Who Is In Our Area? - BLACKPINK: the Born Pink World Tour - Review
By Adrianna Dreckman
This is by far the biggest show I’ve had the privilege of attending in my time as a K-Pop writer and I feel so lucky to have this opportunity. If you haven’t heard the name BLACKPINK at least once since 2019 then you must be living under a rock. The four-piece Korean girl group is often times spoken in the same sentence when it comes to history makers as their peers, BTS. The four-piece consisting of members, Jiso, Jennie, Rosé, and Lisa, are embarking on their Born Pink World Tour following the release of their second studio album of the same name. The album was met with global acclaim and reached number 1 on the Billboard charts.
I’ve enjoyed BLACKPINK for quite some time now. I first heard about BLACKPINK when they performed at Coachella in 2019 as the first K-Pop act ever booked at the festival. I remember watching the live stream in my college dorm room and being absolutely blown away by the theatrics, the songs, and the crowd size. For a lot of people, including myself, this was BLACKPINK’s introduction stateside into the mainstream audience. Since then, I’ve distantly followed every BLACKPINK release and liked almost everything I heard however I wouldn’t consider myself a true “BLINK” (their fan name) just because I haven’t followed very closely. When I entered the United Center in Chicago, Illinois on Thursday night for day one of a two-day stint from BLACKPINK in Chicago I was unsure what to expect. As I’ve said previously, most recently in our coverage of the ITZY Checkmate tour, I am a dedicated boy group enjoyer. Girl groups and girl group shows are still new to me. I feel like no matter how much I know a group I’m still walking into the unknown. I didn’t know what to expect from a BLACKPINK show because my last impression of a live show was back in 2019 which was also the last time BLACKPINK went on a huge headline tour.
The energy before the show even started was at an all-time high. The venue set up a cupsleeve event before the doors even opened that the sold out crowd had to go through to get to their seats. To my surprise there was also a lot of children at this show as well including one seated behind me who said this was their first concert and it was “the best show of their life!” that warmed my heart. And once again, to my surprise, men nearly outnumbered the women at this show. I don’t know why I’m shocked still but I am a fan of mostly boy groups so I guess I really just expected the demographic to stay like that across the board.
I also need to show some love for the Blackpink lightsticks. Easily one of the cutest concepts in the market. A black and pink (lol) hammer shape with both ends being heart shaped with a light in either side. Then…and here’s my favorite part…it squeeks when you hit the hammer on something. I saw lots of people being hit on the head over the three hour period in that arena. It’s very cute but my only complaint is that it’s called a “BI-ping-bong” and I sound absolutely ridiculous saying that outloud.
The show started with an absolutely stunning production. The stages, screens, and visuals all felt representative of the high profile standards for an act like BLACKPINK. The show opened with their confident hit, How You Like That performed in front of a jungle, adam & eve type stage design. The crowd was immediately enthralled with the performance. Joined by a cohort of both male and female backup dancers throughout the performance, the group right away brought the high energy that the crowd was expecting.
At the beginning of the US tour, speculation from fans (mostly from tiktok) ensued regarding the presentation of the girls on stage. Out of context clips were posted online of the four members seeming less than enthusiastic with their performance on a few occasions and each of these videos amassed 100k likes and a few thousand comments full of arguments and comparisons. I tried to not let what I’ve seen determine my opinion of the show because at first glance I thought it was a fluke. A group who is coming right off the heels of a release and straight into a world tour is a lot. However, after the first stage I did begin to notice that each member just seemed to be in their own mindset not exactly regarding what the other one was doing until the next cue came along. These moments were brief but I don’t think anything worth a million views on TikTok and a dismissal of the entire work of a tour. Watching this also had me thinking back to last August when I saw my favorite kpop group of all time, Seventeen. I watched them have a few fumbles on stage where something went wrong or a few members were out of sync with the rest. Those moments are regarded as cute and a goof later joked about on twitter for weeks and months to come. Their fans wouldn’t think to call them lazy or sloppy because of this so it has me wondering what the difference is of a boy versus a girl missing their cue. I think that these weak moments from BLACKPINK shouldn’t be considered anything deeper than the fact these artists are human, they’re tired, and there will always be lows when you’re dancing and singing on a stage for several hours at a time.
After the first group stage the girls went into their solo stages one after the other. Each stage was complete with a different theme specific to each girl’s own style and music. Each individual performance was unique in their own way. I haven’t really dived into the girl’s solo music before with the exception of my personal favorite, Lisa (LALISA is a bop and I can’t pretend it’s not). I was very pleasantly surprised by Rosé in particular. She performed two tracks, one from BORN PINK, “Hard to Love” and her solo song “On the Ground” both songs I love very much and I felt her on that stage alone brought a certain kind of delivery I felt like I wasn’t seeing from her at first. I also found Jennie’s performance of her solo, “You & Me (Moonlight)” to be extra special. The intimate yet poppy track found her on stage with one of the male dancer against a silhouette stage design that I found incredibly pretty. Jisoo’s performance I felt was the first time since the show started I could see her being herself confidently and unapologetically. I know she is very naturally shy and you can see that on stage but when you leave her to her own devices she shines through. I would like to see more from Jisoo in the future as an individual as well. And finally, Lisa, who brought the house down with her confident and recent MTV VMA winning track, LALISA. Right after the stage transitioned into her performance of MONEY which included a brief dance routine on one of three poles on stage with her backup dancers. I am not lying when I say that Lisa’s stage presence is on par with global pop stars that we know and love today. I felt like I saw hints of Gaga and Megan Thee Stallion when I watched her stage.
To be honest, my only real complaint from the show was the fan service and even then I don’t think it really dampered my time. BLACKPINK spoke to the crowd only twice during the whole show in between stages. These moments were only a few minutes and seemed to be pre-written speeches to transition into the next stage. It wasn’t until the very end of the show and into the encore did I really feel like BLACKPINK was connecting to the crowd beyond the VIP ticket holders in the front. They were chatting amongst themselves, making jokes, talking about deep dish like every group does when they come to Chicago, and overall being very sweet and gracious to the big room. Still, I wish it didn’t take till the last 45 minutes to get a glimpse of BLACKPINK the people and not the polished rehearsed idols that we see in their dazzling videos.
Overall, the show was very entertaining and of the highest production value I’ve seen in a live show this year. The best dancers. The best light show. And also the best live band. Speaking of the live band, I want to applaud BLACKPINK for the appreciation they went above and beyond to show to their band, staff, and dancers. During one jam break between the band, the giant screens showed all their names and up close camera footage of them playing for those who couldn’t see. They wanted to have their ability be recognized. I also think the funniest part of the night was when Jennie took a moment to thank the guy not on stage who was “playing on Protools” for the night. If you don’t know, ProTools is a music production software used by mostly everyone and anyone who works in studio production. Essentially she was thanking the guy who was playing the prerecorded sounds in their songs that a band can’t replicate on stage. Never in my life have I heard anyone thanked on stage for ProTools but it was fun to hear.
Actually I lied, two complaints, why was there no BOOMBAYAH on the setlist? Is this BLACKPINK’s own version of Misery Business by Paramore? Is it time to retire BOOMBAYAH? I’ll leave that question to the Blinks because maybe they know something I don’t.
Overall, I feel very satisfied with the performance that I saw on BLACKPINK’s Born Pink World Tour. I feel like those die hard Blinks in attendance will get their moneys worth with the production and performances they’re about to witness.