BTS World Tour Love Yourself: Speak Yourself - A Recap

“No matter who you are, where you're from, your skin color, your gender identity, just speak yourself.” - RM (BTS), UNICEF #Youth2020

When the words ‘speak yourself’ were first heard at the UN headquarters last year, ARMY were quick to pick it out as a hint - was this a new album (Love Yourself - Face Yourself - Speak Yourself?), a new song, maybe the next concept? No answers were delivered until Big Hit and BTS decided it was about time and gifted the fans with Love Yourself: Speak Yourself, the unexpected world tour extension.

From stadium-only concerts to making headlines for being firsts in various achievements, BTS’ Speak Yourself world tour undoubtedly marks their growth as international artists.

Last week, Borasaek Vision picked their 10 favorite highlights from the Love Yourself World Tour. You clearly know what to expect in this blog, so read on!

1. First Stadium Tour & Power Move with Dionysus

Though ARMY waited with bated breath post Suga’s ment at Citi Field during BTS’ Love Yourself tour, ARMY hadn’t expected to be presented with a stadium tour, a first for BTS, so soon. Promoted as the stadium extension to Love Yourself World Tour, Speak Yourself saw the septet perform 20 sold-out shows in 10 stadiums across the world. From Rose Bowl to King Fahd International Stadium, BTS’ debut stadium concerts made headlines and made history in the process. BTS are the first Korean group to have performed at London’s iconic Wembley Stadium, highlighting the group’s organic growth in the UK. This first-gig was also live-streamed on Naver’s VLive as premium content.

During the Japan leg of the tour, Osaka’s Yanmar Stadium Nagai heard the Japanese version of Boy With Love performed live for the first time ever while their Shizuoka show was live-streamed across 277 theaters in Japan.

Unlike their preceding world tour, BTS opened their stadium shows with Dionysus, a headbanging track off their “Map Of The Soul: Persona” album. Two massive metallic-silver panthers/jaguars opened up the stage to reveal the members seated regally in thrones often dressed in ancient Greece-inspired togas and/or white outfits. From a high energy choreography accompanied by 30 backup dancers to RM demanding attention with a thyrsus in hand, BTS was here for some serious business.

2. Welcome, First Time With BTS VCRs? Pt. 2

Dubbed as the “Greek God” VCR by fans, Speak Yourself kicked off with the glaring red media starring the seven members. As a build-up to the new stage opening Dionysus, BTS can be seen dressed in overall black fits bearing some semblance to the Greek toga. The set in the video too borrows subtly from the Greek culture.

It was interesting to see new solo stage introductory VCRs play at Seoul The Final that had ARMYs looking back at multiple theories that would best explain each videos connection. Unlike their Love Yourself VCR, J-Hope and Jungkook-focused clip at Speak Yourself found the two members not sharing the same screen space. The two can be seen indulging in shadow play of a flying bird/butterfly and paper planes to pass time, notable elements from the groups "You Never Walk Alone" shoot and Fire MV.

RM and Jimin’s VCR narrates a certain dreamlike mood breezing through the shadow play as well. Jimin’s dance movements and energy seem like a cross between his solos Lie and Serendipity. V-focused VCR stayed true to its sinister nature, adapting to themes from FAKE LOVE and Stigma. The video gets further intense, dynamic and sultry as it progresses. Jin and Suga-focused VCR continues to stay abstract, void of any immediate action in place. The two members are seen crowded by clocks, each stuck at 4:32 or 16:32. Certain moments from Jin’s clip borrow components from his Awake short film and Epiphany. The element of time, either through a wristwatch, a wall clock, an hourglass or in V’s case, an elevated single light bulb oscillating like a Grandfather’s clock and walls lined up with digital-like clocks, is a recurring factor. ARMYs believe these are hints towards BTS’ alleged comeback, Shadow, following Carl Jung’s theory.

