as usual, this is a personal travel account, not an ordinary whatever that means fanaccount, so if you just wanna read about the concert, there's gonna be irrelevant stuff.
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2266 days.
or 6 years, 2 months, and 14 days.
that's how long I waited for this day, since MOTS was officially cancelled - with a quivering heart, through all the uncertanties that almost 4 years hiatus and 7 military enlistments entail. I know they all wanted to come back, wanted for this break to indeed be just a break, but the truth is that 4 years is a long time, and military enlistment (probably) changes everyone.
ticketing with Ticketmaster was the usual shit show. I obviously did manage to get tickets, but I also got flagged as suspicious and my account got frozen for 24 hours. twice.
it was also only e-tickets so I was forced to get their app. I fucking loathe when services forces me to download their apps, but that's another boring story.
so, I got my nosebleeds through ARMY presale. I didn't realize there were two options, so I just happened to get into the sale for regular tickets and got through. I tried for vip during gen sale (in the car on my way to a family gathering. not ideal) and this time I got a really low queue number. unfortunately, it was, of course, still not low enough.
ticket secured in late january, along with the most expensive plane tickets and hotel that I've ever paid for, bar our Korea trips.
then followed a horrible spring, full of so many health complications that I actually started thinking about how to sell my tickets cos I was so certain I wouldn't be able to go.
between all that, a third record-breaking heatwave across Europe, turbulence, and just general travel anxiety, it wasn't easy, but we made it there.
by chance our hotel was close to the only stop for the airport express shuttle, so getting to and from the airport was easy. the hotel was nice and our room was great (it had better be at that price, just saying..), and best of all, the ac worked great.
we arrived late, so the only thing there was time for was some life-changing cauliflower wings (I can't tell you how much I hate when veggie/vegan options are called their meat equivalent. just say battered cauliflower ffs) in their sportsbar themed restaurant, with huge tvs everywhere and loud americans next to us. it was so nice to get out of there.
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I already knew I didn't want to try for any merch, cos there was nothing that looked good, so because of the heat, we decided to just stay in hotel ac for as long as possible on concert day. after breakfast we did go out cos we needed something for dinner for when we got back after the concert.
we didn't have to look for long. there was a small weekend farmers market almost right by the hotel, full of yummy stuff and a dead rat, that hubs, of course, had to step in cos he was too caught up in looking for food. we got some delicious ostritch stuff for sandwiches (and hubs got a dried ostritch heart cos he's curious like that), some bread from a baker, and drinks and fruit from the supermarket next door.
we also got some lunch snacks and then we just hung out in the room for the day, trying to plan the rest of our summer holiday.
we left at 16:15 and a short metro ride later, we were by the stadium.
there were people everywhere, shade nowhere, and we opened our umbrellas almost right when we came out from the station.
by 17 we were in an airy line, and it didn't get uncomfortably cramped until 17:30. I was dripping sweat but okay, and I was okay folding up my umbrella for the last 15 mins, but hubs was really not feeling that hot (no pun intended). at one point he felt like he could pass out at any minute :(
we ended up queuing for about 1½ hours and in this heat even that was too long.
security was a breeze. we already knew we'd have to give up the umbrellas (they were a calculated expense, well worth every penny of shade they had provided) and she didn't give a crap about the camera.
through the gate, we immediately fled into the shade of the bottom of the stadium and cooled down a little. hubs tanked a lot of water from the men's room (hello €6,5 saved) and then we did the climb up to the top floor. we had already done the math, so we knew we were gonna be on the shaded side, which honestly felt like close to a dealbreaker in this heat cos I don't know how we would have sat out in the sun like this. at this point my entire body was pounding with every heartbeat from the heat.
we came up right by our section, and as expected, there were hardly anyone up here yet, so no queues for the ladies' room FYEAH. all ground floor toilets had 25+ in every queue so this was major win.
when we first went out into the bowl, I actually felt my knees wobble from the height. I didn't have to crawl on hands and feet up to our row like in Stade De France, but I was clinging to every metal bar in sight. the two girls, who had to stand up for us, gave me dirty looks even though I told them I was scared of heights and apologized for not being able to hurry past them. so much for happy communal ARMY spirit :) fortunately, there were three or four seats between us.
