The Big Day

We woke up at 8am on the day of the concert, got ready and caught an Uber to head to the Miracle Mile Shops. Our hotel was too far from the strip for us to walk, so we ended up taking Ubers everywhere. We arrived at Planet Hollywood and made our way to a restaurant called “Ocean One,” for breakfast. After waiting for a few minutes we got a table and enjoyed our breakfast. We were sitting outside of the main dining area on a little faux balcony and saw so many ARMY’s passing by in BT21 and other BTS merchandise. There were even ARMY younger than me passing by! It was so cute to see smaller kids that liked BTS. After finishing our breakfast, we perused the mall. We bought a few Vegas trinkets for my family at a souvenir shop, but otherwise, we didn’t go into any stores. We figured we should save our money for BTS stuff instead of wasting it on regular things.

Then, the mall started to get flooded with ARMY and I started to get antsy. I really wanted to head to the venue, and my mom had the same idea. So, we caught an Uber and headed back to the hotel where we freshened up and got into our concert outfits while listening to BTS on a portable speaker. At noon, we left the hotel and caught an Uber once again, this time, to Mandalay Bay. After talking with the Uber driver on the first night, we learned that it would be way too difficult to get an Uber directly to or from the stadium. So, we instead planned to take an Uber to Mandalay Bay, which had a bridge that led to the stadium. On our way to Mandalay Bay, we saw some other cars that were blasting music with the passengers inside dancing. Although we couldn’t hear the music, I’m sure they were ARMY.

We arrived at Mandalay Bay and got into the hotel. Luckily, Mandalay Bay had added signs that directed fans to the stadium and to the other BTS related events occurring at the hotel. So, we followed the signs through the casino and towards the right side of the hotel. At the entrance to the bridge, there was a LED sign showing a little video regarding events that were happening for BTS around the city. Everything was already so crazy to me. Coming from a country that doesn’t usually host a lot of BTS events, I was so blown away by everything… and this was only the beginning.

We exited the hotel and went outside where we walked to the bridge. This bridge was insane. It spanned over a large highway and on the other side, you could see the gigantic Allegiant Stadium. The walk across the bridge was somewhat difficult. They had closed it off for traffic, so people could walk on the road, so the real difficulty was cased by the extreme winds that were enhanced because of the bustling highway beneath the bridge. However I wasn’t too bothered. I was too busy being excited for the experience ahead.

Once we finally made it across the bridge, the stadium was right in front of us. I think Allegiant Stadium is probably the coolest stadium I’ve ever seen. It looks so clean while looking somewhat intimidating at the same time. We stopped in front of the stadium to figure out where to go next. The area around the stadium was huge and we weren’t quite sure where we were. So, we quickly opened up Twitter to see the guides the stadium had posted prior to the event. After a few minutes, we gave up as it was way too sunny and windy to even see our phone screens, not to mention we were too impatient and excited. We took a few pictures in front of the stadium before following other ARMYs and eventually ending up at Lot H where the merch booths were. Compared to where we were, Lot H was all the way on the other side of the stadium.

As we finally approached the merch booths, we saw that there was barely a line. Excitedly, we approached the line, grabbed one of the lists and waited. Our turn came and we were greeted with bad news. The merch was sold out. How was that even possible? It was only noon and there was still seven hours until the concert started. What about all the people that were going to arrive after us? Apparently, they did have merchandise. However, all of it was located at booths inside the stadium, which you couldn’t access until the gates opened at 4:30. Either you got your merch from those booths or you returned to the Lot H booths after the concert, which would be chaotic. They were doing this to save merchandise for people who were actually attending the concert as the Lot H booths were also open to the public. So, I bought whatever I could, that being a Yoongi and full group premium photo and some photocards, all of which I had to carry because they were not giving bags. We sadly exited the first merch booth and saw a second booth that was selling the old concert merch and the retro themed merch. We grabbed a list and joined the line to the second booth where we once again waited. This time, we were able to get some merch. I selected a Speak Yourself shirt and a Map of the Soul Tour banner. I wanted to save the majority of my budget for the Permission to Dance merchandise, so I only bought a few items from previous tours.

