As queues for pop-star stadium shows go, they were orderly and patient. But from the moment the trees parted on the way into Pasadena’s Rose Bowl on Saturday night, and the building-sized banners for K-pop conquerors BTS emerged, the crowds waiting outside were staggering.
An estimated 52,000 fans — from preteens to bemused dads, many Asian American but also Latino, black and white — wound along the Rose Bowl grass. Some had camped out for days to save their spots.
In a few hours, BTS would play the first of its two largest shows in America to date, a crowning achievement for a band that sings primarily in its native language. For the genre, it’s a commercial peak that’s been a decade in the making. God forbid you let the occasion pass without a souvenir.
A $60 Bluetooth-synced lightstick that linked to your specific Rose Bowl seat and flickered in time with the music onstage? Of course. What kind of BTS Army soldier are you? A high-fashion hoodie with the edifying message of this “Love Yourself: Speak Yourself” tour? How could you prove you were there otherwise?
BTS fans strut in style at the K-pop boy band’s Rose Bowl showMAY 05, 2019 | 7:10 PM
“It’s become huge, there’s now so many K-pop artists coming to the U.S. in the next few months,” said Amy Davis, 31, who flew in from Detroit for the show. While she waited in one of those lines, she cited acts like Blackpink, the talk of last month’s Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, as signs that K-pop — a futuristic, upbeat blend of dance music, spitfire hip-hop and balladry — is thriving here.
BTS hit new milestones for K-pop: a trio of U.S. No. 1 albums within a year and a sold-out, four-night run at Staples Center last year. Moreover, in a time when the U.S. government is openly hostile to immigrants, America’s pop charts have become more global, increasingly defined by South Korean and Latin artists. Pop stars are now frequently imported into the U.S., a sea change from the days when homegrown acts from Michael Jackson to Britney Spears taught teens around the world how to sing, dance and consume Pepsi like Americans.
Looking out on this ocean of fans in matching BTS garb, this felt auspicious. Beyoncé, One Direction, U2 and Depeche Mode have all headlined notable sold-out Rose Bowl stands. But they weren’t bringing an entire genre and country with them.
“K-pop has taken over,” Davis added. “ It’s like, what’s even ‘western’ pop anymore?”
Over the last decade, K-pop grew from an established regional genre in Asia to an underground, internet-driven phenomenon in America. Los Angeles was arguably the heart of it, hosting the ultra-popular KCON fan convention downtown, where more than 100,000 fans could finally see live acts they’d watched only on YouTube.
Other K-pop acts like Girls’ Generation, G-Dragon and 2NE1 had flirted with crossover U.S. stardom before. Others like Twice and NCT 127 are waiting in the wings. But at the Rose Bowl, it was obvious BTS has hit an escape velocity of fandom.
blob:https://www.latimes.com/95fcdef9-fd5c-47f5-a671-d21d3aedc774
