Hot on the heels of being the first Korean act to headline Coachella in April and the most trending hashtag during the music fest, Blackpink returned to Thailand for "Blackpink World Tour [Born Pink] Bangkok Encore".
Back by popular demand. They performed at the Rajamangala National Stadium on May 27-28, their biggest show in Thailand to date and their second time performing this year after their first two shows at The National Stadium of Thailand (Supachalasai) in early January.
They also made local history as the first K-Pop girl group to perform at Rajamangala National Stadium, according to the concert's promoter, on top of many records they have already made as a group and an individual artist.
Given it was less than five months between their two concerts and the word "encore", it didn't surprise me that their performance last Saturday felt more of the same as I experienced in January, however, it wasn't necessarily a bad thing.
An army in black and pink descended the Rajamangala National Stadium on Ramkhamhaeng Road for the first night. Many Blinks showed up and showed out, holding the "Bl-ping-bong" light sticks, tying their hair with pink ribbons and making fashion statements, despite the unkind weather of Bangkok transitioning from summer to rainy season.
Jennie, Lisa, Jisoo and Rosé started the show fashionably late and the sequences of their show followed the same structure. It was broken down into four acts with a few songs between each act.
"The Enchanted Garden" video intro teased fans as the countless pink dots emanating from "Bl-ping-bong" sticks lit up Thailand's biggest stadium. The audience went into a screaming frenzy as the girls officially started the night with How You Like That, a rousing and sassy start that mixed hip-hop, pop and trap. It was a pre-release single from The Album, their first Korean-language studio album. They wasted no time and went on with Pretty Savage, a trap fun also from The Album. They then went back to their debut with a shortened version of Whistle before they stopped to introduce themselves (as if an introduction is needed) and had the first chat-chat of the night with the audience.
The non-Thai members didn't forget to drop Thai phrases to entice extra cheering from the crowd (we're easily pleased) and Lisa got the loudest scream when she introduced herself, obviously. They ended the first act on upbeat and cheery notes with two electro-pop songs Don't Know What To Do and Lovesick Girls, the latter of which, for some reason, featured floating jellyfish as the background video.
Fans got a breather with the second video interval named Monochrome Paradise, which felt like the girls were acting in a TVC for a fashion line or beauty product, before they returned to the stage with a bang when they killed it on Kill This Love (lame pun intended), complete with light beams, firework and flame jets. The night's biggest highlight in my opinion.
They continued immediately with Crazy Over You, a no-MV song with full English lyrics from their debut studio album and perhaps one of their most underrated songs. They slowed things down a bit with Stay and Tally. The latter is another English song with an empowering message about being unapologetically you. It was kinda refreshing to hear four petite and demure young ladies singing the f-word. The mood went back to high gear with the extended performance of Pink Venom, which ended with a thrilling dance showcase by YGX, a dance group under YG Entertainment, concluding the second act.
Their third act is basically solo sessions where the four girls can showcase themselves as individual artist. Jisoo performed Flower, her first single, instead of a cover of Camila Cabello's Liar as she did in January, complete with the adorable flower hand choreography. The best solo of the night came courtesy of Jennie with You & Me, it was the same song she did in January but this time it came with an unexpected twist. The song slowly built up the tension before reaching a crescendo when she busted out serious moves along with back-up dancers while fans screamed their heads off (me included). She started the song off as this demure in-love girl and ended as that girl who knows how to get down. Rosé was next and she performed a shortened version of Gone as a prelude to On The Ground before Lisa concluded the act with Money.
The fourth act started with another video interval named "Queen's World" before the girls treated fans to two hits from their second studio album Born Pink, namely Shut Down and Typa Girl before they performed Ddu-Du Ddu-Du and Forever Young to treat fans who have been with them from day one before they bid adieu to fans.
It would have been an ironic end, had they not returned to the stage for an encore. The girls came back in white T-shirts for a more relaxed and candid vibe as they sang the two last songs of the night, Boombayah and As If It's Your Last, sending Blinks off on a high note.
Between the two songs, they stopped for the last chit-chat during which we learned an important factoid about Jennie who said, even though she loves Thai food, she hated Thai coriander. And, if I remember it correctly, she adorably called it phak see instead of phak chee. The more you know.
The Born Pink World Tour is slated to end in August with the last show in LA's Dodger Stadium. You go, girls.
All photos courtesy of YG Entertianment.