Exiting the merch area, we headed into the sponsor area, which was rammed with ARMY. All the booths were blasting BTS songs and BT21 headbands could be seen for days. It was like being at home. I was beaming, but completely disoriented at the same time. It was like a festival, all for BTS. The first booth we went to was the Feel the Rhythm Korea booth which was thankfully handing out bags (which came in handy later on) and these large flag-like banners. Next, we went to a TinyTan booth which we thought were selling TinyTan merch. They were actually just advertising new Tamagotchis and some Japanese exclusives. We later overheard that the sponsor booths were not allowed to sell anything. Following the TinyTan booth, we entered this gigantic line for the McDonalds booth which was hosting games and giving out slushies. During the wait, the ARMY in front of us spotted a cute little boy dressed up as Seokjin from Supertuna and gave him a free Butter album. There was also this giant speaker that was blasting BTS songs. When we were beside it, they started playing Louder Than Bombs (which happens to be my favourite BTS song). We also saw billboard ads bought by ARMY that sent love to the members. Anyways, we finally reached the front of the line and played the games. My mom didn’t win anything and I surprisingly got something from the claw machine, but it was not even BTS themed, it was just a Big Mac. We left the booth disappointed and regretted not joining the line for the free slush. But, it was okay because the experience is what mattered. The next booth we went to was the Samsung booth, which was arguably the best. While we were waiting in the other lines, we kept seeing people with gigantic posters. We initially weren’t sure where they were coming from, but we then learned they were from the Samsung booth. All you had to do was look at Samsung’s flip phone and answer a questionnaire to get this beautiful BTS poster. Also, the line was half as long as the McDonalds line!

After getting my stunning poster, we grabbed pretzels and a large lemonade. We had not eaten anything since breakfast and figured we should eat something before getting into the venue. We ate the pretzels on a nearby curb before deciding to join the line to enter the stadium. Just as we were about to enter the line, the staff directed us to this empty line. As we walked through, we noticed that the people in front of us were mysteriously disappearing as they made it to the front of the line. We then realized that the staff had directed us into the overflow line that led into the first line, closest to the stadium gates. This was to control the flow of people entering the first line. Luckily, we were some of the last people to make it into the first line and soon after, the overflow line started to fill up.

While waiting in line, people were going in and out to throw out garbage. This one man in particular entered the line and made his way through the rows. He passed us without a fuss, but as he got to the row in front of us, he said something along the lines of “you look so ridiculous” to one ARMY. He then continued to curse and insult other ARMYs in the line. He mentioned that he “has a 16 year old daughter” but he would “rather die than be here.” I was just watching this crazy man in complete shock. I couldn’t believe that he had the audacity to say these things in an environment where he was largely outnumbered. Not to mention, we are a fandom that should NOT be messed with. Following his outburst, he made his way through the line once again and disappeared for a while. Later on, I saw a woman talking to security about the man. Then, out of nowhere, he started chanting “BTS sucks.” Now this was a grand mistake. Everyone in the line got whiplash and turned to this man like, “how dare you?!” Things quickly got HEATED. The whole line started chanting “GET HIM, GET HIM.” He was walking through the line again and this one lady stopped him and they had a full on argument. She was telling him that he “could not pass” and everyone was cheering her on. We saw the security run past and one of the guards said, “we better get this man out of here before he gets punched.” Eventually, the man was escorted with his daughter and a woman. Everyone clapped and cheered as he left. Honestly, I feel bad for his daughter and I hope she still got to enjoy the concert. Later on, my friend found a video on TikTok of the whole situation, so I can remember it forever.

After the line-butter fiasco and an hour and a half of waiting in line, the gates finally opened at 4:30. We were some of the first people to get in and we quickly ran to the nearest merch booth to join the line. I think we got there just in time as the line grew so quickly that by the time we looked back, we couldn’t even see the end of it. Luckily, we were able to get all the things on my wishlist and more!

