BIGBANG Taipei Dome Concert Review: Setlist, Crowd

BIGBANG opened Friday night at Taipei Dome with "Fantastic Baby." By the encore on Sunday, G-Dragon was thanking the crowd in Chinese and asking fans to wait for the group's return.

This review is based on reports from YG Entertainment, Taiwan's Central News Agency and Starnews, not on attendance. It covers the three shows on Oct. 9, 10 and 11, the first stop of the "XX : COSMOS" tour's Asia leg and the group's first solo concert in Taiwan in 10 to 11 years, depending on the outlet. Attendance is reported two ways: about 100,000 by YG and allkpop, 120,000 by CNA, which counted 40,000 on the first night.

The city did part of the staging. Starnews and allkpop describe BIGBANG-themed displays on a skyscraper, in parks and in subway stations, and long lines at a pop-up store near the dome. CNA reported that Jay Chou posed with the three members beside a flower basket he had sent. A show that begins before the doors open has already done something right.

Starnews says "Fantastic Baby" took the room to its peak immediately, and that is the sensible read. A catalog 20 years deep gives BIGBANG a safe first move, and they made it. The reports then name "Loser," "Haru Haru," "Lies," "BANG BANG BANG," "Day by Day," "Hands Up," "Tonight," "Blue" and "If You," in different orders depending on the outlet. That tells you only that the accounts draw on different nights and partial lists.

What the lists share is a date range. Every song named in the three reports was released in 2016 or earlier. They are partial lists, so that proves little about the full set. It does show what the coverage treated as the show. This is a catalog show, and by the evidence of the room a very good one. On this record it is also a show that takes no risks.

The solo sets are where a three-member group could have broken that pattern. Each of G-Dragon, Taeyang and Daesung had a set, and CNA reports the three came down from the stage to greet fans. Neither the reports nor YG's statement give running times or content. Whether the solos gave the night shape or interrupted it is the first thing a review should answer, and this one cannot.

The same goes for sound. YG's production is described as large-scale staging, special effects and a live band. Nobody reports how the band was mixed under a dome roof, how the vocals held through 20-year-old arrangements, or how the pacing felt at the 90-minute mark. Press accounts are written to say the crowd was happy. They do.

The members' own words carry more than the adjectives do. Taeyang said the three days felt like a miracle and that the 20th anniversary would not exist without fans. Daesung said he had never taken that support for granted. G-Dragon's Chinese-language thanks, delivered during the encore, are the one moment in the coverage that sounds specific to Taipei rather than to the tour.

The central tension is the one every anniversary tour has. It sells the past, and it also has to answer why a group is still working. Taipei answered the first question loudly. The second is left to the tour's remaining dates.

Those dates come fast. BIGBANG plays Singapore National Stadium on Oct. 17 and 18, then Bangkok, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta, across 39 shows in 19 cities. A stadium has no dome roof to hold the sound in. It leaves the setlist to carry the night. The group returns to Taiwan for Kaohsiung National Stadium on Feb. 27 and 28, 2027, according to CNA.

BIGBANG's "XX : COSMOS" tour continues at Singapore National Stadium on Oct. 17 and 18. The rating reflects the reported performance, not a firsthand view.