my eyes and brain got more used to the height perspective over the next 45 mins, so that was nice, but for the first 10-15 mins I could not look down lower than eye level, and I was holding on to the metal bar behind us for dear life. I was so worried this was gonna trigger the vertigo I had been suffering from all spring.
after a while, a girl came over and said I was in her seat. turns out, I was indeed in her seat. we had forgotten to check the entry after I went to the ladies' room, so we had entered through to section 147 instead of 146 where we came up. oopsie poopsie.
it all worked out for the better cos we ended up in a much better group.
first of all, in the row in front of us was a girl dressed 100% like Jeongkook in Run ep. 105/106. it was the most exact costume I've ever seen. A+++. we also had several girls in beautiful hanboks around.
and, for some reason, the top five rows only in our entire corner of the stadium were empty, and 10 mins before concert start, the two girls to our left decided to go rogue and stand up there instead. perfect, cos now we could spread out over three seats when we were standing up, so I didn't bump into my neighbour even once.
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the concert itself was an absolute dream.
I had watched movie theater live streams of Goyang and Tokyo, and my sweetie pie Sarah offered me a Busan Festa stream, so I had already seen the show several times, but for me, that doesn't mean spoiler, just a built up of excited anticipation.
knowing the setlist also meant that I could plan my camera time. I was so far away, it's not like I think they could see if I had my camera out throughout, but to be more present and honour their request, I was gonna put it down a lot of the time. I knew from Stade De France, that nosebleed seat camera work and a hand tremor does not go hand in hand well, so it would only go bad anyways if I had to use my hand with 40x zoom for the full show.
so I had laid a plan.
setlist: * = record
- Hooligan
- Aliens
* Run BTS
- ment 1
- They Don't Know 'bout Us
* Like Animals
- Fake Love
- Swim
- Merry Go Round
- interlude
* 2.0
* Normal
- Not Today
- Mic Drop
* FYA
- Fire
- ment 2
* Body To Body
- Idol
- interlude
* Come Over
- ment 3
- Butter
- Dynamite
* karaoke 1 (I know he hasn't called it that since Goyang, but)
* karaoke 2
* ending ment
- Please
* Into The Sun
I had originally wanted to record 2.0 and Please, too, but in the week prior, my camera batteries suddenly started acting up so I was worried I wouldn't have enough power for the end, and since Into The Sun was one of top 3 priorities, I decided to cut those two. instead I dropped Please and just recorded Run BTS and 2.0 on my phone.
in the end I ended up recording Fire, too, just cos it was too intertwined with FYA and I didn't know when to cut it without it being weird lol
the DJ spun Baepsae and Pied Piper. I love those songs and all things considered, I am certainly not complaining. it could have been a lot worse.
I do wish they'd done some songs that hadn't been surprise songs already like, I don't understand why DAW is being kept out of the loop in this way. it's starting to get weird at this point. by now I'm hoping they'll save Danger for Sarah.
also, I am jelly in the unpretty way about day 2 getting Louder Than Bombs cos wHAT DO YOU MEAN D2 GOT LTB WTFFF. it was my top wish and they snubbed me by one day 😫 let's not talk about that anymore.
I've been fortunate enough to see them 6 times before throughout the years, starting from a venue so small you didn't have to question whether or not you made eye contact. you were close enough to know. now we're at sold out, packed to the brim stadiums.
so I know that by now I'm probably living on borrowed time cos how lucky can I keep being?! München had more than a million people in the queue, and the boys are still growing so ticketing war is only going to get fiercer still.
even if I ended up in the back rows again, I know full well how lucky I am to be there at all. so when the emergency flare guy finally came running in, strings swelling, and I finally, once again, saw them with my own eyes walking out, right from under our corner, and Jimin caught my eye, I just burst into tears. usually it's a few dignified tears. this time I practically sobbed my way through Hooligan lmao.
