AsiaWorld-Arena (Arena, also Hall 1 of Asia World Expo), where BTS would perform, is the largest seated performance venue in Hong Kong with a maximum capacity of 16,000 standing plus seats. [1]
Again, long line was waiting for me, sigh! Managed to find my seat, very close to the main stage. It was a plastic chair, similar to the one in the baseball stadium. A small-sized one with the narrow legroom, even to my tiny (?) body.
People started to come inside the hall as it became 5pm. They did allow to enter even after 4pm. Show would start at 6pm. I heard that the show would be around 2 hour long.
Their hit songs were being played continuously with the music videos from two huge LED concert screens both sides of the main stage. All the girls were singing along by the original lyrics in Korean language. Amazing. Koreans would be less than 5% of total population here. Not sure whether they even understood the meaning of each words but looked like they just learned by heart.
As times went by, the hall became full, up to the maximum capacity of 16,000.
There was an announcement on how to use ARMY BOMB. I was strongly advised to purchase only the official version due to Bluetooth function, that I didn’t quite understand how it worked, but again had to follow the instruction as a good girl.
BTS Official Light Stick Mobile APP would help pairing with your light stick by putting the details of concert location, date, time and even your seat number.
Ah ha! This would make it possible to create such a dramatic effect of blacking out, only purple color, or some kind of color wave by different seat blocks during the show.
Unfortunately, this didn’t happen during today’s concert despite following the instructions diligently. More than 16,000 ARMY BOMBs (some were holding two, even three) just blinked whole time by changing the colors tirelessly.
Now it would start soon……
Da da da da da da da da da…..
It’s 5:55 pm. Suddenly all the lights were out, and everybody was holding the breadth waiting for the next moment.
There was dead silence in the arena, and you could even hear a pin drop. After around 30 seconds of black-out, the stage lights started flashing crazily with all the different colors. People started to scream.
Then, the plastic chairs suddenly started to shake, just like the 4D cinema effect, which I have never expected. Screaming and shouting were getting louder and louder.
Everybody became HIGH. My heart began to pound so fast, felt like my heart jumped out of my chest.
And I found myself joining the crowd in shouting and screaming just naturally.
At 6pm, after 10 seconds of silence, that signature funny and entertaining intro of IDOL, my favorite part, started. Screaming was getting louder and louder.
FINALLY, seven boys popped up out of nowhere to the stage, just like a magic and started the dancing and singing of IDOL.
THAT moment, the entire arena went absolutely CRAZY. Without doubt, it was THE HIGHLIGHT of the show.
I still feel that moment with a great emotion, an excitement and a strong heartbeat. That experience of ten minutes was worth the 90% of ticket price, I bet.
And the show went-on. It was a T-shape stage. More than 2/3 of time, they were usually dancing and singing at the center long line of T-stage, nearer to standing VIP seats.
So, ended up watching the LED concert screens most of time. It caused a neck pain, too. As time went-by, I was getting exhausted and tired of watching their dancing back-side.
Out of seven boys, I began to like J-Hope during the concert. He was always smiling and kind enough to come closer to our seats. He was the only one who was walking around the entire T-stage diligently so people could see him more closely.
Quite thoughtful and what a great attitude as an entertainer. Everybody shouted with joy whenever he came closer.
John Cena, an American professional wrestler, also declared his being a J-Hope fanboy. I think he came up with the great name. We all need a hope to hang on. Remember only Hope was left in the Pandora’s box, stuck under the lid.
From YouTube, I saw one video clip of J-Hope’s birthday party in their early days where he was crying and tearing over his father’s (a school-teacher) video message to support and encourage him. Quite touching and it made me cry, too.
Now the show’s over after 2-hour non-stop performance. Amazed with their stamina and energy.
Everybody now left the arena on such a high.
Attending a concert gives you such an incredible moment to experience and discover brand new music and sounds.
Was it worth it? Definitely
Try again? May not
Most importantly, it's a BTS experience. YAY!!!
https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3002644/bts-love-yourself-world-tour-k-pop-idols-drive-hong-kong - image file867Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLT7fwmiigv
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AsiaWorld%E2%80%93Arena
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