After months of seeing BLACKPINK strut their stuff all around the world, the quartet finally brought everything they got to Australia.
And let’s not beat around the bush, they were unreal live performers.
From the second the lights went out and the opening beat of their hit song, ‘Ddu-Du Ddu-Du’ kicked in, every single one of the many thousands of fans packed into Qudos Bank Arena immediately became putty in their hands.
If Jisoo, Jennie, Rosé, and Lisa were the puppet masters, the fans were all willing puppets who wanted to go along for whatever ride they had in store.
For over two hours, the four kept everyone enthralled with slick performances of the group’s back catalogue, which was better than all the YouTube videos would have you believe, as well as several crowd-pleasing moments where they eschewed their tight choreography and just goofed around.
But it was when each member got to perform their own solo stages that highlights just why BLACKPINK are so damn good.
Rosé received a huge homecoming welcome from the Sydney crowd (she’s from Melbourne) and she duly returned all the love with a stunning medley that included ‘Coming Home’ and The Beatles’ ‘Let It Be’. Her voice is truly something else and no amount of YouTube videos or fancams can do it justice.
If Rosé was all about the voice, then Lisa was all about the moves. She didn’t have to sing or rap a single word for everyone to be enraptured by her performance. There’s a reason why she’s the group’s main dancer – she’s got attitude overflowing from her pockets. It was a wonder she didn’t slip over from all the swag she was leaving all over the stage.
Jisoo was up next and she was a genuine surprise. She may be known for being the cute and goofy one but she knows when to switch the stage presence on whenever she feels like it. Hearing her really go for those high notes during her cover of Zedd’s ‘Clarity’ was goosebump inducing and it makes you wonder why she hasn’t been given a solo album yet. She’s more than ready for it.
And finally we got to Jennie’s solo stage, and it was… okay?
Whereas the other three gave me goosebumps Jennie just didn’t for some reason, which is odd because her dancing and singing was perfectly fine, and she killed during her solo moments for the group songs.
Was it because I had subconsciously hyped her up because she’s the only member to have a solo debut? Was it because her stage was the final one and the other three had set the bar super high? Maybe I’d seen her performance of ‘Solo’ enough times for it not to be a surprise anymore? Perhaps she was just tired after all the touring BLACKPINK have done?
Whatever it was – and I’m probably in the minority here based on the crowd’s reaction on the night – it felt like Jennie’s stage needed just a bit more refining or a few small changes in an otherwise excellent concert.
Then again, trying to tweak her solo stage is kinda like trying to fix a Da Vinci painting – it’s pretty good already and finding what’s wrong with it is going to be hard.
There was no time to dwell on it at that moment though because whatever was missing during Jennie’s solo stage, she more than made up for it during all the other parts of BLACKPINK’s concert.
The group obviously played a big part in why the concert was so good but props must be given to the production design, which was arguably the best I’ve seen in a very long time, and the backing band, who deserve all the accolades in the world for bringing BLACKPINK’s songs to a live setting in bombastic fashion.
2019 has seen its share of brilliant performances but there’s no doubt that Jisoo, Jennie, Rosé, and Lisa are among the best at hitting us with that Ddu-Du Ddu-Du.
