Blackpink Jennie finished her first solo concert. Jennie, who is “so much loved,” shed tears, but criticism continues about her insincere attitude.
On the 15th, Jennie held a performance commemorating the release of her first solo studio album, ‘Ruby’, at Inspire Arena in Incheon.
Starting with the first tracks ‘Intro: Jane with FKJ’ and ‘Start a Hour’, Jennie performed live with 15 songs from the album, including ‘Handlebar’, ‘Mantra’, ‘Love Hangover’, ‘Jen’, ‘Dam Right’, ‘Seoul City’, ‘Like Jenny’, ‘With The IE’, and ‘Extra’. In particular, more than 10,000 fans filled the audience with the lyrics of ‘It’s a sin to be good’ on the stage of the title song ‘Like Jenny’, expressing confidence that ‘Heaters can’t be like me.’
The exposure was also notable. Jennie previously held solo performances at the Pikok Theater in Los Angeles and Radio City Music Hall in New York, drawing attention with her unconventional costumes that included controversial exposed outfits. Although some costumes were changed, others, like strap bralettes and pants, were worn as they were.
The performance had issues with content delivery. Notably, celebrities in the audience caused a commotion, leading to a delay of about 10 minutes before the performance began. Jennie only delivered her first greeting about 40 minutes into the show, omitting any audience interaction.
The stage production was also disappointing. Despite seven songs from the album being released, the stage effects were minimal, featuring only basic graphics.
Jennie expressed her gratitude, saying, “Thank you so much for coming to my first solo concert. I wanted to talk too much. It’s an album that depicts me being a little stupid and stuttering honestly, rather than doing everything splendidly and coolly, so everything seems unfamiliar and I think I’m starting out for the first time. I really promised not to cry, but I released an album and received so much love. It was hard to believe and accept, but I’m so grateful and happy to see it with my own eyes.”
However, the concert concluded shortly after. Jennie sang the ending song of the main stage, ‘Filter’, and finished with ‘Starlight’ and ‘Twin’ as the audience called for an encore. The total runtime was only one hour and ten minutes.
Tickets for the performance were priced at 220,000 won for ruby seats, and ranged down to 143,000 won for A seats. Despite being a solo performance, the runtime was significantly shorter than other concerts, leaving the audience disappointed with the setlist and stage production.
Many in the audience felt they couldn’t connect with Jennie, as she wore sunglasses for most of the performance and did not convey emotions through eye contact. Additionally, there were concerns that the audience was more focused on live broadcasting cameras than enjoying the performance.
