By Jae-Ha Kim
jaehakim.com
September 13, 2019
☆☆☆☆
Performing at Seoul’s Olympic Stadium is a dream come true for Korean artists. Built for the 1988 Summer Olympics that were held in Seoul, the impressive venue helped set the stage to show the world that South Korea had recovered from the devastation of the Korean War and was a modern, first-world nation.
Back then, Korean music wasn’t a big deal outside of Korea. There were certainly no Korean musicians featured on the covers of magazines like TIME. There had been no precedent, so Korean children didn’t grow up thinking they could dream of being in a non-classical music group that would be famous outside of Korea and possibly Asia.
Back then, the members of BTS weren’t even born.
The first episode of BTS’ latest docuseries “Bring the Soul” begins just days prior to the group’s August 2018 concerts at the 70,000-seat Olympic Stadium. Performing to a hometown crowd in such a setting, it would seem more likely that this episode be titled “Victory.” But instead, BTS chose “Challenge.” Because while the fans saw a perfect concert with spot on vocals and intricate moves that would make professional dancers envious, the seven band members wondered if they were up to the challenge of living up to everyone’s expectations.
As famous as they are, as many albums as they have sold and as many trophies as they’ve won, RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V and Jungkook are seven 20somethings whose normal is to be extraordinary. And while the finished product always appears flawless to us — thanks to their relentless work ethic — achieving that level of perfection that they believe their fans deserve is tiring. V quietly notes, “I need to keep up my energy and not makes mistakes.” Later, he admits that he closes his eyes before every show and worries, “What if no one is there?”
Though a typhoon made it impossible for them to rehearse as much as they’d like, RM doesn’t use that as a rationalization for them to slack off. “There are no excuses,” he says. “We’re pros.” He also points out that there is a direct relation to how much effort they put into their shows to how much enjoyment the audience gets, so it doesn’t matter to them how tired they are — because the end result is that their ARMY has a great time. Even after he gets hit hard by their water canon and falls, he doesn’t complain.
As with last year’s “Burn the Stage” docuseries, some of the best moments reveal themselves in the confessional-style interviews the band members do. Suga talks about how much he loved going to concerts when he was a youngster, and how his hope is that BTS’ concerts bring their fans as much joy. Jungkook, who is almost never seen without a smile on his face, says that he relieves his stress by treating himself to sweets. (He was half joking, but this puts into perspective how the group’s golden maknae usually has a treat with him at awards shows.) He added that it’s on them to prove that all the accolades they’ve received are well-deserved.
“There are things I can change and things I can’t,” RM says. “But I’m doing well now the way that I am.”
It’s not easy to top yourself, especially when your primary competition is yourself. But that is the challenge that the group has embraced.
Airdates: The six-part docuseries debuted on August 27, 2019 on the group’s Weverse app. Read more of my reviews of “BTS: Bring the Soul” here: (Episode 2) (Episodes 3 & 4) (Episode 5) (Episode 6)
© 2019 JAE-HA KIM | All Rights Reserved
I honestly can’t imagine being so young, leaving my family and comfort zone to start on an idol group that from the get-go people were mocking and bringing down to now being world superstars and carrying the weight and expectations of so many on your shoulders.
I am always in awe of their work ethic, their dedication, love, and desire to always do better, to not slack. At this point in their careers, it’d be so easy to just lax and fall into a comfort zone. Not them. They know the expectation of everyone, including themselves. My hat’s off to them.