Kearns and BTS

That is exactly how Liverpool High School social studies teacher Andrea Kearns felt the two nights she attended BTS´ Permission to Dance concerts in Los Angeles. In the year 2020, Covid hit music artists and their concerts suffered. Korean boy band ¨Bangtan Sonyeondan¨ which translates loosely to ¨Bulletproof Boyscouts¨ in English and now called ¨Beyond the Scene,¨ formed in 2010 and debuted in 2013 under Big Hit Entertainment now called HYBE. They took the world by storm in 2017 with their TV debut on the American Music Awards. From the beginning BTS knew they wanted to call their fan base ARMY, as it was believed to be a great representation of their relationship. It's a name that's associated with the military and armor, representing the idea that ARMY will always be together with BTS.

BTS repeatedly postponed then eventually cancelled their ´Map of the Soul´ world tour that was set to start back in April 2020 due to Covid-19 - a tour that Kearns would have had the ability to attend as her friend had tickets before everything shut down. When the news was announced that the tour was officially cancelled, major disappointment was felt by not just Kearns but ARMY as a whole. That pain lasted until it was announced that BTS would be holding four concerts over a span of four days in LA at the end of November and beginning of December 2021. Kearns and her friend were able to grab tickets for two of the total four concerts.

Her favorite memory was on the second night. Kearns sat in the 100 level seats, and recalls, “the boys got on these mobile platforms that the crew pushed around. If you were near the 100s section they were essentially eye level with you while performing. It was insane on night one knowing that it was the first live show that they've done in front of people after so long. It was really emotional because you haven't been able to do much, even in terms of daily life.” It was something different and something that was really enjoyable for Kearns. “The whole thing is hard to describe,” she continued, “in general just the fact that you had three hours of non-stop energy. It was very electrified and there wasn't a movement where that energy dropped. That felt really special.”

Everyone had to start somewhere in order to fall down the rabbit hole of being an ARMY. Much like everyone else, Kearns vaguely knew of the Korean boy band but never considered them, as it wasnt her ´cup of tea.´ It wasn't until BTS´ Boy With Luv was circling the radio and many videos later that Kearns was hooked. BTS has many songs ranging from genre to genre, containing both light and dark material. But it's not just the songs that kept Kearns in a tight hold. 

¨They're genuine people and what you see is what you get.¨ Kearns said.

Keans is amazed at the way the boyband has been able to balance both their popularity and their private life, while also continuing to be very generous to their fans and how much they see into their lives. She also says that it's because of this that BTS’s relationship with their large fan base continues to be special. It even goes as far as saying that all the people who are not ARMY do not understand that the fans are not just preteen girls. They are a diverse group of people with jobs, a life, people who have their own hobbies, even if it is just buying BTS merch to support the band.