Once we got the merch, we entered the stadium, which was already filled with ARMY. We went up about four escalators to get to our seats which were in the three hundreds level. After going to the washroom, we took our seats and I was starting to get really excited. My mom bought some chicken fingers, but I barely ate. I was too excited. My hands and legs were trembling and I thought if I ate any more, I would surely throw up. Everything was hitting me so suddenly. As I looked out onto the stadium, I realized this was really

The three hours waiting in the stadium flew by. They played music videos and some ads to entertain fans waiting. We saw the stadium gradually fill until all 50,000 people were inside. The concert hadn’t even started and I was already blown away by the incredibleness of it all. The screen continued to play music videos and the chants and cheers got louder as the time drew closer. 7:30 came sooner than I had expected. The stadium had gotten dark as the sun set and the lights had shut off. Then, the Permission to Dance music video started. I knew it was starting soon and I was still physically shaking with pure excitement and adrenaline. Following the music video, the opening jail VCR started and everyone started to scream. The VCR ended and finally, that little box in the center of the stage rose, revealing the boys.

There they were. They were really right there. After all these years, all the tears I had shed because I wasn’t able to see them, the time had finally come. The best night of my life had just begun.

They started with ON which was such a hype way to begin. They had so much energy and their performance was amazing to see live. Also, I’m so happy I got to hear Jungkook sing that beautiful bridge and the whole stadium sang it with him! They then went to the sick Fire remix with the fire in the background. This was followed by Dope which was also so hype. Again, I was so happy to see Jungkook sing that bridge. Then, they did their opening ments. Namjoon’s arms were exposed so everyone wouldn’t stop screaming, myself included. Seokjin was going to do his signature blow kiss but Jungkook slapped his hand away and he had to do it again. Jungkook was next and introduced himself as JK. Yoongi was so adorable, the whole stadium screamed the loudest for him. Then J-Hope did his signature, “I’m your hope, you’re my hope I’m…” and I was so happy to be able to scream, “JHOPEEEEE.” Both Jimin and Taehyung looked attractive as always. Following their ments was DNA which I was thrilled to see live. Everyone did the fanchant at the beginning and it was amazing to hear. Jungkook and Taehyung were being cute during their pre-chorus and everyone (again, myself included) was losing their minds. The bridge was also amazing and I tried to do Jimin’s hand shake but my right hand malfunctioned because I was waving my ARMY Bomb too hard. (At one point during the show, I even accidentally hit my mom in the head with it). After DNA, they left the stage and the second VCR started. Everyone sat down and I drank some water. My voice was already hoarse after only 4 songs!

The next segment was the Black Swan segment. They came out and performed Blue and Grey which was so beautiful. Their voices and the whole atmosphere that was created was ethereal. They made their way to the middle of the stage and performed the Black Swan dance break which was so stunning. The amount of coordination was insane. The Black Swan performance itself was so elegant and graceful. Not to mention, Jungkook’s shirt was… well, you know (I’m not Jungkook biased I swear.) and Jimin’s shirt was being held together with a single button. After Black Swan, they talked for a little while before going into Blood Sweat and Tears which was so energetic. I’m so happy I was able to see this song as it’s not always in setlists and it’s one of my favourite titles. Then, it was time for the song that started it all… it was Fake Love. I was the most excited to see this performance as everything about it is amazing. The outfits, the choreography, the story, the vocals and the raps, the whole thing is perfect. Everyone was chanting “fake love” between the chorus and “I don’t know, nan molla,” during Namjoon’s part. I got to see Jungkook’s shirt lift with my own eyes! It was everything I hoped for and more. They exited the stage following the iconic ending hand move and the third VCR began.

They returned to the stage again, this time in their Life Goes On outfits. They started with Life Goes On. They were all being so cute together, but I actually started tearing up. Them singing Life Goes On in front of my own eyes after the pandemic and all the disappointments really meant a lot to me. I finally felt like we were moving on from the pandemic and I finally made it to see BTS. Following Life Goes On, they sang Boy With Luv which was such a vibe. Everyone was just enjoying themselves and the atmosphere was so great. They took a break to talk a little and Yoongi was being really adorable. Next was Dynamite followed by Butter. The Dynamite to Butter transition is so cool. Not to mention, that Butter dance break is amazing. These two songs were so energetic and everyone was belting the words with the boys and dancing along, especially the guy who sat beside my mom. After Butter, they left the stage again for another outfit switch.

