One of the biggest groups in the world right now is currently on tour, as Blackpink makes their way through the United States and Canada, stopping in seven cities on the North American leg of their sold-out Born Pink tour. 

I was recently lucky enough to be able to see the South Korean group perform, attending their second show in Atlanta last Thursday. While I don’t believe that any words I could write here would accurately do this concert justice, let me tell you, this was THE SHOW OF A LIFETIME. 

The energy around State Farm Arena, home of the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks, and venue for Blackpink’s two nights of shows, could be seen and felt hours before the doors even opened. A booth outside the building sold all kinds of Born Pink tour merchandise ranging from t-shirts to hoodies to pins to lightstick hammers, all of which had fans clamoring. 

Lines to enter the arena as soon as the doors opened stretched all the way down the street as the concert time grew closer. 

Once inside, State Farm Arena has been modified to accompany the band’s large stage, three huge screens behind said stage, and an array of pyrotechnics and lighting. 

Prior to the show’s start, the screens had been set playing many of Blackpink’s music videos, which unfortunately but comedically served as a tease for fans as the clock neared 8PM. The crowd would cheer as the music video ended and the screen went black for a second, expecting to see the show start, but in reality another video was queued up. 

The group did come out shortly after 8, however, and were met with an eruption of cheers as they appeared on stage, first performing “How You Like That” from their 2020 debut album The Album. Also sung in their first act was one of the group’s most popular songs, “Lovesick Girls.” 

After “Lovesick Girls” the first act ended, and the screens played a montage as an outfit change was taking place backstage. The second act, amongst other songs, contained the first appearances of songs from their newest album, Born Pink, with “Tally” being followed by an extended version of the album’s opening song, “Pink Venom.”

After the second interlude, each member of Blackpink came out and performed solo in the third act. 

First out was Jisoo, who sang a cover of Camila Cabello’s 2019 single “Liar.” Jennie was next, singing her solo song “You and Me” a song that tragically is currently unreleased, with the only versions of the song available to listen being recordings of Jennie performing it on tour. Third up was Rosé, who sang a solo version of the group’s hit song “Hard to Love,” followed by performing her own song “On The Ground.” And finally was Lisa, who also sang two songs, the first being “LALISA” followed up by “MONEY.”

With their final act, Blackpink performed four more songs before waving what some may have thought was a goodbye, heading backstage as the lights turned to black. 

For nearly five minutes, the entirety of State Farm Arena was lit up only by the incredible amount of pink lightsticks, as chants of “BLACK-PINK” started pouring out of the crowd. 

But the show was not over yet…

The band would come out one last time, this time all sporting their own Born Pink tour hoodies and t-shirts. The group would sing three more songs, and play a game of “I Spy” with the crowd, in which each member pointed out someone who was dressed in a, let’s say more noticeable fashion, while the other members tried to see who one was spying. 

But before they left, they posed on stage with their backs to the audience, as an array of cameras took the perfect shot of Blackpink, one with just themselves and one with their amazingly talented band and backup dancers, both with the crowd in the background. 

The combination of incredible vocals, amazing choreography, and stunning pyrotechnics all work to make the Born Pink tour the experience of a lifetime. When I say Blackpink puts on a show, they put on a SHOW.  It truly makes for an unforgettable night, and left you in absolute awe of the talent that performed on stage that night, not only by the members of Blackpink themselves, but also the incredibly talented band that accompanied the girls, and the backup dancers, who could easily dance endless circles around me. 

One may be surprised to know the great range of diversity that was in attendance for the concert, in all aspects, but particularly in age. A quick scan of the lines waiting at security to get inside the arena would reveal people of all different races and ages, and a large presence of foreign languages (and not just Korean). 

In the afternoon after both the November 2nd show and the November 3rd show, downtown Atlanta was filled with people wandering the city in their tour merch. 

At the time of this publishing, Blackpink has two stops remaining in the United States, performing at Prudential Center in Newark, NJ November 14th and 15th, and at the Banc of California Stadium in Los Angeles, CA November 19th and 20th. From there, they will spend the rest of 2022 in Europe, and will be in Asia and Oceania January through June of 2023. 

(And, in typical fashion for me, the Sports Editor who occasionally reviews concerts, here’s a bit of sports for you: in the first NBA game played at State Farm Arena since Blackpink departed, the Atlanta Hawks defeated the New Orleans Pelicans in an overtime thriller, 124-121.)