The Show, officially titled YG Palm Stage ― 2021 Blackpink: The Show,[1] was the first online concert by South Korean girl group Blackpink in support of their debut Korean studio album, The Album.

YG Palm Stage ― 2021 Blackpink: The Show
Online one-day concert by Blackpink
LocationSeoul, South Korea
Associated albumThe Album
Date(s)January 31, 2021 (2021-01-31)
Attendance280,000
Box office$8,900,000
Blackpink concert chronology

Background edit

South Korean girl group Blackpink released their first Korean-language studio album, The Album, on October 2, 2020. It received generally favourable reviews from music critics,[2] and was one of the world's best-selling albums of 2020.[3] To promote the album, Blackpink announced their first online pay-per-view concert, The Show, for December 27, 2020. However, due to COVID-19 pandemic regulations in South Korea at the time, the concert was postponed to January 31, 2021.[4] Under a partnership between the group's label YG Entertainment and YouTube Music, it was the first concert in YG Entertainment's online concert series "YG Palm Stage". A promotional teaser for the concert was first released on November 23, 2020.[5] It was available exclusively on Blackpink's YouTube channel and included first-time performances of songs from The Album.[6][7][8]

Concert synopsis edit

The Show opened with "Kill This Love", following a video featuring sights of dark and empty cities around the world.[9] Apart from live performances it also included several pre-recorded tracks.[10] Each member performed their own solo stage; Jennie performed her song "Solo" with new rap lyrics written by her, and Rosé shared a preview of her solo debut "Gone", while Jisoo and Lisa performed covers of Tove Lo's "Habits (Stay High)" and Doja Cat's "Say So" respectively, both adding new self-written lyrics.[11][12][13][14] The concert ended with an encore featuring a performance of "Forever Young" in which the stage was filled with messages from Blinks (Blackpink's fandom name).[9]

Set list edit

Act 1
  1. "Kill This Love"
  2. "Crazy Over You"
  3. "How You Like That"
Act 2
  1. "Don't Know What To Do (remix)"
  2. "Playing with Fire"
  3. "Lovesick Girls"
Act 3 (Solos Part 1)
  1. "Habits (Stay High)" (cover) (Jisoo solo)
  2. "Say So" (cover) (Lisa solo)
Act 4 (Part 1)
  1. "Sour Candy"
Act 4 (Part 2)
  1. "Love To Hate Me" / "You Never Know"
Act 5 (Solos Part 2)
  1. "Solo (remix)" (Jennie solo)
  2. "Gone" (Rosé solo)
Act 6
  1. "Pretty Savage"
  2. "Ddu-Du Ddu-Du"
Act 7
  1. "Whistle"
  2. "As If It's Your Last"
  3. "Boombayah" (shortened)
Encore
  1. "Forever Young"

Reception edit

In an article for Billboard, Jeff Benjamin noted, "While members Jisoo, Jennie, Rosé and Lisa brought their superstar sensibilities to some of their biggest hits such as "How You Like That" and "Ddu-Du Ddu-Du", The Show... also put on full display how [Blackpink] is pushing themselves as ever-evolving entertainers offering new twists and unexpected elements to the stage."[11] Bridget Lam of South China Morning Post felt that "[e]ven though it was fully online, viewers could feel their presence from wherever they were", and concluded, "The Show was extremely enjoyable from start to finish."[9] Rhian Daly from the British magazine NME gave the concert a four-star rating out of five, and said, "Despite getting an energetic boost from their backing band, not every moment of The Show hits as hard as you would expect in a bouncing arena. ... though, [Blackpink] put on a concert that's a joy to watch."[10] In the concert review, Variety's Ilana Kaplan credited "the group's choreography to their flashy costumes of tulle, feathers and corsets, the production" that made the audience "feel like they had an actual seat at the Seoul venue."[15]

The livestream concert recorded approximately 280,000 paid subscribers, generating more than ₩10 billion (US$8.9 million) from ticket sales. The countries that had the most virtual concertgoers were the United States (gathering around 19.2% of the total concertgoers), Thailand, Philippines, Japan, India and Mexico.[1][16]

Live album edit

Blackpink 2021 'The Show' Live
 
Digital and streaming cover
Live album by
ReleasedJune 1, 2021 (2021-06-01)
RecordedJanuary 31, 2021
GenreK-pop
Length53:33
Language
  • Korean
  • English
Label
Blackpink chronology
The Album
(2020)
''Blackpink 2021 'The Show' Live''
(2021)
Born Pink
(2022)

Blackpink 2021 'The Show' Live is the fourth live album by Blackpink. It was released on June 1, 2021 and features live versions and performances from The Show.