The next segment was the hype segment. They began by asking everyone to refrain from throwing things at them while they went around the stadium on the carts as it was a common occurrence during the last shows. Telepathy was the first song they sang on the carts and it was so crazy to see them closer up, even though they were still quite far away. Taehyung, Jimin, Hoseok and Seokjin were on our side of the stadium first. Taehyung looked so fine that my knees actually felt weak looking at him in person. I had to stop and rest my hands on my knees because it was so bad. Jimin was going under the railings and looking at ARMY’s in the 100 level. Following Telepathy was Wings. Jungkook really rocked the stage, it was hard for me to take my eyes off him because he has such a presence. Yoongi also ate his verse, he growled the whole thing. Hoseok’s interactions with the crowd were so fun. He would say “everybody say yeah!” and then the whole stadium would reply with “yeahhhhh.” The atmosphere was so fun. As they made it back to the main stage, streamers burst everywhere. Taehyung was bolting down the stage, collecting them all on himself as he ran. Then he model walked back to the middle stage and all the members were laughing. They did another ment, declaring that it was their last songs of the night. Namjoon finished the ment by saying something along the lines of “promise you’ll stay with us until the end,” and then they began to sing Stay. Taehyung was lip-syncing Jungkook’s part and they were all giggling. Then, the amazing transition came and So What began. Once again, tears started pooling in my eyes during this segment. So What means so much to me and has helped me so much. It made me feel so sentimental to think that in this very moment, nothing else mattered besides us–BTS and ARMY. They were having a fun time and I was having a fun time and you could really just let go of everything and say “so what” with them. This is also where they used the smoke guns. Next up was Idol which was one of the most hype song of the night. Everyone was jamming and Namjoon said his iconic “put your motherf*cking hands up.” Not to mention, the remix was amazing. After Idol, they left the stage once again.

It was then encore time and all the ARMY Bombs lit up to say “ARMY,” “BTS,” “Las Vegas,” etc. They also showed some posters on screen. Some of which included: “Jungkook, do you want to see my cat,” “Yoongi marry me,” “BTS saved me” (which everyone agreed with), “Best leader Namjoon,” and more. They also showed this little baby who was wearing gigantic headphones and in a baby sling on their dad’s chest. It was an amazing experience to see tens of thousands of people all showing their love for BTS.

The boys came back once again in their encore outfits. Taehyung was wearing THE leather jacket and had a lollipop. My mom even has a video of me screaming, “HE HAS A LOLLIPOP.” It was rather embarrassing, but I have no regrets. Also, Yoongi was adorable in his long sleeve PTD shirt with his long hair. They started by singing Home, which is one of my favourite BTS songs of all time. I was so happy that I got to scream “crazy for myself” with 50,000 people and Taehyung himself. They then sang Anpanman, which happens to be the song that made my mom like BTS. The boys were getting so hyped up while singing this song and it was really adorable. Following Anpanman, they sang Go Go. This is when Taehyung started slapping his butt and Kook was laughing at him. They also started throwing water everywhere and at some point, Taehyung poured water all over himself and his hair was all wet.

Then, the end of the night had approached and they began their ending ments. Jungkook began and he did his whole ment in English and the whole thing was so sweet. Next was Hoseok who thanked Seokjin for all his hard work despite being injured which made Seokjin cutely shy. Taehyung’s ment was quite something. He did the thing where he asked female ARMY to scream then asked male ARMY to scream. However when he was asking, ARMY started screaming to early and he said “relax~.” Yeah I lost my mind. He was really out for me during this show. Then it was Jimin followed by Seokjin. My ARMY Bomb actually died during this part and I was trying to frantically change the batteries and connect it back to the stadium, so I don’t remember much of their speeches. Next up was Yoongi and all the members started saying “Yoongi, marry me,” which prompted Yoongi to talk about the drive through wedding. He was so adorable though and got all shy when he mentioned it. Finally, it was Namjoon’s turn and his speech was so emotional. He talked about their past and how far they have come, he also mentioned how difficult these concerts were for them as the setlists were so tiring, but he said they really wanted to give it their all. He ended by saying how much he loves us and Kook gave him a big hug.

