BLACKPINK Shed Tears at 50 Thousand Audiences in Kyocera Dome… Held Dome Concert in ‘1 Year and 4 Months’ Since Their Debut in Japan
[스포츠조선=이유나 기자] BLACKPINK proved their class on another level in front of 50 thousand audiences through their first-ever dome concert in Japan.
On December 24, BLACKPINK held the ‘BLACKPINK ARENA TOUR 2018 – SPECIAL FINAL IN KYOCERA DOME OSAKA’ in Japan’s Kyocera dome Osaka and decorated the finale of their first-ever Japan tour, continued from last summer.
As they present the group’s speedy growth after their first debut showcase last year on July, the stadium was filled with 50 thousand audiences. Despite being a concert by a girl group, female audiences comprised approximately 80% of the total audiences. Most of them were in their early 20s, proving that BLACKPINK is the representative ‘girl crush’ figure among the young adults in Japan.
When the intro of ‘DDU-DU DDU-DU’ started playing as the opening, the 50 thousand audiences filled up the dome with cheers. The four members made a surprise appearance on a circular stage placed in the middle of the audience seats, surprising the fans. Their performance continued without break to ‘FOREVER YOUNG’, while the pink lighting sticks also did not stop waving.
When BLACKPINK made their first greetings by stating, ‘Merry Christmas, Osaka!”, the crowd filled up the stadium with cheers once again. They yelled and roared as if they were waiting for BLACKPINK, the first-ever foreign girl group to perform in Kyocera dome, Osaka in 1 year and 4 months since debut.
BLACKPINK repayed the fans’ passionate support by filling up the concert with performances of 120 minutes. They presented ‘WHISTLE’ in an acoustic guitar version, while presenting not only their biggest hits including ‘STAY’, ‘BOOMBAYAH’, ‘PLAYING WITH FIRE’, and ‘AS IF IT’S YOUR LAST’, but also other various repertories. LISA with the unrivaled dance skills grabbed the crowd’s attention with her special solo performance. JENNIE’s ‘SOLO’ was performed in Japan for the first time, and the crowd cheered when they performed the group’s collaborative song with Dua Lipa, ‘KISS & MAKE UP’.
As the concert was held in Christmas eve, they also prepared a carol performance. BLACKPINK appeared in Santa clothes and performed ‘Last Christmas’ and ‘Jingle Bell’, while also presenting a warm and fluttering mood through ‘Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer’ and Mariah Carrey’s ‘All I Want For Christmas is You’.
When the main performances were over, the fans repeatedly sang ‘STAY’ even when the lights were out, requesting for an encore. When BLACKPINK appeared again on a moving car after their wait, the dome was filled with cheers and excitement once again. The four members were going through corners of the stadium to hand out Christmas gifts for the fans themselves.
The fans also prepared an event. When BLACKPINK got out of the moving car to perform their encore, they held heart-shaped boards that read, ‘BLACKPINK & BLINK, Us Forever’ at once. The surprised members could not hide their deeply touched faces and shed tears for a while.
When all performances were over, ROSÉ revealed her overflowing thoughts by stating, “We must’ve had some lacking points, but we were happy to present our performances in front of you. We were also happy to spend Christmas eve together”. LISA shared her sincere thoughts by stating, “I made unforgettable memories. I will continue being LISA and BLACKPINK to work for this moment. I love you”.
JENNIE bowed towards the audience seats and stated, “It’s an honor to stand on such a big stage. The reason I was able to come this far is because of the staff members and BLINK. I sincerely thank you”. JISOO emphasized, “We will meet you again next year through our world tour. Please look forward to us”, and that “BLINK is like a present for us”.
This year, BLACKPINK has achieved remarkable success in Japan, the country with the second largest music market only after the United States.
After starting their first-ever arena tour through Osaka-jo Hall last year on July, the group performed a total of 7 concerts in 3 cities including their concert held in Makuhari Messe Event Hall. Looking back at the group’s debut showcase in Japan held in Budokan that sold out 14,000 tickets and gathered 200 thousand people that registered, their success was not hard to predict.
Subsequently to fabulously wrapping up their arena and dome concerts in Japan, BLACKPINK will now step towards the world. The group will hold their first-ever world tour titled ‘BLACKPINK 2019 WORLD TOUR [IN YOUR AREA]’ starting next year on January to perform in various locations of the world. As the group has also noticed their debut in the US market after partnering with Interscope Records of Universal Music Group, the year 2019 will be a global year for BLACKPINK.
2018. 12. 25.
