The performance of BLACKPINK as K-pop’s first headliner at the Coachella music festival has both a historic and cultural meaning.
As expected from BLACKPINK, the group heated up the night of Coachella with music fans worldwide. They made new history as headliners, blending Korean elements perfectly with their stage, and once again proved their prowess as representatives of K-pop with the spotlight on them from prominent international media.
BLACKPINK successfully completed their performances on April 15 and 22 (local time) at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, North America’s largest music festival held in California, USA. From a parade of hit songs that broke language barriers to unique solo performances, BLACKPINK drew sing-alongs and actively interacted with the crowd, for approximately 85 minutes without rest.
Standing at the center of Coachella’s new history
This year, Coachella attempted its first festival without a white headliner, drawing attention from the start. At the same time, BLACKPINK became the first K-pop artist to be selected as headliners, etching their name into world music history. In fact, foreign media Variety emphasized that BLACKPINK is at the center of the expanding diversity of the mainstream pop market, stating that Coachella clearly shows the direction music festivals are heading.
At the same time, impressive results were achieved. After the first day of the festival, Rolling Stone reported that BLACKPINK’s stage was the most-streamed performance at Coachella, adding that an estimated 250 million viewers (according to UK IT media TechRadar) watched the girl group live on YouTube.
Celebrating the beauty of Korea with a global audience
What also captivated global music fans was the beauty of Korean culture, harmoniously incorporated into BLACKPINK’s stage. Their performances included a hanok (Korean traditional home) set in the center of the stage, hanbok (Korean tradition outfits) embroidered with mother-of-pearl, a fan dance during the performance of “Typa Girl”, and a reinterpretation of Korean traditional window frames in Jisoo’s solo stage back screen, receiving rave reviews.
YG Entertainment and BLACKPINK showed great efforts to create a meaningful stage for the world’s largest music festival, Coachella. A YG representative explained, “Coachella is a place where not only music, but also cultural trends, are exchanged. After extensive discussions with the members, we decided to showcase a stage that integrates unique elements of Korean culture. It was also important not to damage the essence of the culture, so we sought advice from experts and thoroughly conducted historical research.”
Representing Korean culture, BLACKPINK’s symbolic embrace of the past and future
Prominent international media outlets focused on BLACKPINK’s achievements. Billboard praised their performance as a historic and memorable set, where BLACKPINK showed the best they could do as a team, and each of the four members shined with their individual personalities. Meanwhile, the Guardian stated that BLACKPINK’s stage was proof that language and cultural barriers in pop music are gradually breaking down.
Praise was given for the high-quality stage direction created by top domestic and international staff. According to The LA Times, BLACKPINK’s Coachella set was the largest scale, most technical, and intense performance since Beyoncé’s historic 2018 show. Meanwhile, Variety remarked that it must not have been easy to conquer the biggest stage of the biggest festival in America. Furthermore, CNN highlighted the Korean elements in BLACKPINK’s stage, stating that the girl group represented Korean culture and symbolically embraced the past and the future.
Source: Daum
