Netflix Grows Live Event Push With BTS Comeback Spectacular | Bloomberg

Netflix Inc. has turned the heart of Seoul into a global stage as K-pop megastars BTS returned to the stage with a livestream comeback show that was expected to draw millions of viewers worldwide as part of a new drive by the US entertainment powerhouse to show live events that can “pull people together”.

“Hello, Seoul! We’re back,” BTS’ leader RM said, opening the show with the new track Body to Body, which draws on the traditional Korean folk song Arirang. The group performed a total of 12 songs during the hour-long show, ranging from new tracks on their album Arirang to hits such as Butter and Dynamite.

Fans chanted along with the group and cheered throughout the performance, creating a sea of sparkling glow sticks in Gwanghwamun Square. More than a hundred thousand fans gathered to watch the show in person, according to Hybe Co., the management agency for the group.

Led by the director behind Super Bowl halftime shows, Hamish Hamilton, the production — BTS’ first show in nearly four years — centered on a symbolic arch and digital wall. It was designed to frame the 14th century Gyeongbok Palace, the seven band members and tens of thousands of fans — creating and capturing a major K-cultural moment in real time.

“The members of BTS are deeply rooted in where they come from, and this venue is at the heart of that,” Hamilton told Bloomberg News. “It is an arch, a picture frame, the beginning of a story, the closing of a chapter and the opening of a new one.”

During the show, fans were a core element of the livestream. Hamilton said ahead of the event that the goal was to feature “spectacular choreographed numbers alongside moments of real intimacy.”

“When hundreds of thousands of people are on the ground losing themselves in the music, our job is to capture every bit of that joy,” he said.