I was totally wrong about BTS, and it's time to explain why

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I knew this would be epic.

I was going to see BTS, at the height of their professional game, at a new stadium in Los Angeles, coming off a pandemic that stopped concerts for 2 years…yeah, this was going to be good.

The date was on my calendar for months: Dec. 1, 2021, 7:30 p.m., SoFi Stadium. I was on for Day 3 of BTS’ four-concert stand in L.A. I went for 2 tickets, on that day, knowing D1 and 4 would be hard to get, and D2 was during Thanksgiving weekend, so travel from Detroit to L.A. would likely suck and be more expensive. D3 logic worked. Amen.

It’s been a hard 20 months, like the rest of the world, with trying to stay healthy during a pandemic and do my jobs and life under a ton of stress. I do too much of my work over Zoom, wonder if the world is going crazy, pray I do not get COVID, and deal with the grief over those I know who have died from the virus. I know I am far from alone in these places, and others have lost way more.

It’s not a contest. Just facts.

BTS has been a ray of light, from their music to the Run shows to In the Soop to the Bangtan Bombs. They made me smile every day, kept me company in my workouts, and were a consistent source of relief.

Now, the time to see who they were in person presented itself. They were coming here, to the U.S., and I was lucky enough to survive the Ticketmaster shakedown (or was it actually a Squid Game round?), to get tickets.

This was a small finish line for me, in that if I was sitting in section 238, row 6, seat 4 of the stadium on Dec. 1, all good things had come for a small stay. It would show I was healthy and strong enough to share an experience with my brave, BTS-unknowing but super duper friend Amy Haimerl and 50,000 new friends.

Two days later, I am here to admit I was wrong about this.

Fully, totally, wrong…wrong…wrong.

I was truly unknowing to realize the next levels.

My concept of how good “Permission to Dance - On Stage” was limited by my own mind. This was hotter, sweeter, cooler, (yeah, Butter), than anything I had experienced before. The three-hour experience, plus the 2 ½ hours standing outside the security, and another 20 minutes back to the car, destroyed me.

Nearly 8 hours, 11K steps and stairs walked, for sum total journey.

SoFi Stadium – outside of the actual concert – was a shitshow. It was disorganized, chaotic, lines looping and looping for miles, misleading or non-existent signage, and multiple staffers not knowing where to tell you to go in their own stadium.

My job as a sportswriter has taken me around the world to many stadiums, arenas, and fields big and small, from the Olympics to the World Cup to the Super Bowl, so I can say with some authority how bad SoFi is. Being trapped in a disorganized line of tens of thousands of people, for hours, led to some dark thoughts about the security issues with backpack terrorists that have happened in Paris and Manchester. IFKYK. The sightlines of the concert were amazing, bathrooms were good, the bottled water was cold. Thus ends my good things. Hearing that D3 was better than Days 1 or 2 of BTS makes me wonder how that place is managed. It needs to be rethought, seriously…and immediately. It is irresponsible to hold big events, like the upcoming Super Bowl, if they are not prepared.

I left SoFi emotionally, physically, and mentally drained, in all the best ways. To say the atmosphere was electric would be minimizing. I have only felt that spark of everybody being completely in sync with the artist two other times in concert: Prince, and Eminem at his height of 8 Mile popularity in Detroit back in the day. It was hive mind, body, and soul.

I have seen a lot of big-stage concerts, by artists who are in full command of their game: U2, Duran Duran, Jay Z/Beyonce; and others that are a little looser just for fun like Barenaked Ladies and Jimmy Buffett.

None of them matched the whole package of BTS. They knew they were going to throw down, they’ve been preparing for 2 years for unleash this beast. COVID canceled their tour, took away much of their joy during the biggest charting moments (so far) of their career, and made them stuck in Korea.

No opening act was necessary. You don’t need to order an appetizer if you know the dinner is going to be everything.

The stage? As big as the end zone in SoFi, high as halfway up to the roof of the five-level stadium, with a sharp-as-your living room LED video screen. Add on a small connecting runway from the main stage to the thrust stage, and BTS was everywhere. Cool graphics on screen – yep. Lasers – yep. Confetti guns, streamers, pyrotechnics – check, check, check. Lighting to die for – yep. Sound – perfect from the guys and their live band. The EDM remixes of their hits, Blood Sweat and Tears/Fake Love drop combo, and Fire, were so good, dare say, better than the originals; they could be hits on their own now if released. Multiple costumes, props and accessories that added to the experience – yep. Fun and creative video shorts between sets? Oh yeah. Choreo? Non-stop. BTS was 100 percent live, down to their panting for air in their headset mics after burning 1,000 calories in one song’s worth of demanding, precise moves. They were working so hard that their white opening outfits were sweated out within 10 minutes. They smiled as their faces shone with sweat and their perfectly styled hair turned messy from effort. All seven came with unique, individual personas that lit up SoFi and immediately connected with the audience.

