We have been waiting YEARS for this day!!! The return of BTS in concert with their Arirang World Tour!
But first, I had to get to Tampa, which was the opening city for the North American leg of the tour. Yes, Tampa! After his concert last summer in Tampa, Jin convinced the other members that they had to come back - he made good on his promise!
Meanwhile, Hobi posted an airplane selfie, so I had to also.
Tampa airport went all out- and so did the Tampa Bangtan Besties (you can see them on the right greeting ARMY who we arriving at TPA).
They even loved that Todd and Grant stopped by! They're just ARMY by association though! They got there a few days ahead of me and Natalie for spring break at my mom's house. They had a blast going to the beach, going out to eat, playing pickleball, and going to Adventure Island (a waterpark in Tampa).
Of course, I took a selfie when I got there, too! Although I got there too late in the day to greet the Bangtan Besties.
Social media and other ARMY had a fun time playing with all-things Tampa. Here they turned the Tampa Bay Buc into ... Jungkook! (For the record, if you don't follow StessieT - you should! She's amazing!)
Natalie arrived the day after I did - and she almost didn't make it! The already now-defunct Spirit Airlines saved the day though. Her flight from Columbia to Chicago on United was delayed so much, that she was going to miss her connection to Tampa. So we bought her a cheap ticket from Chicago to Tampa on Spirit - she arrived VERY late Friday night, but with plenty of time to go to the D1 show, where we dressed up in our 2013 Debut Era jerseys.
Such baddies. (The 7 is for the 7 members of BTS, it's not a gang sign!)
This is the look we were going for, back when BTS was so emo and wore a ton of eyeliner. We were absolute ROCK STARS at this show. Everyone complimented us - we even had people leaning out of cars passing by that were yelling, "I LOVE YOUR OUTFIT!" Really, it was the accessories that made it!
We drove over to Raymond James Stadium and parked super close to the stadium (later, this would prove to be a bad idea as it took us FOREVER to get to the interstate). But we walked around the stadium, went over to the merch tent at Hillsborough Community College so we could pick up Natalie's pre-ordered ARMY bomb, and then walked back to the car. It was HOT. Eventually, we even went for something to eat at the nearby Panera... which also took FOREVER.
But everyone was in good spirits and we even spotted this truck driving around airing concert footage on the side of it!
Finally, it was time to go into Raymond James Stadium. Natalie and I had 200 level tickets, so we went in via the Hyundai Club entrance. We met so many cool ARMYs - but getting into the stadium was a mess. This should have been a very fast entrance, but it was NOT. And we heard entrance B was even worse- so bad, that BTS was 20 minutes late to start the show because people were STILL coming into the stadium. They made you go through the metal detector with all of your stuff. THEN you put your stuff on the table and walk back through. What? Why????
We were so happy to be on the shaded side of the stadium! We have only seen BTS one other time (of course) but we had been in the nose bleeds! So this was a major upgrade!
WE ARE SO READY!
They opened up the show with Hooligan - the whole first half of the show was SO HYPE. They played almost the entirety of Arirang, and of course, some classics.
My bias, the golden makenae Jungkook!
Everyone was going absolutely BONKERS for Jimin's new long hair! (It's definitely longer but he also has been wearing extensions, ha!)
LOOK how close Jin and J-Hope were to us during Fake Love!!!
The VCRs were a little different than the ones from PTD (or other recent shows) - but they were so aesthetically beautiful!
The colors were so beautiful and of course, they had such ethereal photos of the members!
One of my favorite parts of the show was when they all walked around the stage during Idol.
And there was so much confetti! Our special songs on D1 were Permission to Dance (seen it!) and MAGIC SHOP! Natalie absolutely LOST HER MIND! But we were hopeful for D2 because just about EVERY sign during ARMY time said something like "Please play Pied Piper!" Which is Natalie's all time favorite BTS song. Mine is maybe either Silver Spoon (Bapsae, which I've seen live before) or We Are Bulletproof: The Eternal - and I know I'll probably never see that live, even though I'm CERTAIN that would have been the closing song to the MOTS:7 tour.
At one point, Jungkook just laid down. I can't blame him - they were so hype all night!
The end of the concert was much more subdued than the beginning of the concert- they had this cool centerpiece that rose up and spun slowly while they did their ments and sang.
I can't tell you what it means to me to see these 7 together again after all they went through, and the years spent in the military, away from ARMY and each other. It's so ridiculous to say that a band changed your life, or that they ARE your life. But I literally do not know who I would be without them. I always say that they're my nephews - I'm so proud of them, they make me laugh every day, I feel their struggles, I want all the happiness for them, and I love them so, so much. Their style of connecting with the fans is so different from anything I've ever seen, and I love that they have our back, and we have theirs. Never change, BTS!
And we're on to day two!
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