I was just so profoundly happy deep in my heart, to be able to see them with my own eyes, walking out right in front of me. I will never take that for granted.
and Jimin looked to absolutely die for. so I did, and woke up in heaven when he started singing. he was beautiful—from the two braids and his eye crinkling, blinding smile to his arms in a black singlet. he moved like a dream, sounded like one, too. I have no notes other than perfection.
they all seemed so ready to just kick ass and have a good time, being happy and silly, exactly what you want to see most from them.
Jimin was hilarious. the way he mimicked our screaming for him was too damn cute! Jinkook goofing off, Jikook being silly, Namjoon showing off his language skills by delivering ending ments in great German (D2 was even better!), Jeongkook's voice being pure healing, Tae's super expressive face being SO adorable in comparison to his "model cold" faces in all his sponsor photos. maybe that's why I find all his brands campaigns super boring idk. but seeing him in person, the way his eyes says so much and his smile can light up his face, it just always make me love him to bits all over again.
Yoongi seemed a bit quiet, even for Yoongi standards, but not cos he seemed tired or anything. afterwards I just couldn't remember him saying two words outside his ments and when he had the "make some noise" bit lol. Seokjin also didn't say that much, but he was being plenty silly on and off cam. I've actually come to anticipate his flying kiss (which is saying something, considering I couldn't stand it in the beginning lol), and the way Tae copied his ending ment was hilarious. I love the way he plays exasperated, but actually love the way maknaeline messes with him.
afterwards, the concert has been on my mind a lot in a way it's usually not. usually I have so many impressions and so much to say about all the members. instead, this time, "why can't I remember more about ___", keeps churning in my head because that's so unusual for me after a concert.
I think it's a result of two things.
1) as much as I loved that the stage was closer to me, cos it was in the middle and not all the way at the end, and that the screens were huge and brighter than my future, the stage "roof" also blocked our view of a fair bit of both the stage and one of the "arms". the arm towers holding up the screens also didn't help and overall it was actually a good bit of the whole stage that we couldn't see. I feel like Yoongi, Hoseok, and Namjoon a bit was primarily in those areas and I think that's why I have a lot less impressions of those members in my memories. so don't take my lack of details about particular members as anything other than that. I might have my biases, but I am very much ot7.
2) choreographing such a low choreo show is absolutely genius. the boys don't get as worn out, and with this stage layout it seems so natural. they can move freely (read: arranged) to as many corners as possible, giving more people a sense of closeness than could have been done from a traditional stage.
however, this also means two things. they aren't as much together and can interact with each other. they are also spread out so much of the time that you're bound to miss out on a lot of each of them, some more than others, cos you only have one set of eyes.
I hadn't thought about that last part prior to the concert cos even though they do the same on the streams and downloads, there you have the option of rewinding as many times as needed for you not to feel like you missed any details. you obviously can't do that live, so when they don't stay together, you're gonna miss out.
so while I had high hopes for the stage layout to give me a closer concert, I'm actually left with a much higher sense of having missed out on the individual members than with any other concert.
another unexpected thing for me was that I didn't cry during the end. usually the impending goodbye and end of it all is heartbreaking, but this time all the uncontrollable emotions just burst out right at first sight. I think it's cos after everything that's happened over the past years, I probably didn't fully believe deep down in my heart that I would ever be fortunate enough to be here again. cos what a privilege. seeing them made it real, and I could believe it now cos it was actually happening.
and maybe everything that's happened has also made me make peace with the fact that every show could be the last, so let's end on a happy note? idk maybe it's also cos Into The Sun is one of my faves, so it made the moment bitter sweet, to finally get to hear it live, even as a closing song, rather than just bitter?
