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    BTS K-pop star Suga brings his solo show to the Kia Forum
    • May 12, 2023

    When the K-pop boyband BTS announced in June 2022 it was taking a break for a few years, fans of the most successful South Korean act ever were distraught.

    No more stadium tours until 2025 at the earliest? Jin, and then J-Hope, entering the South Korean military to complete mandatory military service, with the other five BTS boys – Suga, Jimin, RM, V, and Jungkook – eventually to follow?

    Well, that’s not the world into which the BTS Army, as fans are known, enlisted.

    All of which made the arrival on stage of Suga, the first of the BTS boys to tour as a solo artist, a sensation when the 30-year-old rapper-singer appeared in Inglewood on Thursday for the second of three sold-out shows at the Kia Forum this week.

    Suga, one of the seven members of BTS, is seen here on stage at the Kia Forum in Inglewood where he is playing three sold-out shows on May 10, May 11, and May 14, 2023. Suga is the first of the group to tour as a solo artist. The group, which announced a pause in its activities together last year, is now focused on solo projects and the mandatory military service required of all South Korean young men. (Photo courtesy of BIGHIT MUSIC)

    Suga, one of the seven members of BTS, is seen here on stage at the Kia Forum in Inglewood where he is playing three sold-out shows on May 10, May 11, and May 14, 2023. Suga is the first of the group to tour as a solo artist. The group, which announced a pause in its activities together last year, is now focused on solo projects and the mandatory military service required of all South Korean young men. (Photo courtesy of BIGHIT MUSIC)

    Suga, one of the seven members of BTS, is seen here on stage at the Kia Forum in Inglewood where he is playing three sold-out shows on May 10, May 11, and May 14, 2023. Suga is the first of the group to tour as a solo artist. The group, which announced a pause in its activities together last year, is now focused on solo projects and the mandatory military service required of all South Korean young men. (Photo courtesy of BIGHIT MUSIC)

    Suga, one of the seven members of BTS, is seen here on stage at the Kia Forum in Inglewood where he is playing three sold-out shows on May 10, May 11, and May 14, 2023. Suga is the first of the group to tour as a solo artist. The group, which announced a pause in its activities together last year, is now focused on solo projects and the mandatory military service required of all South Korean young men. (Photo courtesy of BIGHIT MUSIC)

    Suga, one of the seven members of BTS, is seen here on stage at the Kia Forum in Inglewood where he is playing three sold-out shows on May 10, May 11, and May 14, 2023. Suga is the first of the group to tour as a solo artist. The group, which announced a pause in its activities together last year, is now focused on solo projects and the mandatory military service required of all South Korean young men. (Photo courtesy of BIGHIT MUSIC)

    Suga, one of the seven members of BTS, is seen here on stage at the Kia Forum in Inglewood where he is playing three sold-out shows on May 10, May 11, and May 14, 2023. Suga is the first of the group to tour as a solo artist. The group, which announced a pause in its activities together last year, is now focused on solo projects and the mandatory military service required of all South Korean young men. (Photo courtesy of BIGHIT MUSIC)

    Suga, one of the seven members of BTS, is seen here on stage at the Kia Forum in Inglewood where he is playing three sold-out shows on May 10, May 11, and May 14, 2023. Suga is the first of the group to tour as a solo artist. The group, which announced a pause in its activities together last year, is now focused on solo projects and the mandatory military service required of all South Korean young men. (Photo courtesy of BIGHIT MUSIC)

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    Here was at least one of the guys, and until all seven might someday reunite, that was enough for fans, some of whom – judging by the signs and flags they carried – crossed continents to be there.

    The Agust D tour takes its name from the pseudonym Suga uses for solo projects – Agust D is the reverse spelling of Suga and the initials DT for Daegu Town, his birthplace.

    The concert and solo album “D-Day,” released April 21, explore questions of personal identity and self-awareness. Three moody noir-like videos introduced different sections of the show, each of them representing a different part of the performer: Min Yoon-gi, his birthname and life pre-fame, Suga, the beloved BTS boy band member, and Agust D, his solo persona.

    “Haegeum” opened the show, the first of 19 songs over nearly two hours. Unlike the BTS shows that have filled massive stages at SoFi Stadium, the Rose Bowl, and the then-Staples Center in recent years, this was a stripped-down affair.

    Instead of seven performers singing and rapping while conducting tightly choreographed dance moves, Suga danced alone, a looser kind of stage prowl familiar from many other rap shows. The colorful suits and costumes of BTS were traded for an all-black look of baggy pants, a short-sleeved tunic over a long-sleeved T.

    His floppy haircut was a natural black in place of the teal, lavender, orange, blue and blonde hairstyles of BTS.

    And the fans, as we’ve noted, adored him, screaming at ear-piercing volumes the opening notes of new songs – “D-Day” sold over a million copies worldwide on its first day – and old favorites – the new record is his third solo release, and the set included a handful of BTS songs on which Suga was the featured vocalist.

    After fast, aggressive solo numbers such as “Daechwita” and “Agust D,” Suga slowed the pace with gentler tunes including “Trivia: Seesaw,” a BTS song he performed seated, accompanying himself on an acoustic guitar that appeared to have been signed by the other BTS-ers.

    As with BTS, Suga’s solo material is sung primarily in Korean, with occasional English lyrics in a chorus or verse. The new “SDL” revealed the meaning of its title as fans loudly sang its English chorus: “Yeah, somebody does love / But I’m thinking ’bout you.”

    (Possibly a less successful lyrical mashup –  at least the combining of those last three letters – came during the chorus of “Agust D,” which goes, “A to the G to the U to the STD.”)

    Act I ended with “Burn It,” a fast rap song that drew screams from the crowd when they realized the American singer Max was there to perform live the parts he contributed in the studio.

    After another video, the second half opened strongly with the BTS song “Interlude: Shadow,” the opening English lyrics – “I wanna be a rap star / I wanna be the top” – leaving no room for misunderstanding.

    A medley of rap numbers, most of them also by BTS originally, was wildly received by fans whose BTS light sticks flashed green and red in sync with the high-energy performance here.

    Then a pair of piano-based songs slowed things down. For “Life Goes On,” a solo number that samples the BTS song of the same name, Suga played piano at the front of the floor-level area of the stage.

    For “Snooze,” on which composer Ryuichi Sakamoto had contributed piano, a clip of Suga with Sakamoto paid tribute to the Japanese musician who died March 28, the screen going dark but for the words “I wish you are in peace on your long journey” at the end.

    The main set ended strongly with “Amygdala,” one of the highlights of the “D-Day” album, which saw Suga alone on a platform, flames rising behind him, singing of confronting such real-life traumatic memories as his mother’s heart surgery, his father’s liver cancer, and finding a way to move past his sadness and fears.

    The encore delivered three songs – the title track of “D-Day,” the BTS number “Intro: Nevermind,” and the aptly named show-closer “The Last” – but a line from “Amygdala” felt like a way to view this strange interregnum in which Suga and BTS now find themselves.

    As he sang in “Amygdala” of his earlier life, “What didn’t kill me only made me stronger / And I begin to bloom like a lotus flower once again.”

    Suga is the second-oldest member of BTS and surely that means his military service will follow the end of this solo tour, likely in months not years. He’s laid down his marker now as a performer, in and out of the band. When he returns, he’ll be just fine.

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