said this before and I will say it again: Malaysian concert crowds are the best in the world.
We know every melody by heart, we memorise every word and we are somehow capable of screaming and shouting at the top of our lungs almost throughout a show.
Needless to say, this makes the singers themselves enjoy the live atmosphere all the more. And so did I.
Malaysian BLINKs transformed into a sea of pink on both nights, echoing every BLACKPINK song and chanting the names of each member.
There was a group of little girls seated behind me who were singing along like it was the best (and probably their first) karaoke session of their lives.
At this point, nobody was too shy to sing their hearts out.
#3 The interaction
As foreign artists who speak a different language, I appreciated the fact that the girls made the effort to interact with the audience more than I had expected.
Well, it did help that most of the members, namely Rosé, Jennie and Lisa, spoke fluent English.
Of course, they also threw in the occasional, “Saya cinta padamu!”
The fans absolutely loved it whenever they spoke during their downtime because it felt like we were all at an intimate meet-and-greet seeing them up close and personal.
They even got everyone to do a Mexican Wave in the middle of the show. Watching all the pink light-sticks go up and down was magical.
#4 The songs
Despite having less than ten original songs, BLACKPINK did not fail to make full use of their first concert and give the fans a satisfying show.
They performed all of their biggest hits, including “Ddu Du Ddu Du”, “Forever Young”, “Boombayah”, “As If It’s Your Last”, “Whistle”, “Playing With Fire”, and more.
If that was all they song, the concert would have ended within less than one hour and the girls certainly did not fly more than six hours here to do just that.
Each of the members gave us solo numbers and song covers – starting with Jisoo who performed a cover Zedd’s “Clarity”, followed by Lisa’s dance solos, Rosé who did a beautiful rendition of the Beatles’ “Let It Be”, Park Bom’s “You and I” and Taeyang’s “Look Only At Me”.
Finally, to the excitement and anticipation of all BLINKs, Jennie performed her own solo single, “Solo”.
The girls proved themselves to be talented performers and entertainers who were not just riding on their fellow agency colleague’s fame.
If this was what they could do with only a few singles, we cannot wait until the day they are capable enough to hold a full-fledged three-hour show.
#5 The live band
One of my personal favourite highlights when it comes to K-pop concerts is always the live band.
With such heavy electronic dance elements in all the songs, it is tough to believe that BLACKPINK utilised a full live band for the concert.
If you really paid attention from the beginning of the show, you could hear the distinct difference between the music at the live show and the one in their studio album, or even from their other live performances on smaller music shows.
During the halfway point of the concert, most likely when the girls were backstage changing into another outfit, the screens on stage opened up to reveal a group of professional musicians jamming their hearts out on the keyboards, guitars and drums.
Even if you are not K-pop fan, you would have to admit the professionalism and legitimacy of the South Koreans when it comes to putting up a good show.
And BLACKPINK certainly did.