Unfortunately, just like that, the final song of the night had arrived–Permission to Dance. It was such a euphoric moment. Everyone was singing along with them and having the time of their lives. It was such a powerful way to end the night. In all my years fantasizing about seeing them on stage, I always expected to be devastated during the final song. Even when watching their old concert dvds, I would usually skip the last song because it made me sad. But for some reason, I wasn’t upset at all. Instead, I felt an odd sense of fulfillment. I realized that it wasn’t about physically being with them forever, it was about having that special night engraved not only into my memory, but also engraved into my heart for eternity. I knew that even though the night was done, we would still be connected since that fateful May 18th, 2018. I finally got to see them and just because the concert was over didn’t mean it was the end. As the song finished and they said their goodbyes, the boys made their way to the platform and the box started to close down on them. Jungkook kneeled on the ground to see us until it fully closed. With that, the concert ended…

But all of a sudden, a video started playing. Initially, I thought it was just an ending VCR, and didn’t think much of it. It was a flashback of all of BTS’s music video from No More Dream all the way to Butter and Permission to Dance. Then, a logo appears: “We Are Bulletproof.” There was a moment of silence, perhaps rather, confusion.

Then… 06.10.2022

The whole audience goes completely insane. Everyone starts screaming and cheering, myself included. My mom asked what was going on and I replied, “comeback.” They had just announced their comeback at the end of their final Vegas show, like we had been predicting since the LA shows. It was such a surreal moment and I still get goosebumps thinking about how crazy it was.

Following the excitement, everyone left the stadium, which was a complete disaster just because of the volume of ARMY leaving. We went down this staircase that was rammed with hundreds of people. It was so crowded that my mom was worried I was going to pass out. Also, the staircase was never ending. At one point, I looked down the centre and it was like the staircase from Spring Day–except I couldn’t see the bottom. Luckily, after the slow trek through the staircase, we decided this way was inefficient and we exited at the next door we saw. We ended up at some random area in the stadium and followed the crowd out of the building. We had managed to make it out, but we were greeted by even more people as we made it to the area outside the stadium. It was so rammed that you could barely move. Once we finally got onto the bridge to Mandalay Bay, the crowd had dispersed and we made our way to the hotel.

We got inside Mandalay Bay only to hear Butter playing through the casino. The place was flooded with ARMYs and locals were looking at us probably wondering where we all come from. We went to the bathroom and they started playing Euphoria followed by Don’t Leave Me. I assume the hotel was playing a BTS playlist since the concert had just ended. I was so happy to hear Don’t Leave Me as it’s so underrated as well as Euphoria which is the first BTS song I liked. We left the washrooms and I put on my long sleeve PTD shirt because Yoongi looked so cute in it and I couldn’t resist.

Initially, we had planned on going to go to the Bellagio fountains to see the fountain show. Unfortunately, the show stopped at midnight and the line for the tram was gigantic. There was no way we would make it in time. So instead, we got gelato from a shop in the hotel and relaxed for a bit. We saw dozens of ARMY’s pass by, including the legendary baby and his dad. As we slowly ate our gelato, both my mom and I started to feel really exhausted and we decided to head back to our hotel.

Even getting out of Mandalay Bay was a mess, once again due to the volume of people. We called an Uber and he told us to meet him at the Four Seasons which was directly beside Mandalay Bay. After following his directions, we finally made it to the car and got inside. We told the driver about the concert and he especially got a laugh out of the baby. He dropped us off at our hotel and we made our way to our room.

When we returned we put all our stuff down and took a moment to process everything that had just happened. We emptied out all the merch we got and took a picture before getting into bed and rewatching all the videos my mom had taken. I had initially decided I wouldn’t take any videos as I wanted to enjoy the moment, but my mom insisted and took videos for me so I could fully experience it all. In the end, I was so happy she took those videos because it brings me right back to that amazing night. We also took some time to scroll through Twitter only to see a bunch of impromptu after parties we had somehow missed. By the time we got to bed, it was 2am, meaning the concert day was 18 hours long. Despite the crazy long day, it was the best day of my life. I was still in a daze from seeing the best concert ever and I somehow managed to get to sleep. Still ahead was our exploration of Borahaegas including the BTS Pop-Up and Photo Exhibit at Area 15 and the BTS Bellagio fountain show.