An unexpected addition, in a new VCR focused on each individual member, Jungkook is seen turning back time on his wrist watch and the visual of BTS’ previous stages playing before him. Each member is seen watching these highlights, moments of BTS and ARMY celebrating together, as paper planes and shadow play make a quick cameo. It ends with Jimin looking away from the highlights to look at the audience as the ARMY bomb purple ocean behind him morphs to spell out 고마워요 💜 [Thank you 💜] on a purple background.

3. Solo Stages (But Upgraded!)

With their solo stages throughout Love Yourself tour, BTS members presented their growth as individual artists and highlighted their talent. Through Speak Yourself tour shows, they decided to take it up a notch and enrich concert attendee’s experiences.

Trivia: Just Dance had J-Hope matching his mic to his outfits, donning a deep red suit with tinted glasses by the end of the tour. He also did not hesitate to break into the key choreography from his latest single Chicken Noodle Soup ft. Becky G.

Jungkook’s airy voice was heard all around the stadiums as the daring maknae was hoisted up in the air during Euphoria. With the help of a pulley contraption/zip-wire, Jungkook in his new all-pink attire flew over the crowds.

Adding charms to Jimin’s Serendipity, the sequence opened with the vocalist seated inside a makeshift bubble designed to look like a glass globe. The addition of bubbles at the end of the performance only emphasized the stage’s dreamlike appeal.

RM’s new Trivia: Love stage may be a reference to Marvel’s Dr. Strange but it held its own magic with its on-screen graphic play. The most notable moment of this act is the word “love” appearing in multiple global languages only to culminate into the ARMY logo - a subtle homage at the group’s diverse fanbase.

V expressed his sensuality by opening the Singularity stage while lying in bed which was visiting to the mood of the song. Towards the final leg of the tour, V’s dark outfit took a feathery turn, looking raven-like.

Suga’s Trivia: Seesaw saw him switching between shining red suits and deep pink suits through stages. For the encore tour shows, he exchanged his suits for an open knitted sweater look, adding a touch of freshness to the act.

While Jin’s Epiphany stages were the simplest, with a piano segment played by the singer at every show, Speak Yourself tour’s last performance saw Jin forgo the piano to have the segment completely be shouldered by Jin’s strong vocal colour.

4. Boy With Luv ft. Halsey (Quite Literally!)

A day before her own performance at London’s Wembley Stadium, singer Halsey made a quick pit-stop at Paris’ Stade de France to join BTS onstage as the [unforeseen] surprise element during Boy With Luv.

While this act itself further confirms their strong rapport and comfort, it was the first time BTS shared the stage with another singer during their concert. BTS and Halsey had previously performed live together at the 2019 Billboard Music Awards.

5. BTS x Dior

At their Parisian shows, BTS sported the new Kim Jones’ Autumn/Winter 2019 collection for Dior.

In a first for the luxury French brand to design stage outfits for a male group, each BTS member selected their favorite looks from the futuristic sportswear range while Jones also designed seven custom-made fits for each member.

6. BTS in Riyadh

Reported as the first foreign act to hold a solo stadium show at King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh, BTS’ Saudi Arabia announcement came across as a surprise to Middle Eastern and global ARMYs alike. Videos posted on social media by fans at the venue’s VIP lounge showed luxurious facilities, unlike any other VIP section ever.

Big Hit, in a movement to respect Islamic laws and beliefs, cut off soundcheck during salah/azan timings (Islamic prayer timings). Throughout the concert, BTS also maintained this attitude by toning down their skinship and sensual dance moves. ARMYs also pointed out how BTS waved at the crowd in the end instead of bowing to pay respect to the religious sentiments of the fans, as the act of bowing is part of Muslim prayers.

J-Hope took the liberty to introduce himself as “I’m your amal” (hope in Arabic) and offered a few shukran’s in his speeches alongside V, while during his solo stage, RM got his magical graphics to spell out ‘انا احب الرياض’ [trans: I love Riyadh]. BTS also went ahead and sang Jimin the birthday song in Arabic as a surprise.

