BTS review – charisma and confidence from the world’s biggest pop group

Live stream from Seoul Olympic stadium
How do you perform a stadium-sized show without an audience? Over eight years' worth of milestone singles, the K-pop stars show how it's done

We can't see you, but we're so glad you can see us," beams Jungkook, breathing heavily. BTS - the world's biggest pop group - have just opened their performance at Seoul's Olympic stadium in typically flat-out fashion. After flying through the elaborate choreography and ferocious passion of tracks On, Burning Up (Fire) and Dope - songs from three very different stages of the South Korean group's eight-year career, the seven members are taking a moment to speak frankly. Although their stadium show has flames, fireworks, dozens of balletic dancers dressed like swans and a live band complete with a choreographed brass section, RM, Jin, Suga, j-hope, Jimin, V and Jungkook are missing just one thing: the band's beloved fanbase, known as Army.

Tonight's live-stream audience could have sold out the Olympic stadium 10 times over. Instead of dealing with pre-sales, touts and expensive hotels, fans can watch the performance from six perfectly framed camera angles, enjoy live translation, and congregate on social media: when BTS perform just a snippet of a beloved older song, Blood Sweat & Tears, some 50,000 ecstatic tweets are fired off immediately.