Girl group BLACKPINK drew attention as they became the first Kpop group to headline the large-scale US music festival “Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival 2023”.
According to YG on April 17th, BLACKPINK performed as a headliner in Coachella Valley, a desert area in Indio, California, USA on April 15th (hereafter local time). The group made an effort to present a stage suitable for Coachella.
It is said that BLACKPINK’s stage was set up in line with the venue of Coachella, where not only music but also fashion and lifestyle are exchanged.
In fact, what attracted attention throughout BLACKPINK’s stage set was tiled roofs of Korean traditional houses (hanok). Regarding this, YG explained, “We conveyed Korea’s unique beauty to music fans around the world through the hanok stage composition based on historical research and Korean architectural experts’ consultation.”
The LA Times talked about BLACKPINK’s stage, “Jennie, Rosé, Jisoo and Lisa easily nailed a mix of Coachella cool and K-pop razzle-dazzle. On ‘Kill This Love’, ‘Kick It’ and ‘How You Like That’, they stomped and sassed beneath a towering temple roof and made the most of the gigantic stage.“
The LA Times said, “Coachella is long removed from being an indie- and alt-rock-driven festival, having embraced pop and hip-hop for aesthetic, financial and generational reasons years back. But from the minute BLACKPINK counted down to ‘Pink Venom’ after a formidable aerial drone swarm, their set felt different — a scale, skill and intensity of pop craftsmanship bigger than anything else that’s graced this stage since Beyoncé made history in 2018.”
The Guardian also commented on BLACKPINK’s Coachella stage, “BLACKPINK certainly had the stamina for a headlining set; whether it worked largely depends on your affinity for industrial-leaning arena pop and how pleasurable you find the feeling of getting steamrolled by choruses, narrow harmonies and precise choreography, as well as lasers, pyrotechnics and whirring light displays.”
Many people compared the stage of the prior evening’s headliner Bad Bunny to BLACKPINK. It is said that Bunny focused more on promoting Latin pop and the identity of his homeland rather than the colorful stage composition. However, some say that BLACKPINK also melted Korean traditional culture on stage, such as tiled roofs and fan dance. The Guardian said, “Compared to Bad Bunny, BLACKPINK has less to say and fewer avenues with which to say it.”
BLACKPINK’s stage was also a subject of interest to other pop stars. BTS Jungkook and Canadian pop star Justin Bieber visited Coachella as spectators, not performers, to watch BLACKPINK’s stage.
Meanwhile, BLACKPINK will perform one more time as a headliner on the stage of “Coachella” on April 22nd.
Source: Daum
