B*verse BTS | Singing the Stars Exhibition

We had the opportunity to visit the ‘B*verse BTS | Singing the Stars Exhibition’ at Pavilion Bukit Jalil. We got the Chinese New Year promo through Klook so it’s 2 tickets for the price of 1. Untung, maa! The exhibition was divided into several chambers with different experiences. The highlight of the exhibition is easily the VR experience. Visitors are given headset each to experience BTS performing a number of their hits including ‘Butter’, ‘Dynamite’, ‘Permission to Dance’, and ‘For Youth’. The 180° camera was placed impossibly front and centre of the stage – you couldn’t possibly get that view if you were at the concert in person.

After the breathtaking VR experience, the rest of the exhibition felt dearly underwhelming. The ‘Planets..’ were just 7 rooms dedicated to each of the Bangtan Boys. Each room were called “planets” but really is just a room with photos of each member printed an displayed on the walls. Each so-called “planet” had their own theme, supposedly representing each member’s personality, but the execution of  the theme was uninspiring. The best was probably Yoongi’s ‘Art Planet’, with its clever use of neon lighting.

Then there’s the “Army Alley” (or whatever it was called) with more photos of the group, and mirrors with band quotes/lyrics etched on it. The whole exhibition felt more like Instagram photo ops rather than an exhibition that really connects BTS to their Army. The final chamber of the exhibition is a 360° projection of the previous setlist seen during the VR portion. This one to me was the only other noteworthy element of the exhibition. We thought that every “planet” should at least get this 360° projection treatment for the whole exhibition to feel immersive and memorable.

We were informed by the staff (who were very helpful & friendly, by the way!) that the same exhibition would be shown in other countries. We couldn’t help but feel that this can’t, and shouldn’t be sufficient for such giants of a group like BTS. But being in Malaysia, this is probably the closest we’re ever going to get to seeing the Bulletproof Boyscouts.