Blackpink, BST Hyde Park: Review and setlist as K-pop stars backed by Sabrina Carpenter and The Rose

The first thing to say is Blackpink fall well outside my expertise. But the second thing to say is: “What an atmosphere!”

It’s a Sunday at BST Hyde Park and a very young K-pop crowd so there’s very little booze around (a contrast to Pulp at Finsbury Park the previous night).

There’s a lot of merch, including strange-looking black and pink ‘lightsticks’. They sell for a whopping £65.

So am I now a Blink (a Blackpink fan)?

The Korean band - made up of Jisoo, Jennie, Rosé, and Lisa - are on their massive Born Pink World Tour, taking in 22 countries on four continents.

Hyde Park was treated to a tight 80-minute set, shorter than on recent tour dates. It’s lean and the audience was clearly thrilled.

And it’s an explosive opening to Pink Venom, met with screams. One song in and they each introduce themselves (probably no need, guys) before diving into the brilliant How You Like That.

The group are in slinky white/platinum outfits and backed by dancers making use of a lit staircase stage.

The dance routines are high energy and familiar to most of the fans, and they make use of the runway stage, heading into the crowd for a banging Kick It. Although most fans are hundreds of metres from the stage, BST of course has huge screens, and this is a band for whom the screen is integral to the brand.

The backing band must love doing this tour. It’s loud and punchy, and just looks fun to play.

There are costume changes as each member performs their solo numbers: Flower (Jisoo), You & Me (Jennie), Money (Lisa) and, for me a highlight, On The Ground (Rosé).

The latter comes with a finale of exploding streamers, which may have been misjudged as they caught on the branches of the great oak itself, and the lighting rig (”London, what a nice breeze you have”).

These tunes are explosive - Boombayah, Lovesick Girls, Typa Girl, Shut Down - and when darkness has fallen those lightsticks come into their own.

So am I Blink? Well, perhaps not. It’s big pop with a massive audience around the world - national borders don’t matter for pop any more. A really enjoyable show and although the music won’t become a fixture on my playlists, they don’t need me.

Blackpink setlist at BST Hyde Park

(As recorded onsetlist.fm)

Act 1

Pink Venom

How You Like That

Pretty Savage

Kick It

Whistle (With Dance Break)

Act 2

You & Me/Solo (Jennie song)

Flower (Jisoo song)

On The Ground (Rosé song)

Money (lisa song)

Act 3

Boombayah

Lovesick Girls

Playing with Fire

Typa Girl

Shut Down

Tally

DDU-DU DDU-DU

Forever Young

Sabrina Carpenter

Actor and pop sensation Sabrina Carpenter has a heck of a band with her, kicking straight in with an ultra-tight disco groove. It’s polished stuff, with a high-energy choreographed show.

For the second song it sounded like she was going to launch into The Proclaimers but instead we get Vicious (“Is anyone pissed off with anyone right now?”). Slick and highly entertaining.

The Rose

Korean guitar pop band The Rose’s star is rising, with sweeping epics where guitar solos are met with screams in Hyde Park.

“It’s a very slow one. It’s about being in the rain together.” It’s called She’s In The Rain and it’s an indie ballad of Coldplay scale, and it’s had 76m plays on Spotify.

Equally strong are other massive tracks including I.L.Y. and Beauty and the Beast.

Sarah Crean

Possibly the most mellow bit of BST so far comes in the form of Dublin singer-songwriter Sarah Crean who has a lovely dexterous voice, accompanied by gentle guitar.

“This one is called French Boy. It’s about a boy that is French. And, again, because there are kids in the audience I’ll leave it at that.”