Twenty years in, BIGBANG played Paris for the first time
Credits: Zutter.co.uk Photographer: Daily Matcha
BIGBANG's XX: COSMOS tour reached Stade de France on Saturday 19 September, the group's first concert in Paris and their first anywhere in Europe since two London dates in 2012. G-Dragon has played the city three times in twenty months: his own Übermensch show at La Défense last September, and the Gala des Pièces Jaunes in January of both 2025 and 2026, but never as BIGBANG.
Zutter team went to Paris to cover BIGBANG’s first ever concert in the city.
The merch pop-up shop
We got to the pop-up at ten on the dot, and the queue was already all the way around the square by that time. What followed was not what a queue for limited merchandise usually is: VIPs were handing out freebies down the line, staff came along with pastries, and the queue moved along fast. The hour we had to wait passed by in the blink of a second.
The shop itself is small and built for speed. A few racks of t-shirts and hoodies are there for looking at only, so you know what you want before you reach the till, and a huge screen in the middle blasts “BiiiG”. You are in and out. The Paris exclusives were sold out by Friday morning, a day before the show. If you are going to London on Saturday and you want the city-exclusive items, that is the whole lesson: first day of the pop-up, or get to the stadium early.
On the way out, VIPs take turns leaving messages for BIGBANG on a wall that started the week white and by Saturday morning was decorated in all sorts of cute drawings and messages in black and yellow markers. “Hope you have a great time in Paris”, said one of the anonymous messages, and that is all you need to know about VIPs’ affection for BIGBANG.
Credits: Zutter.co.uk Photographer: Daily Matcha
The wrong lightsticks
The floor was lit by the wrong lightsticks, and it was the best thing in the stadium. With the anniversary Bang Bong stuck in French customs, VIPs turned up with whatever they had: G-Dragon's Day-G, Taeyang's Yeorobong, Daesung's Daetbong, bought for other occasions by people who were not going to stand in the dark for this one. The outfits went the same way. Handmade jackets, crowns, and more than one recreation of the red rose-covered jacket G-Dragon wore to open his Übermensch shows last year.
The set ran thirty-one songs across twenty years of BIGBANG, and doubled as a showcase of who Daesung, Taeyang and G-Dragon are right now in their solo stages during Act II.
We don’t want to spoil the show for those attending the London concert on the 26th of September, so we will say just this: yes, there are lots of pyrotechnics and it gets so hot you would think there was a sun on the stage; yes, the visual design on the LED is mesmerising, but try to keep your eyes on the live BIGBANG; yes, Daesung’s laughter is contagious; yes, G-Dragon will most certainly destroy another perfectly good guitar. You will not want it to end, and when it does, everyone around you will be sobbing. The chemistry between the BIGBANG members is so sweet and endearing that it will feel like you are attending a family reunion for the triplets’ twentieth birthday that happens to have a stadium attached.
Credits: Zutter.co.uk Photographer: Daily Matcha
Nothing ever goes smoothly
Paris was also full of funny, unique moments that even if you try you cannot recreate. Daesung tried to get the whole stadium to sing the chorus of “Hando Chogua” in French and it did not happen. The problem was not his French, but rather the lack of French speakers in the audience. VIPs had travelled in from across Europe for this, and French speakers were scattered. Paris sold as a continental date, not a French one, and for one minute everyone could hear that.
Small things stay with you longer than big ones. During “We Like 2 Party”, G-Dragon’s sunglasses got tangled in his hair and he retreated to the side to handle the situation but was still failing when Dony (dancer and Performance Director for the show) came over. There are a million fancams circulating online, all due to the wholesomeness of the moment. G-Dragon was standing still like a kid, waiting to be freed from the mess in his hair.
Credits: Zutter.co.uk Photographer: Daily Matcha
The speech
One moment stuck in everyone’s head was G-Dragon’s speech about what’s to come, hinting at an upcoming album. Right now, detective VIPs are split over whether it will be called “On and On” or “The show must go on”, but G-Dragon’s exact words were “The show must gotta get going on and on”, so you are encouraged to have a go at decrypting it and leave your answer in the comments.
The night ended with “Still Life”, which BIGBANG have said is a tribute to their youth, and for VIPs who still have a hard time letting go of T.O.P, it got really emotional when his rap section began. At the end of the song, the three musketeers linked arms and walked into the sunset after such a good day together with VIPs. Of course, they didn’t skip over showing their gratitude to everyone who waited patiently for their comeback. As the LED curtains closed, all three knelt into a full bow, foreheads to the floor, showing the highest form of respect to their fans.
If you have a ticket for Saturday, you have made the right call. If you are still deciding, decide quickly. Whatever comes next, and something is coming, it will not be this set, or this crowd, or a stadium of people holding the wrong lightsticks because they were not going to stand in the dark for it.
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BIGBANG's first Paris concert, reviewed from the floor: thirty-one songs, an anniversary lightstick nobody had yet, and a crowd that travelled in from across Europe to hold the wrong ones.