BTS in Riyadh is the perfect demonstration of Big Hit and BTS’s attention to detail to the cultural and religious aspects of their surroundings and people.

7. Anpanman For ARMY

The childlike nuance of BTS’ Anpanman stages were at peak throughout Speak Yourself with the addition of an inflatable bounce castle/slide. Forgoing their synchronised choreography, BTS spent majority of their performances moving around the bounce castle, goofing with each other and sliding down in pairs while usually self-recording these interactions.

8. ARMY Time - BTS Time

Besides the sea of ARMY bomb ocean that equally fascinates the group and their fans, ARMYs at the Wembley Stadium surprised BTS by singing Young Forever right before the encore performance. Part confused, part surprised, this moment elicited tears from the group who looked around the stadium at their ARMYs while the lyrics played on the screen to guide the attendees.

Though there’s nothing unusual about carrying pre-decided and Big Hit approved slogans to the concerts, BTS decided to one-up ARMY during their shows for Seoul The Final. The boys tweaked the ARMY slogans and gave back to the fans with slogans of their own, matching the sentiments of their fans. I Purple You x 3000 moments indeed.

9. Encore Shows: Seoul The Final

Similar to Wings Tour, BTS added encore dates for Seoul to wrap up Speak Yourself tour and draw the curtain on the Love Yourself era. On all three days, ARMYs in attendance had access to massage chairs in the waiting zone, while BTS x Fila blankets were given away to fight the cold Seoul weather. Although Day 1 of Seoul The Final was accessible as premium content on Naver’s VLive, for the first time Big Hit tested real-time concert broadcast in selective western countries for The Final’s Day 2 show.

Ending ments from members were both saddening yet hopeful. While Jin broke down in acknowledgment to his final Epiphany stage, J-Hope mentioned that in the past he would fuss over how to make his stages better, but didn’t find himself do so this time around. As the members expressed their gratitude to ARMYs, Jungkook assured they would return with a new album and tour soon.

While RM addressed the crowd, there was a crack in his calm leader demeanor as he spoke teary-eyed, recounting the journey so far. While he expressed his initial fear of having to map this path by himself, RM confessed that he's truly embraced the message of BTS' Love Yourself albums. He also pointed out that although this was the end of their tour “but our journey to find ways to love ourselves will continue, so let's hold each other's hands and move forward.” Hoping that we can all accept and continue to be ourselves in a very RM-style, the leader stated that I love you wasn’t enough to express his feelings.

As the 7 members took to the stage to serenade ARMYs with Mikrokosmos for the last time, a ‘Special Thanks To’ screen was soon to follow, this time calling us BTS’ “Universe”.

10. Mikrokosmos: A BTS-ARMY Universe

With Speak Yourself, Mikrokosmos wrapped the stadium shows, highlighting a different aspect of the BTS-ARMY relationship from Answer: Love Myself. As BTS performed dressed down in jeans paired with their merch, the stage shots were broadcast in black and white on the screens, only to break into a colorful display as Jimin hit the chorus with a “You got me…”

Each show perfectly wrapped with the sounds of “nanana na na na” booming across the stadiums as a beautiful firework display fired into the sky overhead. Speak Yourself The Finale shows, however, saw an unexpected addition to the closing act as 300 drones were sent up in the air creating a purple planet, a mini universe for BTS and ARMY as it arranged itself to form logos of both BTS and its ARMY. (The only competition Batman deserves!)

We won’t ask if you need tissues this time around, because we know you do! What was your favorite moment from the Speak Yourself tour leg? Signing out with Jin’s impersonation of Queen’s Freddie Mercury cause why not?

---

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any audio & visual content in this video except for the editing. ALL RIGHTS BELONG TO THE RIGHTFUL OWNERS. No copyright infringement intended.

Written by: Mei

Edited by: Anna Moon, Aury