The lights first flickered on little by little, gradually illuminating the empty seats of the concert venue. Then, as though all at once, a massive, sparkling wave that washed up over the stands, one created by ARMY Bombs, BTS’s official light stick. The four shows that made up BTS PERMISSION TO DANCE ON STAGE - LA concert, held on November 28 and 29, and December 1 and 2, were each preceded by music videos on the LED screens and an audience that erupted into cheers as the images of the BTS members appeared before them larger than life. A look at a decibel meter app showed a reading of 122 dB before the performance even began. People’s ears are supposed to hurt from anything over 120 dB. What this sound imparted, however, wasn’t pain but awe—awe at how so many people could be together in one place during the pandemic. Every voice that formed a part of the cheering had its own difficult journey making its way there. “I [was] here already for two weeks,” Sole, who flew the 24 hours it took to get from Chile to LA, said. “I had another vaccine and I couldn’t enter the United States after that … so I had to come get another vaccination here and now I’m here and I got ready for two weeks. But everything is for BTS.”

PCR test entry and exit requirements at immigration, proof of vaccination or another PCR test to enter the concert venue, wearing a mask—the pandemic has utterly changed the concert landscape and the steps people must follow in order to come together. Every one of the total of 214,000 audience members who attended the four concerts were able to enter the stadium only after making it through the process. Because of COVID-19, “ARMY—mostly all of us, we all want to keep each other safe as well,” Ashley, a resident of Charlotte, North Carolina, said. “Everyone’s trying to follow protocol as tightly as possible, so that’s really nice.” This first time together in two years wouldn’t have been possible without ARMY’s dedication to preventing an outbreak. The last time BTS was able to see their fans in person was when they promoted “ON,” the lead single off MAP OF THE SOUL: 7, back in February of 2020. Appropriately, the first song of their latest concert was “ON,” during which the backup dancers climbed over what appeared to be prison bars in an apparent metaphor for what’s going on these days. They finally made it out of the prison of the pandemic to meet each other on the other side. j-hope himself gave his impressions in an interview with Weverse Magazine. “We couldn’t perform in person because the pandemic started while we were doing ‘ON,’ ” he said, “and I wanted to perform that song more than anything else, so it was extremely meaningful.”

Ha Jung Jae, Lead Professional at the HYBE 360 Concert Production Studio, the group that directed the concert, touched on the process of formulating the set list with the members, saying that, “while it could’ve been a bit of a challenge, given that they can’t really hold a lot of concerts at this point, it was decided we should only include songs where all seven members perform together in the set list.” As discussed, BTS went on to perform a set list composed entirely of songs featuring all seven of them. Following the ensemble dance for “ON,” the members gave a gesture-dominated performance of “FIRE” while surrounded by their backup dancers, later moving front and center to heat things up at the climax with another group dance and then, for “DOPE,” guiding the camera around the stage with them. Other than the moving bed used in the performance of “Life Goes On” and when they went around the whole stadium during “Telepathy” on a moving platform to make a connection with as many fans as possible, BTS used a fairly minimal set, filling the stage completely with their energy without a moment’s rest. “All I have been watching is online content because I couldn’t attend a previous concert,” Spambama, from Texas, said. “I’m going to see if they’re real or not.” For fans who had never seen BTS in the flesh, watching the energy the seven members exude as they do their thing on the stage was a chance for those fans to reaffirm that BTS and ARMY exist in the same space.

RM characterized the show as a present, one where they “aimed to make a concert that was like a complete gift box of what people wanted, from start to finish.” The first part opened with “ON” and injected a shot of absolute adrenaline into the concert, followed by a moodier second part beginning with “Blue & Grey” and including such emotional songs as “Black Swan,” “Blood Sweat & Tears” and “FAKE LOVE.” The highlight of the show was the third section, kicking off with “Life Goes On” and elevating the concert to a triumph with songs like “Boy with Luv (feat. Halsey),” “Dynamite” and “Butter.” In the fourth and final part, bookended by “Airplane pt.2” and “IDOL” and filled with showstoppers including “Silver Spoon,” “Dis-ease” and “Telepathy,” the members allowed themselves to spend most of the remaining performance moving about freely. “That was the part where we got people on their feet and all engaging with one another. I knew I would nail that part,” SUGA said. “I think our performances really shine when we have less structure.”

Ha said the main inspirations for the concert were BTS’s three most recent megahits, “Dynamite”, “Butter” and “Permission to Dance”, containing the color scheme of “Dynamite,” the images in the lyrics to “Butter” and the meaning and message of “Permission to Dance.” He also revealed how the four parts of the show were inspired by a line from “Butter”: “Hotter? Sweeter! Cooler? Butter!” Part one was Hotter, part two became Deeper, part three was Sweeter and the last part was Cooler. “Rather than getting all tied up in a narrative,” Ha said, “this concert placed the songs that the members wanted to perform for ARMY front and center, and each of the themes were made to work around them.” From songs that stir up memories of the past to those from their pandemic-busting latest album, BE, BTS offered up a wide spectrum of songs to the audience that allowed them to experience both their emotional depth and the excitement of the performances. To borrow an expression from Jin, the end result reflected their resolve to “put on a show with only the purest stuff.”

