BORN PINK in Melbourne, Welcome Home Rosé!

BLACKPINK IN YOUR AREA! It’s been four long years since we’ve heard BLACKPINK sing live in Australia and it’s been way too long. Tickets were sold out really quickly after the opening of the sale with people saying they weren’t able to get tickets despite being huge BLINKS (fans of BLACKPINK). The stadium was lit up in a vibrant pink hue, as fans held up their lightsticks throughout the night, creating a mesmerizing view. 

To start off the night, BLACKPINK came on stage with How You Like That, Pretty Savage, and Whistle. Solid choices to start the night as people were singing along to the songs at the top of their lungs. The energy and atmosphere the crowd had to give was impeccable at the start of the show even before the girls had introduced themselves. 

Photo by BLACKPINK / Supplied

Melbourne native ROSÉ took the lead in addressing the audience, receiving a warm welcome back to her hometown. She mentioned how she was happy to return to Melbourne after four years and was very excited to perform on stage. The other members then proceeded with brief introductions before preparing for their next performances. 

After the next couple of songs, a band was incorporated into the performances. The thing about K-pop concerts is that they add-in a touch of musicality enhancement (with a band) when performing and the entire musical experience of watching a concert changes. The background music becomes richer with a touch of live instrumentality instead of the usual recorded track. 

The background dancers enhanced the performances as the girls continued with Kill This Love. Crazy Over You and Stay were the two B-side tracks that were performed before they proceeded with a short talking segment. The atmosphere in the venue changed during Stay with its slower tempo, contrasting with their earlier performances with their spectacular start of the show.

ROSÉ started talking about how the crowd this time round was a lot louder compared to the crowd four years ago and playfully suggested how “Melbourne must have been shy four years ago” which was met with more cheers. LISA playfully teased ROSÉ, while acting as if she was her mom, with JISOO and JENNIE joining in and asking if her mom was actually present. It may have seemed that ROSÉ’s mom was in attendance as LISA then proceeded to properly greet her. 

As with most K-pop idols who perform in Australia, the ‘AUSSIE AUSSIE AUSSIE’ chant is something to look forward to at every concert. The members of the group who do this may change but the reaction they have to the chant seems to be similar every single time. The amusement, the amazement and maybe a little bit of confusion, resulted in similar facial expressions. And that was still the case this time. LISA looked really happy doing it and was very happy with the outcome of the chant. This was also not the only time she did the chant over the course of the night. 

Photo by BLACKPINK / Supplied

The members then introduced the band to the crowd, while continuing to sing Tally afterwards. The four girls can be seen to be enjoying themselves and interacting with fans while singing the song on the extended stage. Pink Venom began with smoke coming from the ceiling area and had fireworks at the end of the performance. The dancers were also on stage giving the song more details and better execution. The show then continued with the members exiting the stage to prepare for their solo performances while the dancers and the band showcased their own performances. 

JISOO commenced the solo stage, captivating the audience with Flower, accompanied by the back dancers. JENNIE followed, performing an unreleased song to the audience called You & Me which had been performed at Coachella. Notably, during the chorus of the song, JENNIE and a male dancer performed in front of a white background with a darkened stage to portray “dancing in the moonlight”. ROSÉ performed two of her solo songs, Gone and On the Ground while LISA got the crowd going while performing MONEY, complete with a fun dance break. 

After the solo stages, the girls regrouped for Shut Down, and the ending of the song was one of the things that stuck with me as the stage lights shined towards the audience at the end of the song. The production throughout the show remained consistently outstanding from start to finish.

JENNIE and ROSÉ went on stage to engage with the audience after their Typa Girl stage and called their segment “The Jennie & Rosé Talk Show”. ROSÉ shared anecdotes of her day in Melbourne including a visit to the Melbourne Zoo (it was her first time!) and how she brought back plushies for the other group members while also revealing that she took a few of the staff members around the city. JENNIE chimed in saying how the plush animals that ROSÉ brought back were really cute Australian animals. LISA then came on stage and was invited as a ‘guest’ to the talk show. She mentioned how she wanted to see the quokka and asked the audience if it was worthwhile to travel all the way to Western Australia to see them. Not too long after, JISOO also came back on stage, also as a ‘guest’ of the talk show. 

ROSÉ then did a short cover of Coming Home as she remembered the same cover she did four years ago. This had the audience cheering and singing along with ROSÉ as she changed the lyrics to “tell Melbourne I’m coming home”. JENNIE then sadly had to relay the fact that she was the sad news bearer and that we only had two songs left and invited the audience to stand up, sing, and dance along to the final two songs of the night. 

Photo by BLACKPINK / Supplied

During their encore stages, the members interacted playfully with one another and with their BLINKs. LISA ended up playing the Nintendo Switch brought by one of their fans while ROSÉ held up banners saying that she was home. ROSÉ and JENNIE switched out lyrics to BOOMBAYAH to include a short thank you for coming and that they’ll be back to perform. The audience were up on their feet and singing along to the songs during the encore stage and ROSÉ wrapped up the show with a thank you to the staff members, the audience, their fans, and BLACKPINK themselves for working hard to pull off the show. The night reached its end with a final team greeting as the members exited the stage. 

Thank you to Frontier Touring and YG Entertainment for making the night possible! We look forward to your next shows. 

All photos supplied by BLACKPINK.