On May 11, 2021, YG Entertainment announced that "The Show" would be released on CD. Officially released on June 11, the physical album contained a digipack, 2 CD discs, a photobook, 2 random photocards, and a random sticker. YG also announced that Jisoo and Lisa's solo songs on "The Show" were not included on the album due to copyright issues.[17]

The live album was surprise-released digitally on June 1, 2021. On the same day, preorders were opened for KiT and DVD versions of "The Show", which were officially released on June 18. The KiT version included one of four different KiT VIDEOS, one of four different key-ring charms, a photocard sleeve set, and a tracklist card, while the DVD version included 2 DVDs, a photobook, a frame photo set, a random magnet set, a tracklist card, random photo cards, a sticker set, an accordion book, a post card set, and a folded poster.[18]

Track listing edit

  1. "Kill This Love"
  2. "Crazy Over You"
  3. "How You Like That"
  4. "Don't Know What to Do"
  5. "Playing with Fire"
  6. "Lovesick Girls"
  7. "Love to Hate Me + You Never Know"
  8. "Solo"
  9. "Gone"
  10. "Pretty Savage"
  11. "Ddu-Du Ddu-Du"
  12. "Whistle"
  13. "As If It's Your Last"
  14. "Boombayah"
  15. "Forever Young"

Charts edit

Certifications and sales edit

Certifications and sales for Blackpink 2021 'The Show' Live
Region Certification Certified units/sales
South Korea 34,906[21]

Release history edit

Region Date Format Label Ref.
Various 1 June 2021 [22]
South Korea 11 June 2021 CD [23]
18 June 2021
[24][25]

References edit

  1. ^ a b Dong, Sun-hwa (February 1, 2021). "BLACKPINK's 'THE SHOW' draws 280,000 viewers". The Korea Times. Archived from the original on June 1, 2021. Retrieved March 17, 2021.
  2. ^ "Blackpink – The Album". Metacritic. Retrieved October 5, 2020.
  3. ^ Brandle, Lars (March 11, 2021). "BTS Bag 'Unprecedented' 1-2 on IFPI's Global Album Sales Chart For 2020". Billboard. Retrieved March 11, 2021.
  4. ^ Gil Kaufman (December 17, 2020). "Here's Why Blackpink Is Postponing Their Virtual Concert". Billboard. Archived from the original on January 14, 2021. Retrieved March 18, 2021.
  5. ^ Lee Se-hyun (November 23, 2020). "초대형 프로젝트 예고한 블랙핑크 [공식]". Sports Kyunghang (in Korean). Archived from the original on March 18, 2021. Retrieved March 18, 2021.
  6. ^ W. Lee, Janet (December 2, 2020). "Blackpink to Play Livestreamed Concert on YouTube This Month". Variety. Archived from the original on December 3, 2020. Retrieved December 3, 2020.
  7. ^ Anifto, Rania (December 2, 2020). "Blackpink Announces 'The Show' Global Livestream Concert Experience". Billboard. Archived from the original on December 3, 2020. Retrieved December 3, 2020.
  8. ^ Lee Seung-hoon (January 25, 2021). "블랙핑크 로제, 31일 콘서트 'THE SHOW'서 솔로곡 공개.."뮤비 역대급 제작비 투입" [공식]". Osen (in Korean). Archived from the original on January 27, 2021. Retrieved March 18, 2021.
  9. ^ a b c "Blackpink's YouTube concert 'The Show' review: K-pop supergroup wows fans". February 2021. Retrieved July 12, 2021.
  10. ^ a b "BLACKPINK live in Seoul: Superstar girl group make indelible mark with 'The Show'". NME. 3 February 2021. Retrieved July 12, 2021.
  11. ^ a b Jeff Benjamin (January 31, 2021). "10 Standout Moments From BLACKPINK's 'The Show' Livestream Concert". Billboard. Retrieved June 17, 2021.
  12. ^ Gil Kaufman (March 4, 2021). "BLACKPINK's Rosé Reveals Solo Debut Release Date, Title & First Single". Billboard. Retrieved March 18, 2021.
  13. ^ JISOO – Habits (Stay High), retrieved 2022-03-09
  14. ^ LISA – SAY SO, retrieved 2022-03-09
  15. ^ "Blackpink's Arena-Sized Livestream 'The Show' Is the Next-Best Thing to Being There: Concert Review". 31 January 2021. Retrieved July 12, 2021.
  16. ^ Baek, Ji-eun (February 4, 2021). [공식] 블랙핑크 '더쇼', 팝 본고장 美서 최다관람…점유율 19.2% [[Official] BLACKPINK's 'The Show', the most watched in the US, the hometown of pop... 19.2% share]. Sports Chosun (in Korean). Retrieved March 17, 2022 – via Naver.
  17. ^ "BLACKPINK 2021 [THE SHOW] LIVE CD". YG Select. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
  18. ^ Schube, Will (1 June 2021). "BLACKPINK'S 'The Show' Released As Live Album". uDiscoverMusic. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
  19. ^ "Gaon Album Chart – Week 24, 2021". Gaon Chart (in Korean). Retrieved June 16, 2021.
  20. ^ "2021년 6월 Album Chart" [June 2021 Album Chart]. Gaon Music Chart (in Korean). Korea Music Content Association. Retrieved July 7, 2021.
  21. ^ "Circle Chart's Observation Note #1 [Album Sales]". OK POP!! (오케이팝!!) on YouTube (in Korean). Circle Chart. September 9, 2022. Archived from the original on September 11, 2022. Retrieved September 11, 2022.
  22. ^ "BLACKPINK 2021 'THE SHOW' LIVE". Apple Music. 1 June 2021. Archived from the original on 1 June 2021. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
  23. ^ "BLACKPINK - BLACKPINK 2021 [THE SHOW] LIVE CD". Ktown4u. Archived from the original on 17 June 2021. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
  24. ^ "BLACKPINK - BLACKPINK 2021 [THE SHOW] KiT VIDEO". Ktown4u. Archived from the original on 17 June 2021. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
  25. ^ "BLACKPINK - BLACKPINK 2021 [THE SHOW] DVD". Ktown4u. Archived from the original on 17 June 2021. Retrieved 17 June 2021.