BTS Arirang concert Netflix review: OT7 love shines through the world with funk, soul and buttery sync

It was Busan, October 2022. That’s when we last saw BTS, all seven of them performing on stage. At that time, most of us were relying on snatches on fancam videos and a shaky Weverse Live.

 Four years, seven solo albums and military service later, we watched them reunite for their first performance on Netflix. It’s the ‘Arirang’ era. The explosive, raspy, emotional album dropped yesterday and little birdies say ARMY is still decoding the lyrics.

 BTS isn’t giving their fans a chance to breathe, no sir. In their first live performance together since 2022, the boys were relentless and were radiating with such a fierce energy that you worry that you might have been burned if you got a little too close to them. The concert was mostly Arirang songs, beginning with Body to Body, debuting the complicated choreographies of the rest of the songs including 2.0, and even the gentle Swim. If you made the mistake of thinking BTS couldn’t pull off a choreography for a soft song, the boys aren't letting you off easy.

It was even more profound and clearer than the studio. In the live versions of the songs, every voice stood out clearly, be it Jin’s vibrating vocals, Jungkook's calming tunes, V’s soothing tones, or Jimin, who seems to have found 14 different voices, and all of them better than the previous. FYA was as wild and electric as you would expect it to be, and J-Hope wasn’t going to let you think anything else. He reigned supreme in Hooligan too, showing all his several personas of ‘Jay’, ‘J-Hope’ and ‘Jung Hoseok' on stage.

 As for RM, a cast on the foot did not stop him from a memorable performance. And neither did the rest of the members leave him out either. It’s quite the trademark for BTS; whenever a member is ill, or unwell and seated, the other six firmly plant themselves next to him. This brotherhood, is what makes BTS, BTS.

 And in the midst of their new album songs, they brought back the purple magic of the old: Oh, to hear Mic Drop again, which is almost an anthem for the band. Finally, we got to hear Suga rapping the verses, something fans have been avidly waiting for. That Mianne Omma from the crowd, was the loudest it had ever been, and Suga knows it. How fans have waited for his mic drop.

Apart from Mic Drop,  ARMY was treated to the fun tunes of Butter, and Dynamite, shutting down haters effectively who claimed that the band had forgotten their steps and beats. Er no, the synchronisation was impeccable throughout.

Mikrokosmos playing at the end: The emotions run high, and it is visible on each ARMY's face in the crowd. The boys were home.

 BTS is back, and they’re shining with so much funk, heart and soul. It gets better and more purple from here.