BTS’s ‘Love Yourself’ era ends with a historic homecoming show in Seoul

Nov 2, 2019 | Entertainment

By Ashley Cruz

The BTS Effect was felt all over Seoul!

Over 130,000 fans from around the world came to South Korea to witness the finale of BTS’s “Love Yourself: Speak Yourself” world tour at the Jamsil Olympic Stadium.

The homecoming show closes the “Love Yourself” trilogy series which is their biggest and most powerful era to date, having set unstoppable records.

The concert kicked-off on Oct. 26 (Saturday) and was shown via livestream on vLive in different parts of the world. It ended on a high, tearful note on Oct. 29.

Aside from the energetic and mesmerizing performances of their hit songs, new stage outfits, sets and VCRs stunned the whole stadium. Some 300 drones lit up the sky. Fireworks matched the boy band’s fiery choreography and ARMY bombs that looked like stars from afar made the whole experience a festival like no other.

The seven members made the night even more special with their heartfelt messages of love and gratitude to fans. “It may be the final concert, but I think that if there is a start, then there is an end, if there’s a hello then there’s a goodbye,” said Suga (Min Yoongi). “This final concert, though it is an end, it is also a beginning.”

Jin (Kim Seokjin), one of the vocalists and the oldest member, held back his tears as he gave his last, signature “flying kiss.” “Before, while I was singing Epiphany, since I was thinking about how it would be the last time, I felt upset,” he said, “so I had those emotions, and at the end, when I was looking at you all, a smile appeared.” 

V (Kim Taehyung) was full of appreciation to fans who were with them through the entire journey. “You’ve worked hard in supporting us and cheering us on throughout the tour,” he said. “So while going around many countries, we saw many ARMYs, and really — there was nothing more beautiful than ARMY.” 

Selling out and filling up an entire stadium still seems surreal to the members, especially J-Hope. “I was a bit worried to be honest because it’s Tuesday. I was worried but it was filled to the brim,” he said. “You made us into artists that filled up the Seoul Olympic Stadium three times.”

Jimin (Park Jimin) and Jungkook (Jeon Jungkook) were both full of reassuring words for ARMYs. “I wanted to tell you that no matter what happens, it’s okay.” No matter what happens, I love you,” said Jimin. Filled with optimism, Jungkook promised the fans that he would “repay with new energy” through new music and performances. “I thought a lot about how the next concert would be, and what we would do for it, and I’m really looking forward to it.”

It was during the speech of RM (Kim Namjoon) when everyone became emotional. It was a rare scene for fans to see the usually reserved leader break down in tears.

“While the concept of Love Yourself: Speak Yourself finishes here, since the journey, the road, of finding how to love ourselves doesn’t finish here. In the future too, let’s hold hands as we are now and be together as we work out how to love ourselves,” he said.

As the concert ended, fans thanked BTS back by sharing stories of how the Love Yourself era lifted them up and changed their lives significantly. Hashtags #LoveYourselfForever, #BTSourUniverse and #ThankYouBTS trended worldwide. This has always been in line with the Love Myself campaign in partnership with Unicef’s #EndViolence program.

A turning point in BTS’s career, the Love Yourself era remains a historic feat for a band, built by a small company, that has become a global phenomenon.

Ending ment translation sources: @doyou_bangtan and @STUDIO_0613