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In the coronavirus age, livestream concerts have been split between staying grounded in a regular gig experience and boundary-pushing technology extravaganzas. Particularly in the K-pop world, it’s the latter that has ruled. Over the last 11 months, we’ve seen TWICE being transported around the globe by a VR taxi, SuperM nailing their choreography while digital tigers leap across the stage and BTS be suspended in space.
Ever ones to march to the beat of their own drum, though, BLACKPINK’s first foray into the virtual concert sphere eschews flashy extras for a more traditional live show. Performing from a studio in Seoul, the girl group are joined by their usual live band The Band Six and, while they’re clearly missing an audience full of Blinks, having this organic accompaniment beefs out both the sound and the atmosphere. If you forget the fact there’s no crowd noise, you could almost be watching footage of an in-person gig posted after the stage lights have gone down.
Despite getting an energetic boost from their backing band, not every moment of The Show hits as hard as you would expect in a bouncing arena. Unfortunately, it’s largely the songs from last year’s ‘The Album’ that suffer – the fierce bombast of ‘How You Like That’ feels lacklustre here, while ‘Crazy Over You’ doesn’t make much of an impression. Even the infectious ‘Lovesick Girls’ falls a little short of what you would expect to be an anthemic highlight of the concert. Perhaps this is, in part, due to the fact that most of The Show isn’t actually live at all. Instead, there are several pre-recorded tracks, presumably done to help keep things slick while allowing for outfit changes and set swaps, but potentially also sacrificing some potency along the way.
Largely, though, BLACKPINK put on a concert that’s a joy to watch. The stage sets often stray into eye candy territory, like the glittering coves of a cave from where the group start ‘Don’t Know What To Do’ or the hall of mirrors decorated with fairy lights and neon bars that BLACKPINK vogue in front of for their Lady Gaga collaboration ‘Sour Candy’ (the pop superstar doesn’t make a virtual appearance). ‘DDU-DU DDU-DU’ is backlit by plumes of fire, while the quartet dance on water with a troupe of dancers, adding even more attitude to its scorching energy.
Each member of the band gets the chance to show off their skills in their own solo stage too. In the case of singer Jisoo and rapper Lisa, these involve covers of other artists’ songs with a fresh twist. Jisoo is up first, performing a version of Tove Lo’s ‘Habits (Stay High)’ that opens with a verse in Korean that BLACKPINK’s eldest member reportedly wrote herself. It’s a savvy song choice for her, one that lets her voice does what she does best – bring an intoxicating mix of drama and elegance to the track, accentuated even further by the couple dancing to the side of her set.
Lisa’s solo is more upbeat, an impressively choreographed take on Doja Cat’s ‘Say So’ that causes her bandmates to dub her “Liyoncé” later. It’s high praise that’s totally deserved – the rapper makes the track own, even before she gets to the verse she’s adapted herself.
For the remaining members of the group, their solos are all about originals. Rapper Jennie performs an updated version of her fittingly titled 2018 single ‘SOLO’. As well as a brand-new dance break, she also shares a refreshed verse that sees her coolly boast: “W, no Ls, covered W and Elle and there’s none left on the shelves / Get in trouble by myself, solo, oh well.”
Singer Rosé follows it with one of the most anticipated moments of The Show – a preview of her upcoming solo debut. After half of ‘Gone’, the B-side of the upcoming release, plays through a stylish music video, the camera cuts to the Australian member sitting on a white swing, an empty perch on one side of her and guitarist Justin Lyons on the other. It’s a simple but addictive piece of guitar pop and one that showcases Rosé’s direct, raw vocals. “Why’d you have to hit and run me? / Now I’m all alone crying ugly,” she sings in the emotional performance. “You broke my heart just for fun / Took my heart and just left me numb / Now it’s eight in the morning, hate in the morning.”
As well as poignant moments like this and a VCR set to ‘Stay’ that reflects on BLACKPINK’s past in-person concerts, it’s the points where the band get to loosen up and have fun that work best. Case in point is final song ‘Forever Young’, which opens with Lisa and Jisoo resting their heads adoringly on Jennie’s shoulders as she sings and ends with them giddily goofing around the stage.
Even when they’re in serious performance mode, it’s easy to see what The Show means to the group. When they were making ‘The Album’ and gearing up for its long-awaited release, they were probably expecting to be able to celebrate it with at least a concert, if not a full tour. The pandemic had other plans, though, and nearly scuppered this event too – it was originally meant to take place in December, but was postponed due to a spike in cases in Korea. “I hope everybody felt our presence because, in our minds, we’re there with everyone,” Rosé says towards the end of the show. The Show might not be flawless but, with it, BLACKPINK step into Blinks’ areas worldwide and leave an indelible mark.
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Pixies have unveiled four previously unheard tracks, all written during the period when the band were putting together ‘Bossanova’ and ‘Trompe le Monde’.
The four recordings come from between 1987 and 1991 and are now available across all digital streaming services for the first time. They originally appeared as two bonus 7” singles included with the limited-edition remastered pressings of ‘Bossanova’ and ‘Trompe le Monde’.
Among the tracks is the Steve Albini version of ‘Dig For Fire’, recorded in late 1987 while the band were working on ‘Surfer Rosa’. The song was later reworked before appearing on ‘Bossanova’ almost three years later.
The collection also features ‘Punk Loop’, an unreleased jam recorded during the 1991 sessions for ‘Trompe le Monde’ and originally labelled ‘Punk Loop’ MSTR. Another addition is ‘Brackish Boy’, a track first written with Pixies before being rerecorded by Black Francis for his self-titled solo debut in 1993. The newly released version was mastered directly from the original album session tape, without any additional post-production.
The fourth track is ‘Go Man Go’, written by Black Francis and Kim Deal while the band were recording ‘Bossanova’ and The Breeders were working on ‘Last Splash’. The song did not make the final tracklist of either album, although The Breeders performed it live on a few occasions in the years that followed.
The track made another appearance in 2023 when The Breeders included it in the 30th anniversary reissue of ‘Last Splash’.
Pixies have marked their 40th anniversary throughout this year, including a UK and European tour over the summer. During a conversation with NME at Mad Cool Festival earlier this year, guitarist Joey Santiago revealed that the band were still making progress on new material.
“We’re always in the works. Same formula,” he said. “We have a break coming up in October and we’re gonna get together and piece more songs together.”
The band's latest studio release is 2024’s ‘The Night The Zombies Came’, which marked their first album featuring bassist Emma Richardson. They are also scheduled to tour the US with Queens Of The Stone Age in 2027 as part of the upcoming tour.
