Global Courant 2023-04-16 11:30:00
Blackpink just made history at Coachella. The K-pop heavyweights — Jisoo, Jennie, Lisa, and Rosé — performed an almost two-hour-long set of their greatest hits as they closed at a jam-packed second night of Coachella on Saturday.
The performance actually started 30 minutes later than planned, but the fans didn’t seem to mind the wait. A group of dancers kicked things off with dramatic choreography, building up the anticipation for the girls. Then, Blackpink appeared behind clouds of smoke and immediately burst into a high-voltage rendition of “Pink Venom” that elicited wild screams and cheers from the crowd. They jumped into “Kill This Love” right after, and then had a few moments to interact with the audience, each girl taking a second to introduce herself and to thank the crowd. The show’s setlist was a modified version of their two-hour Born Pink World Tour performance, and they rounded out the first act with some fan favorites, among them “How You Like That” and “Kick It.”
The second act allowed each member to shine individually: Jisoo performed her recent single “Flower,” Jennie performing “You & Me,” Rosé sang a medley that featured “Gone” and “On the Ground,” and Lisa closed the solos portion with her hip-hop-infused hit “Money.” (Jisoo’s solo performance is a huge step for the singer, who told Rolling Stone last year that she was “not sure much I want to go solo yet… There’s a chaos of conflicting questions.”)
They dove back into their catalog as a group without losing any energy. The crowd watched enthralled — even singer Jungkook was spotted in the crowd. Blackpink’s version of “Boombayah” brought the house down, with each girl getting fans involved in an audience singalong, and then the group transitioned into a super upbeat take on “Lovesick Girls.” They followed it up with “Playing With Fire,” “Typa Girl,” “Shut Down,” “Tally,” and “DDU-DU DDU-DU.” The big finale came with “Forever Young” and an incredible display of pink fireworks and pyrotechnics that dazzled the crowd before the girls thanked everyone again.
“This is a dream come true. The reason why all four of us is because all of you,” Rosé said at one point as she reminisced about performing at the Sahara stage four years ago.
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The performance was streamed live on YouTube, and was slated to be the most streamed act of all of Coachella, according to data from TechRadar. It was anticipated to bring in a whooping 250 million livestream viewers on the platform.
Blinks in attendance were also treated to special Coachella-specific merchandise on the festival grounds, including exclusive, limited-edition shirts and fanny packs in the American Express lounge.