{"id":455889,"date":"2026-05-19T02:24:15","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T02:24:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/455889\/"},"modified":"2026-05-19T02:24:15","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T02:24:15","slug":"after-years-of-pressure-and-anxiety-bts-is-finally-at-ease","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/455889\/","title":{"rendered":"After years of pressure and anxiety, BTS is finally at ease"},"content":{"rendered":"

As the opening bars of \u201cBody to Body\u201d reverberated through Stanford Stadium on Sunday night, the members of\u00a0BTS<\/a> were in a dogpile in the middle of the stage.<\/p>\n

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RM, the group\u2019s leader, was stuck on the ground as V rolled on top of him like a toddler and Jung Kook joyfully feigned performing CPR.\u00a0With seconds to go until he needed to start rapping,\u00a0RM kicked out from under the giggling saboteurs with a \u201cF\u2014k off!\u201d into the mic.\u00a0<\/p>\n

After years of uncertainty, pressure and anxiety, it was clear that BTS, now on the biggest tour of their career, are finally at ease.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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It\u2019s been eight years since BTS performed as a full group in the Bay Area. In that time, everything has changed. That was before \u201cDynamite,\u201d the English language song that turned them into international superstars, before \u201cButter\u201d got over a billion views on YouTube, before a global pandemic, before the military enlistments that put the group on hiatus from late 2022 until their comeback this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Eighteen months of military service is mandatory for all men in South Korea. Most serve while in their early 20s, but some celebrities can defer for a time. Jin, the oldest member of BTS, was 30 when he began his enlistment.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There is no good time for a Korean musician to enlist. The peak age for K-pop idols, the term for performers in teams like BTS, tends to be very young. Many are teens when they debut; Jung Kook was just 15. If they\u2019re lucky enough to break through, they\u2019re hitting their apex in their early to mid-20s. Defer enlistment until their late 20s, as most do, and their group must go on hiatus at a critical juncture. By the time they return, they\u2019re in their 30s and aging out of \u201cidol\u201d status. In the years it takes all members to be discharged, reunite and release a new album, odds are high they\u2019ve been replaced by shiny young groups.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\"BTS<\/p>\n

BTS perform at Stanford Stadium on Saturday, May 16, 2026.<\/p>\n

Courtesy of Bighit Music\"BTS<\/p>\n

BTS perform at Stanford Stadium on Saturday, May 16, 2026.<\/p>\n

Courtesy of Bighit Music<\/p>\n

But since BTS\u2019 new album dropped in March, there\u2019s no question the kings are back. (Or, as\u00a0RM sneeringly raps to their competitors in their song \u201c2.0,\u201d \u201cHad your little fun, fella? Came back for what\u2019s mine.\u201d) The demand to see them on tour is fierce, but with Levi\u2019s Stadium unavailable due to World Cup preparations, the much smaller 50,000-seat Stanford Stadium was the only viable venue big enough in the Bay Area.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The venue had its peculiarities. Because of Stanford\u2019s strict noise ordinance \u2014 amplified sound must be curtailed by 10 p.m. \u2014 BTS began their show at 7 p.m. On Saturday night, RM admitted it was a little \u201cembarrassing\u201d to be so exposed in broad daylight. But by Sunday, the group seemed to have found the silver lining: Multiple members remarked on how special it was to be able to clearly see their fans\u2019 faces.<\/p>\n

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Those fans were treated to one of the best shows of their lives. Although the show focused primarily on the group\u2019s new album \u201cArirang,\u201d they interspersed favorites from their enormous catalog of hits: \u201cMic Drop,\u201d \u201cRun BTS,\u201d \u201cIdol.\u201d At times, fans stomped so hard on the metal stands that the members gently motioned for them to quiet down. During the encore, screams shook the stadium as they performed \u201cBlood Sweat & Tears,\u201d the sensual 2016 ode to toxic love, and \u201cDope,\u201d an anti-establishment tirade against the pressures of modern society that seemed particularly pointed in a place like Stanford.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Life as an idol is incredibly rigid. Their record labels don\u2019t allow them to have public relationships, they aren\u2019t supposed to get tattoos \u2014 if they do, they\u2019re usually forced to hide them \u2014 and they must be polite, perfect and physically flawless at all times. BTS\u2019 unprecedented level of success has allowed them to shirk some of those rules, and now, more than ever, they seem authentically themselves.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBefore, we were way too competitive, I guess,\u201d rapper Suga said in a recent Rolling Stone interview<\/a>. \u201c… In the rush to achieve our goals, we didn\u2019t care so much about our physical and emotional health. But now we can relax a little, especially since we\u2019re all older.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"BTS<\/p>\n

BTS perform at Stanford Stadium on Saturday, May 16, 2026.<\/p>\n

Courtesy of Bighit Music<\/p>\n

Throughout Sunday night, they laughed, joked and swore.\u00a0Jimin and Jung Kook did flips during \u201cDynamite\u201d that Jung Kook later admitted might have tweaked his back. V lovingly called the crowd \u201cf\u2014king good,\u201d while j-hope said they heard about Stanford\u2019s sound ordinance and said, \u201cHell no.\u201d Suga, in his closing remarks, proclaimed that Stanford was \u201cthe best,\u201d some of which may have had to do with the fact the members have been relaxing in the bay all week, shopping at the mall and going to Great America<\/a>, without being bothered.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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As RM took in the night, he at times seemed contemplative. \u201cHonestly,\u201d he said late in the show, \u201cI just hope you had a great time, because time flies, life is too short.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The past few years have been filled with anxiety for BTS. The group went on hiatus at the height of their fame, having achieved every imaginable accolade for a K-pop act. They worried, often publicly, about whether fans would wait for them.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Looking out onto the sold-out crowd of 50,000 at Stanford Stadium on Sunday night, confetti swirling in the gusting wind, it was clear their worries were unfounded. Everyone waited.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As the opening bars of \u201cBody to Body\u201d reverberated through Stanford Stadium on Sunday night, the members of\u00a0BTS…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":455890,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[93,61,60,278,169079],"class_list":["post-455889","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-music","tag-sfgculture"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/455889","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=455889"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/455889\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/455890"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=455889"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=455889"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=455889"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}