On June 13th, BTS (방탄소년단) celebrated their 7th Festa, which is an annual celebration of their debut as an Idol group. BTS’ Festa features a series of events over the course of the week leading up to June 13th (their debut day) such as exclusive song releases and photoshoot photos. The group also held their second online concert event on June 14th, BangBangCon Live, which was a follow-up from their first BangBangCon event in April. Watching them perform on BangBangCon Live really made me miss being at their concerts and if you’re an ARMY, you’re probably missing them as much as I am. So, grab your army bomb, grab a snack, and let’s reminisce about some of the best BTS concert moments in London.

1. Young Forever at Wembley Stadium

I mentioned this in my BTS at Wembley Stadium post and I stand by my statement that this is my favourite BTS concert moment. I’ve cried at concerts before but I’ve never cried the way that I cried on Wembley Day 2. I’m not much of a crier but one thing that can get me crying every time, without fail, is seeing other people cry. I’ve always been a pretty empathetic person; whatever emotions people are experiencing, I feel it, too. Heavily. During a ment towards the end of the show, while the members were backstage and getting dressed for their next performance, a message came up on the screen for (in English and in Hangul), saying:

“After the band’s last comments and before the stage for ‘Mikrokosmos’, the words ‘ARMY SING’ will appear on the screen. When it does, let’s sing the chorus of ‘Young Forever’ together, as loud as you can. Keep it a secret from the members so we can make this an unforgettable moment for ARMY and BTS!”

A while later, BTS came out for their encore stage, gave their final words and RM proceeded to take us into the final song ‘Mikrokosmos’. Only, to his and the other members’ surprise, was replaced by a metronome sound echoing throughout the Stadium, leading us into the chorus of ‘Young Forever’. RM’s reaction was hilarious, he was so confused and I’m still laughing about it to this day! Jimin started crying like 2.5 seconds into the song, followed by Jungkook and his tears. Jungkook hit extra hard because, like me, it takes a lot for him to cry. And much like seeing others crying is my weakness, the same goes for Jungkook when he sees the other members of BTS, crying. Seeing the members cry made me sob to the point where I had to stop recording on my phone because I was sure that my sobbing was louder than the singing and roars of the Stadium. The members were so appreciative of this surprise and I’m forever grateful that I could be a part of such an iconic and emotional moment – I’ll never forget it.

2. Jungkook’s first time dancing in the UK + flying over Wembley Stadium

When BTS came to the UK for the first time, Jungkook was unable to perform due to a foot injury. This was mine and many other fans’ first time seeing BTS, so it was a bit of disappointment that we were unable to see the entire group perform their choreography, together. Jungkook was sat on a chair in the corner of the stages for most of the concert, apart from when he shooted down the runway (so adorable, oh my god). I really didn’t get to see Jungkook much at the O2 and he’s pretty much nowhere to be seen in any of my footage from the Love Yourself show so, Wembley was my first time seeing Jungkook properly perform. And, oh, he PERFORMED. During his solo stage of Euphoria, he added a zip-line which he was hoisted up onto and, essentially, flew around the Stadium whilst singing. It was definitely euphoric. I saw him so clearly, unlike my experience at the O2, and it made me so happy to see him so happy. He was really upset about not being able to perform at London and the rest of the Love Yourself European tour dates and said that he’d come back again, bigger and better. He did just that.

3. When Jin did the iconic Freddie Mercury “Ay-oh” at Wembley Stadium

When it comes to speeches at concerts, BTS really do their research. I mean, most people know Queen and, specifically, Freddie Mercury but I was still surprised to see BTS pay tribute to them. BTS kept mentioning, and still mention to this day, how humbled they were to perform at a venue as iconic as Wembley Stadium, where so many amazing artists (such as Queen) have performed. Performing at Wembley was such a big deal for them that the first day at Wembley was broadcasted, live, for fans all over the world. During one of the ments, Jin asked us if we were having fun then proceeded to do the iconic “Ay-oh” call and response, which was done by Freddie Mercury during the Wembley Stadium Live Aid show in 1985. It was a beautiful way to pay tribute to Queen and a great way to hype up a crowd.

4. “Shut up, Malfoy!”

If you’ve been a fan for a while and watch BTS when they go live on the app ‘Vlive’ or if you’ve watched tons of “BTS speaking English” videos, you probably read “Shut up, Malfoy!” in RM’s voice. On a live broadcast, someone asked RM to do a British accent so he said “Shut up, Malfoy!” repeatedly, whilst getting increasingly (and scarily) close to the screen. As much as it made me laugh, it was also much like a clip from a horror film and it’s lowkey traumatising. During one of the O2 Arena shows, Jin was saying something about wanting to go to Hogwarts, seeing as they were in London for the first time, to which RM replied “Shut up, Malfoy!” and giggled afterwards. I died; I couldn’t believe we actually got to hear him say it in real life, it really caught me by surprise. Also, I find it so funny that he’s aware that he’s a meme for that clip and that it’s basically an inside joke for the fandom.

5. BTS’ “British” accents

When it comes to doing a British accent, I must say, RM dominates. From his “Shut up, Malfoy!” to his correction of Jin’s British pronunciation of words with “It’s not ‘photo’, it’s ‘PHO-TO!’” at the O2 shows, the man is a professional Brit. RM FOR PRIME MINISTER! However, the other members have shown us their British sides, too with Jungkook’s “Easy, peasy, lemon squeasy” at Wembley and casting Harry Potter spells at each other, and ARMY. Also, remember when V said “Bloodclart” at the O2?! I know it’s not British, as it’s a Jamaican thing, but the fact that he associates London with that word is just hilarious to me.

6. ‘IDOL’ opening stage at the O2 Arena

So, this is a personal one but I’m sure that most people whose first time seeing BTS was at the O2 Arena, can agree with me on this one. BTS had just released ‘Love Yourself: Answer’, which was the finale of the LY series, with the title track ‘IDOL’. As they opened with this song, even just hearing the song now takes me back to when I first saw them coming up from underground and onto the stage. I desperately needed to pee so I associate IDOL with the feeling of utter excitement but also, the feeling of my bladder being full. I was so blown away; I couldn’t believe that the people I had been watching through a screen and listening to through earphones for so long were finally right in front of me. I’m still in awe.

7. When Jungkook had a foot injury and the members comforted him

Although this entire situation was devastating, for everyone, the members of BTS made the situation a whole lot better. When Jungkook injured his foot just before the first O2 Arena show in London, meaning that he couldn’t perform for the rest of the European leg of the tour, it was very obvious to fans just how much this affected him. But the other members paid a lot of attention to the maknae by going over to him, dancing for him and doing silly things to try and cheer him up and make him feel included, even though he wasn’t dancing. I specifically remember when Jin ran laps around Jungkook during ‘DOPE’ and Jungkook was just spinning around on his chair, whilst harmonising with Jin on the song and looking cute and happy as hell. RM even told fans to cheer for Jungkook and show our appreciation for him. It was really cute and so wholesome; watching the videos back just warms my heart.

My cousin, Umar, has partnered with the Ummah Welfare Trust (UWT) to raise money to provide food for the people of Yemen. Yemen is facing one of the biggest Humanitarian crises in the history of the world and are nearly at the point of being completely wiped out, as a country. The UWT has a strict ‘100% Donations Policy’, meaning that anything that the entirety of your contribution will be donated. Please click HERE to donate – any contribution is appreciated. Thank you.

Thanks for reading! BTS really are just such amazing performers; the energy that they bring to concerts is unmatched and I miss it so much. Hopefully, we’ll all be back at BTS concerts, soon! Until then, stay safe and stay positive.

Love,

JK ♡