Trac came from Chile with Sole for the concert and had one word to describe what it meant to her: “Everything.” Barbara, who was also with them, felt similarly. “With the pandemic,” she said, “I get depressed, and I didn’t want to live anymore.” But she continued to “watch … Run BTS! and I get so excited and my life has meaning again.” She was nearly moved to tears. “And this whole trip and this concert is so meaningful to me.” Such sentiments demonstrate the significance of what BTS is doing and, moreover, of this concert having taken place. In a series of prerecorded videos played throughout the concert, RM, V and Jung Kook make a color bomb, calling back to their song “Dynamite,” under the secret project name CODE NAME: PTD, after which it’s sent to j-hope, Jimin SUGA and Jin, who explode it over the world. And the BTS members, clad in colorful clothing, color other people dressed all in white with the paint and make them dance. The storyline of the video reflects what BTS is doing as well: making it so that the 214,000 people who overcame every manner of adversity to come together could enjoy the celebration together. Coloring the world with hope. The theme of “Permission to Dance,” the song they performed for the encore, ran through the entire concert, and was the closing scene that captured the mutual feelings between BTS and their audience. “Everyone was doing [the song’s main dance] at the concert,” Jimin said, imitating the move. “I almost cried.” Jung Kook also touched on his feelings, saying, “I was still smiling, even though by then I had no strength left in my thighs.”

These pandemic-era concerts still aren’t perfect, though. “Before the pandemic, I could guess at what people in the audience were thinking just by looking at their mouths,” Jin said, “but now that everyone’s wearing masks I can only tell if they’re crying or smiling and that’s it. That was the saddest part.” HYBE staff members were unexpectedly subject to self-quarantine for 10 days after arriving back in Korea as the quarantine exemption guidelines had changed following the spread of omicron, another mutation of the virus that causes COVID-19. “You can’t really be 100% sure of the feasibility of future in-person concerts,” DJ Kim, President of HYBE 360, said. Still, “this concert gave hope that, if the artists, audiences and label prepare thoroughly and everyone makes an effort to follow social distancing guidelines, then they’ll be able to have audiences in person in Korea and in cities in other countries, too, sooner than later.” In LA, ARMY followed the rules regarding vaccinations and PCR tests without exception and the staff members moving in and out of the backstage area strictly observed vaccination, PCR and mask guidelines as well. The culmination of their efforts was an event that would have otherwise seemed impossible to hold anytime soon in the current climate.

“Things are still challenging, with COVID-19,” V, who was still recovering from a leg injury going into the concert, said. “But it’s clear to me now how important performing is to me. I was so happy during the concert that I forgot all about how my leg hurt and just kept moving.” While BTS had been even more successful than ever over the past two years, the group had no opportunity to see ARMY face to face. And yet they delivered a message of perseverance with the lead single of BE, “Life Goes On,” brought comfort to everyone weary of the COVID-19 pandemic in “Dynamite,” spent a total of 10 weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart with the smash hit “Butter” and showed the International Sign words for “fun,” “dance” and “peace” in their choreography for “Permission to Dance.” The hope that people could one day dance to their ever-more-inclusive songs is exactly what came to pass with BTS PERMISSION TO DANCE ON STAGE - LA concert.

It's more than a simple concert, then—it’s a page out of the book of utmost hope written by all ARMY of the world. BTS “live in South Korea, so that’s literally a whole different country and a whole different language” said Spespy, a fan from Florida. “So at first I [thought] it was not easy for me to communicate or understand them. But their music,” she said, showed her that her worry had been unfounded. The group’s past eight years have instead been a time of breaking down countless walls. BTS has been nominated for a Grammy two years in a row, and in 2021 became the first Asian singers to win in the Artist of the Year category at the American Music Awards and walked away with two additional awards. The group overcame the expectations of ethnicity, language and the very idea of what a K-pop idol should be and gained countless followers in the process. And finally, after two years, all those individuals, scattered throughout the world, came together to form a massive wave. On the final day of the concert, RM recalled the previous two years as though “we were in this deep tunnel—[this] deep hole.” Even in that darkness, BTS proved how music can bring a multitude of individuals together as one, and those people found a way to be together once again. Their wave was created just as the light at the end of the tunnel they all made it through together came into sight. Light that proves, one way or another, that life goes on, and people will always find a way to live on, together, surfing on the possibilities arising from the hope they all work so hard to cultivate.