It wouldn’t have taken much to impress this audience. It was 100 percent owned before the first song by BTS, but the performers came out from the first song, “ON”, to snatch everybody’s souls without return for 3 hours.

I am not an all-in ARMY. I don’t have an ARMY Bomb (or as it needs to be known for TSA purposes, light stick), I don’t know a lot of the fan chants – and honestly am good without that. I completely enjoyed the concert, standing, dancing in tiny for 3 hours, and absolutely butchering the Korean lyrics and nailing the English parts with my scream-sing renditions. You can be a BTS fan and not follow the preached orthodoxy by some overly insistent traditionalist fans.

The crowd was truly all ages, ethnicities and genders. We met multi-generational families, dads taking their teen daughters, moms surprising their little ones with an early holiday gift, cosplayers with callouts to video fits, too many women with footwear choices that would definitely lead to pain later in the night, people proudly toting flags from their country, and homemade signs that were perfection – “Lesbians for Taehyung”, “Bam needs a Mom”, “Papi Seokjin”. (FYI, Bam is JK’s Doberman puppy that stole the show in their recent In the Soop 2 show.) We chatted with people in line, I was asked to be in some Boomerangs, and got little gifts from other fans (thanks @im2old4thisotp and @rawlins_a_music). It felt like a homegoing, a festival of those in the know and newbies who would soon be baptized and saved in the Church of Bangtan.

BTS has lived a lot of their lives for the past decade in front of the world, thanks to their shows, videos, and social media. You feel like you already know them so well. I ended up learning more about them, as they showed me deeper layers.

Tae was goofy and super extra, like a golden retriever puppy with new toys in a big yard. You always had to see what he was up to, and then laugh. He was dancing with the backup singers, mocking/mimicking Jimin’s gestures, getting crazy with the confetti gun, dropping his green mic, and then topping off by coming out in a Squid Games red jumpsuit/fencing mask costume. Hobi was intense and precise, funky as hell, and then warm with a big smile. Jimin was delicate, powerful and beautiful. He radiated joy. Jin, my bias, was what I expected – smart, funny, dorky with a side of a very powerful voice. He knows exactly who he is and looks comfortable in his own skin. He just wants to make people happy, down to wearing tiny hair sprout pigtails for the encore for laughs. And we all laughed with him. His happiness is infectious.

JK was made to be a pop star, with a clear voice, sharp dancing, and total ownership of the stage. You could not avoid his stardom, it boomed off the rafters. Yoongi, my other bias from my hip-hop loving, Eminem-drenched soul, always brought the real rap culture. His flows were fast, strong, and passionately delivered with his whole body. Yoongi easily switched back into being the dancer, singer (I am going to say, he tries, like Joon, but yeah, autotuning his vocals still may be the way to go…) and entertainer.

Joon, holy moly, is a big boy thanks to his recent workout spree. Like linebacker, brick house, don’t F with me big. His presence as a leader is physical and mental - and obvious. It was fun to see him encouraging the other members as they spoke English during their planned speech times, like a proud big brother. He usually bears the load for the English, as he is the most fluent, but all of them – special awards to Hobi, JK and Tae – have taken dramatic leaps in their public fluency during the pandemic. (If you watch any of their live streams/ITS, you know they have been working hard. It shows.) They looked to him for approval, and he always rewarded with a big smile. A translator was available when they wanted to switch back to Korean. They were more emotional at times, and as somebody who speaks other languages, I get going back to the words deepest in your soul to be precise. So total respect for Korean. We were good with the translation.

If you reduce BTS to being a boy band, or bucket brand as Kpop, you are choosing not to see what they really are. This is a potent musical and creative force, making millions of dollars as a complex business operation with multiple streams of content, merchandise, and global entry points, led by 7 different men with their own star power who are united through their togetherness and brilliance. They have it hitting on all cylinders, and yet are still humble and grateful for these moments.

Nothing can be taken for granted, by any of us, in this world.

Life changes, health changes, and you don’t want to live with regrets.

They went for the concerts at SoFi as if they were not going to leave anything behind.

I went to go see them not wanting to miss the opportunity.

And we both got it right.