I feel like I blinked and 2+ hours had passed ㅠㅠ
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since everyone already knew there wouldn't be any encores, as soon as the music stopped and the lights came on, the places was already buzzing with people moving out.
sidenote: I was kinda surprised that there was no ending fireworks, but I assume that's the price of performing in a giant plastic bowl.
getting down and around the stadium and out the gates went smoothly. we just flowed along in this great sea of people, but not five mins later did we come to a screeching halt and the issues became very clear. the issues being that some geniuses had decided to built a 75k capacity stadium on what's basically a cul-de-sac with only one way out. getting that many people in? sure, not a problem cos people trickle in on their own time. getting that many people out? huge fucking problem - just not to the people who planned it out, just the ones actually using it.
there was also only one bridge over to the train station. that blew my mind, too, but later it actually made a little sense.
so not even halfway to the station before we were just stuck in hell again. it was still just below 30°C, cramped, I was sweaty and sticky, my back and feet were killing me, and I was so thirsty.
at first we could see that people on both sides of the main crowd were still moving forward, but eventually the right side stopped, too. the ground sloped downwards and in the distance we could also see that people on the bridge kept moving, so that gave us a bit of patience and hope that we would soon be moving as well.
I also kept reminding myself that there had to be a functioning protocol for this cos this is one of Germany's largest football clubs and they must deal with this at every single home game.
an hour went by and we had only moved maybe 10 m and I was loosing my mind. to the left people just kept walking and we couldn't understand why, and here we were, stuck in the middle.
suddenly a tall guy with a small woman in tow came burrowing across the crowd towards the left side, and in a split second decision I grabbed hubs and we hitched our escape to tall guy's parting of the crowd. behind us others did the same, so we were a whole little group who finally broke free, out into space to walk, room to move, air to feel the slightest breeze.
we basically went into lemming mode and just kept following the group, even when the people at the front went through some bushes and out on the other side, and within five mins we were down by the bridge. from here on out it was smooth sailing.
the reason the flow over the bridge was consistent was that there were actually enough trains. two platforms, each with a train leaving every 5 mins so one leaving every couple of minutes. the time it took to fill the train and leave was the same time it took to fill up the platform again, so by the time the platform was a full, a new train opened its doors and people could step right in. this is also why the single bridge made a bit more sense, cos this way only enough people came over to keep the flow going. if there had been several bridges, the staion would have been congested in no time as well.
back at the hotel, thoroughly showered, properly hydrated and eating our ostritch sandwiches, we calculated that, based on our speed during our time in the crowd, if we had not been able to break free, we would probably not even be at the bridge yet. it was nuts.
travel day was nice and easy, both due to the express shuttle, but also cos Franz Josef Strauss Airport is small and manageable and not a complete fucking nightmare (I'm looking at you, Charles De Gaulle).
I had gotten a message the night before, asking us to consider checking our hand luggage cos they expected the plane to be full, so I was a little worried if their double booking was gonna mean we weren't getting home on time. we didn't have checked or hand luggage, so it didn't matter, but in the end the plane wasn't even full so I don't know what that message was about.
I was also a lot worried turbulence would be even worse than coming down, cos there was supposed to be a thunderstorm over DK, but in the end it was sunny and hotter (read: worse!) than München.
tldr; this trip was the best of times, it was the worst of times.
would I go to München again? not if I can help it.
would I go during heat levels like this? not if I can help it.
would I go through it all again for BTS? :)
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for pictures and videos it's the usual drill.
please, DO NOT RE-UPLOAD my cams without my permission, but feel free to spread my youtube links around, preferably with a "do not re-up" note.
and DO NOT crop, edit, gif, ai, or whatever else you can think of that would alter my original material.
as far as the pictures are concerned, feel free to share if you find them good enough for that, but DO NOT crop my watermark, DO NOT edit, and please re-up in full size. please credit.
other than that I hope you enjoy, and as usual, thank you if you actually read through this entire post ♥
please, DO NOT RE-UPLOAD my cams without my permission, but feel free to spread my youtube links around, preferably with a "do not re-up" note.
and DO NOT crop, edit, gif, ai, or whatever else you can think of that would alter my original material.
as far as the pictures are concerned, feel free to share if you find them good enough for that, but DO NOT crop my watermark, DO NOT edit, and please re-up in full size. please credit.
other than that I hope you enjoy, and as usual, thank you if you actually read through this entire post ♥
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like I said, while I do have my biases, I am ot7 and the amount of pictures I have of each member does in no way reflect my feelings for them. what it does reflect is my hand tremor's ability to not shake at the moment I took some pictures while at others it gave no fucks.
(Jimin's braids might have subconsciously drawn my lense towards him...or so it seems)
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