Blackpink: K-pop band make ‘epic Wembley dream’ come true
South Korean pop band Blackpink reasserted their position as the world’s biggest girl group, with a riotous two-and-a-half hour show at Wembley Stadium.
The quartet – comprised of members Jisoo, Jennie, Rosé and Lisa – became the first K-pop girl band to headline the venue, following in the footsteps of Michael Jackson, Taylor Swift, BTS and Oasis.
They rewarded fans with a high-voltage set, full of delirious hooks and crisp choreography, while highlighting their sisterly bond.
“What an absolute honour to be performing here at Wembley Stadium,” said Lisa, dedicating the concert to the 70,000-strong audience. “We’re absolutely in awe at all of you guys [for] rocking up and making this possible.”
“It’s an epic dream,” added her bandmate Jennie. “And it still feels a little unreal.”
“The last time we were here [in London] was insane but this was just a whole other level,” concluded Rosé.
“We’re really grateful that you guys stuck around and supported us.”
The show was the first of two nights at Wembley Stadium, wrapping up the European leg of the band’s Deadline tour, which will see them play 31 dates in 16 cities worldwide.
The trek began in Seoul last month, shrewdly accompanied by a new single, Jump – which set a new milestone on YouTube for the most-watched video in a single day, with 26 million views.
By the end of the run, the band are expected to break their own record for the highest-grossing tour by a female group. They previously snatched that title from the Spice Girls, during their 2022-2023 Born Pink world tour.
They are only the second K-pop band to headline Wembley. Boyband BTS previously played the stadium in 2019.
Killer choreography
Blackpink’s London show opened in a blaze of laser light and pyrotechnics, with three muscle-flexing pop anthems in a row: Kill This Love, How You Like That and Pink Venom.
The stadium was immediately awash with pink, as the audience flew to their feet and waved lightsticks that flashed in time with the pounding beats.
On stage, the dance moves were intricate and precise. Blackpink lined up in formation, peeling off as each member took a vocal line, before recombining like a 16-limbed pop colossus.
During Playing With Fire, the massive video wall at the back of the stage split into four, allowing for close-ups for all of the members, each followed by their own camera, as they danced around the circular catwalk for the first time.
That segued perfectly into Shut Down (based around a sample of Paganini’s second violin concerto, La Campanella), whose killer choreography was mirrored flawlessly by hardcore fans.
Deadline is billed as a reunion tour, even though it’s only two years since Blackpink last played in London.
In the interim, the band have negotiated a new contract with South Korean agency YG Entertainment (reportedly the most lucrative record deal of 2023), received honorary MBEs from King Charles, and spent a year pursuing solo endeavours.
Rosé teamed up with Bruno Mars for the global smash APT, Lisa starred in The White Lotus, Jennie went viral for her self-referential club hit Like Jennie and Jisoo took the lead role on K-drama Snowdrop.
As a result, the tour alternates between group and solo sections – with British pop star FKA Twigs making a brief cameo eating a scone during a backstage prelude Rosé’s set, for some reason.
But if fans feared that time apart would weaken the band, the tour is proving them wrong.
If anything, the singers’ personalities come through stronger now that they’ve had the opportunity to spread their wings.
Lisa is the rabble-rousing rock star, responsible for Blackpink’s signature attitude, which she undercuts with a few well-timed winks to the camera.
New Zealand-born Rosé is the cheerleader, handling most of the on-stage chat, while harbouring secret ambitions to be Taylor Swift, judging by the semi-acoustic ballads she belts out during her solo set.
Jennie could be your cool older sister, all dark sunglasses and leather jackets, as she swats away her choreography like a pesky house fly.
Jisoo, meanwhile, is the most reserved member, saying precious few words but taking the lion’s share of the high notes and tricky vocal lines.
Like all the best girl groups, every fan can pick a favourite – or bias, in K-pop parlance – who aligns with their own personality.
So while each solo set has a stand-out moment (Like Jennie is so dynamic it could power a small city; and Rosé’s APT is built for a stadium-sized singalong), it’s when they come together as the “One True 4” that Blackpink really shine.
“All gas, no brakes,” as they put it in their comeback single.
Early hits like Whistle and DDU-DU-DDU-DU are treated with the same energy and focus as recent favourites such as Lovesick Girls.
Pretty Savage has some of the night’s best staging, with the four singers floating in and out of picture frames, before ending the song at a golden ballet barre; while an effervescent Forever Young feels like a hymn to their friendship.
The band’s chemistry is particularly evident during Don’t Know What To Do, as Lisa and Rosé deliberately bump into each other on the catwalk and collapse in a fit of giggles.
When the song ends, the band spend several minutes chaotically ad libbing to the crowd as Rosé struggles to tie an errant shoelace.
Then, during a reprise of Jump (surely a contender for song of the summer?) the band ditch their prescribed dance moves and toss their heads back and forth like they’re in a Wayne’s World parody.
And when Rosé asks Jisoo for her verdict on the night, Blackpink’s most reticent member simply holds aloft her thumbs.
“Two thumbs up? That’s huge!” her bandmates laugh – then squeeze together for a hug, with all eight of their thumbs raised skywards.
In that moment, Blackpink promise this is more than just a comeback. It’s the start of a new chapter.
Setlist
Encore:
