By Amanda Moses
On July 14th, thousands of fans lined up outside of Central Park’s Rumsey Playfield in anticipation of Jung Kook’s (the youngest member of popular band BTS) debut solo performance for his new single Seven—some admirers even camped out since June 10th in hopes of being the first to hear the South Korean singer. Then the thunder and torrential downpour came, causing the performance to abruptly end.
The performance was set to begin around 7 am and last until 9 am, however, the proceedings- ended up being pushed ahead of schedule due to the encroaching thunderstorm. According to sources, Jung Kook did not want to disappoint fans and he forwent the scheduled sound check in order to still perform live.
Good Morning America’s (GMA) organizers let a few hundred fans in early so that they could hear the three songs he was set to perform: BTS classics Euphoria and Dynamite, along with solo single Seven.
A deluge of audience members with outstretched arms and tears streaming down their faces did not let the gray skies dampen their spirits as they screamed and chanted for the music icon. While the K-Pop idol impressed with his melodic vocal skills and dance routine for his final song Dynamite, the rain began to pour, but he did not stop until the song was completed.
GMA organizers announced that according to New York City Parks Department’s regulations, the concert could not continue since the lightning posed an immediate threat to attendees.
Odyssey Perez, 23, held tightly onto her Line Friends bunny caricature of Jung Kook called Cooky, drenched from the rain.
“I’m kind of sad because I wanted to see him perform, but I want all of us to be safe because it is lightning,” Perez said, as water was dripping down her face.
But despite the circumstances, the Bronx native had a bright smile on her face, sharing that this was the first time she saw Jung Kook live.
“I like [Jung Kook’s] personality or persona. I like that he takes on any challenge and can complete either on the first or second try. It’s pretty amazing,” Perez gushed.
Jessica Morales, wearing a Chooky headband, smiled sadly as she wiped away the rain that was pouring down her face and described BTS as a group that means the world to her.
“I’m a bit disappointed that the weather kind of ruined the event. I was really looking forward to seeing him,” Morales said.
The Brooklyn native arrived at Central Park on Wednesday, a whopping three days before the Friday performance in hopes of being one of the first to be let into the GMA SummerStage area. While she was among the lucky few to be let inside the Rumsey Playfield to watch him perform, it was a whirlwind experience.
“They mean everything to me. I love them, him too. They make me happy. I love their music and I think they are great people too,” Morales said, adding that she was especially happy that Jung Kook sang the BTS hit Euphoria.
Others traveled as far as Dubai and camped outside of Central Park since Wednesday.
Some were not as lucky and while they couldn’t see Jung Kook, Tonya Pukal and Christine Taing bypassed the line and just sat outside of the arena just to hear his voice live. Both women traveled from Minnesota and arrived at Central Park at 3 am on Friday, and already the line was exponentially long with thousands of awaiting fans.
“The line was miles long,” Taing said. “We are just grateful we heard him. Some people in the back of the line didn’t get to hear him. That line was too long.”
In 2013, members of BTS were scouring the streets in an attempt to get passersby to attend one of their performances. Fast forward 10 years—dozens of music awards and even more nominations later—the band known as Bangtan Sonyeondan has broken through language barriers and has become a global sensation.
Now as each of the members take on their solo careers before they commit to their mandatory military service (currently Jin and J-hope are enlisted) the band is doing their best to provide musical treats for their fans who they call ARMY.
Photos by Amanda Moses
