I’ve never been to Coachella in the US – and I probably never will – but from the fancy photos I’ve seen online, we already have our own version – American Express Presents BST Hyde Park.
The annual summer event made history this year as Blackpink became the first K-pop group to headline a major UK music festival, packing out London’s Hyde Park with 65,000 adoring fans.
The group last performed in the UK in November, with an estimated 40,000 at The O2 Arena, and the members – Jisoo, Jennie, Rosé and Lisa – looked excited to have the bigger crowd at BST Hyde Park.
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“It’s a dream come true!” Rosé told the crowd at one point – and we believed her.
(Image: YG Entertainment)
The girls brought out a great mix of their discography, with songs like Boombayah returning to the set list.
Each member performed their own solo single too, the first time Jisoo has performed hers, Flower, in the UK as it was only released earlier this year.
Lisa proved to be the real crowd pleaser with her energetic dancing to her solo track Money, with the crowd obediently going quiet as she sang: “Everyone silent… listen to my money talk.”
(Image: YG Entertainment)
But Jennie got some of the biggest screams of the night, including from me, when she brought back her song Solo to the stage.
She actually filmed the music video in London, with some scenes taking place at Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club, so it was a nice moment for her UK fans.
Rosé performed her tracks Gone and On The Ground, with the crowd singing along to the English lyrics.
(Image: YG Entertainment)
They didn’t need the lyrics to be in English though, as the audience of Blinks (the name of Blackpink fans) seemed to know every word to every song.
Blackpink closed their hour-and-a-half set list with fan-favourites like Shut Down, Tally, Ddu-Du Ddu-Du and finally Forever Young.
They brought a number of outfit changes, plenty of energy and great live vocals – and the audience would probably have stayed for another hour-and-a-half if they could.
(Image: YG Entertainment)
There were admittedly a few surprising exclusions from the set list, including As If It’s Your Last (my personal favourite), Kill This Love and Kiss And Make Up, which is their collaboration with British singer Dua Lipa.
But even so, it was a night full of fun, singing, dancing – and looks!
Blackpink fans take the chance to see their favourite group live seriously, and Hyde Park was full of people in ensembles that wouldn’t look out of place in a street style magazine.
I’d never been to American Express Presents BST Hyde Park before, and had naively expected it would just be a stage in the middle of the park.
(Image: YG Entertainment)
But the central London space was transformed into what felt like a miniature holiday destination.
Colourful pop-up shops lined the edges, with delicious looking street food options available, as well as plenty of bars.
There were fairground rides too, and with the weather staying bright for most of the day it didn’t feel like you were in London at all.
The rest of the day’s line-up consisted of Sabrina Carpenter, K-pop band The Rose, Caity Baiser, Mae Stephens, Rebecca Black, Peach PRC, Annika Bennett, Sarah Crean, Mazie and Spider.
(Image: Jack Wetherill)
There’s no wonder it was a sell-out – and hopefully more UK festivals will take note and invite other K-pop groups over.
If they can convert iconic actor Hugh Grant into becoming a fan – he was seen there with his young daughter and her friends and later tweeted he was a “rabid Blink now” – then the possibilities are endless.
Now Blackpink can cross another thing off the bucket list after already headlining Coachella this year.
And all that’s left to say is: “Blackpink IS the revolution!”
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
