BTS Turns Sin City Purple! An ARMY Experience

Wherever BTS goes, a big group of intense, protective, fun-loving, loyal fans follows. ARMY, that’s what we call ourselves and there’s no hiding ARMY’s presence. Even in Las Vegas, a city of opulence, parties, gambling, and alcohol – the fact remains the same. When ARMY arrived, we turned sin city purple! With our BT21 dangling keychains, BT21 phone cases, FILA Shoes, PTD sweatshirts, giant blankets with our boys’ faces plastered on them, purple hair, purple bags, purple makeup, and purple everything, we stand out.

Preparing to Turn Sin City Purple

After the massive fun BTS had in the City of Angels, it was time to turn Sin City purple. BTS headed to Las Vegas for 4 sold-out concerts in a brand-new Allegiant Stadium. I was lucky enough to snag 4 tickets for the LA concerts, and even manage to give two to my ARMY friends who flew from Tokyo (Japan) and Sarajevo (Bosnia), and we had lots of fun, but that’s a story for another time.

In Vegas, my friend was lucky enough to get the pre-sale code, and guess what!? WE GOT FLOOR TICKETS. They flew in from New York, I flew from Chicago, and we met in Vegas for the April 9^th concert! And to make things even better, this was my friends’ first concert ever! Since this was not my first, I was more than glad to guide them through the concert!

On the 9^th, the adventure began at 11 AM when we started our 2-hour-long makeup process, to make sure we looked our best for the boys! We planned to arrive at around 3:30 pm since the doors were scheduled to open at 4:30 pm and if there’s one thing that you should remember for a BTS concert: ARRIVE EARLY. There’s always a queue for everything from merch to food, to the bathroom and since a stadium concert usually sits between 50,000-75,000 people, you can imagine how long those queues can be. Trust me, I know. I spent 10 hours queueing for merch in LA.

We spent an hour waiting for the gate to open, then we got our bags and tickets checked, and then we got out wristbands to signify that we were floor-tickets holders. We got our sustenance, spent time taking pictures and videos from every angle imaginable, and then the intro to ON started and the concert began!

Turning Sin City Purple: The Concert

So, here’s a setlist for the concert

1. ON
2. Fire
3. Dope
4. DNA
5. Blue & Grey
6. Black Swan
7. Blood Sweat & Tears
8. FAKE LOVE
9. Life Goes on
10. Boy With Luv (feat. Halsey)
11. Dynamite
12. Butter
13. Telepathy
14. Outro: Wings
15. Stay
16. So What
17. IDOL
18. HOME
19. Anpanman
20. Go Go
21. Permission To Dance

… and I can tell you stories about every song, but then, this article will be a million miles long. So, I will tell you a few of my favorites: Life Goes On (because 2020 was trash and we all need something to push us forward); Boy with Luv, Dynamite, Telepathy, Outro: Wings, IDOL, Anpanman, Go-Go, and of course Permission to Dance!

Life Goes On

In Life Goes On, the boys were decked out in white, and Hobi wore a pink cowboy hat. The stadium turned into a blinding purple ocean then a cannon went off and beautiful multi-colored confetti shot into the air! Jimin’s lovely high note swept the stadium – it was magical. Hobi faced my section, took off his in-ear, and the stadium exploded into a sing-along with everyone waving Army Bombs.

Boy With Luv

During Boy with Luv, our army bombs changed to blue and purple, and the stadium chanted Oh My My My with BTS. The song was beautifully played by the big band, and it was so amazing!! BWL changed seamlessly into Dynamite, the army bomb turned yellow and blue, Taehyung and Jungkook were busy doing their thing, and then ARMY got into a frenzied scream when the dance break started!

The Gondola

Then of course the highlight of the night, was when BTS got into the gondola and went around the stadium. When they approached my section, Taehyung and I were only 3 meters apart! Hobi looked in the direction of the tribune and then last minute, he turned his back and he looked down, and I kid you not, OUR EYES MET (ISH). Other than Tae and Hobi, Suga and Jin also looked at my section when the gondola passed, and basically, our eyes were blessed!! One of my friends who insisted she doesn’t have any bias has been converted into Jin bias because HE WAS THAT BEAUTIFUL. My other friend, Taehyung bias, got lucky because she managed to record Tae shaking his hips following the Telepathy rhythm.

IDOL, Anpanman, Go Go, and Permission to Dance

IDOL changed the whole stadium into a massive dance party, with everyone screaming and jumping around as if our lives depended on it, and when Anpanman and Go Go played, the audience looked at each other in disbelief because these two songs were never played!!!! When Permission to Dance started, the mood of the audience turned somber a bit because we knew it was the end. The Post Concert Depression started to sink in, but the concert still ended on a high note.

Turning Sin City Purple: Afterparties

After the concert, we turned Sin City purple! ARMY flocked to different venues: from clubs hosting afterparties with all BTS songs, to restaurants serving limited edition Korean food to fill up our bellies, or for older ARMY like me, to bed because our back ached. No, truly.

And the next day, the fun has not ended in the purple sin city. Las Vegas was filled with BTS-themed events! There were so many things to do! There was a MASSIVE Pop-up Store in Area 15. The Bellagio Fountain had a  show synched to Butter.

But, what I decided to do was hunt for places where BTS took pictures and recreate them! My friends and I had so much fun in the Bellagio recreating Hobi’s, Jungkook, and Tae’s pictures. Then, we headed into the Venetian to recreate Tae and Hobi’s picture from the 2018 Love Yourself World Tour. They turned out great!

Anyway, I think I’ve passed my word limit, so I will end my article here. I hope that you guys had a lot of fun reading my article and I hope that every ARMY will be able to attend the concert at least once and see the boys in person! Borahae!! 💜

If you love reading ARMYs’ stories, Click Here to read the inspirational tale of how one BTS fan got a full-ride scholarship to attend university in Korea.