I\u2019m here with my daughter, and judging by the Blackpink merch on parade in the departure lounge at Heathrow a few days later, we are not the only Irish people making the trip.<\/p>\n
[\u00a0Oasis at Croke Park: A jubilant, air-punching night delivers the nostalgia we all came forOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n Blackpink are about as big as a pop group can be in 2025, but for those not au fait with their bulldozing mash-up of pop and rap, they remain obscure. When I told a few people I was skipping Oasis<\/a> to go to Blackpink, the response was along the lines of \u201cWho?\u201d, which is not something typically heard about a group with 40 billion streams and more than 20 million album sales.<\/p>\n To their fans they are the biggest thing in music in 2025. That includes a guy in his 30s seated beside us, who spends most of the two-and-a-half-hour concert on his feet, roaring \u201cLissaaaaaa!\u201d in the direction of Lalisa Manobal, aka the singer and rapper Lisa<\/a>. (His girlfriend takes it all in dignified silence.)<\/p>\n He is also shaking an \u20ac80 \u201cheart axe\u201d, a chunky hunk of merchandise shaped like a hammer, and featuring light-up hearts, that is part of the Blackpink live experience.<\/p>\n [\u00a0Lisa: Alter Ego review \u2013 Blackpink superstar\u2019s solo debut is a clumsy lurch towards pop maximalismOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n Blackpink go in for musical maximalism: everything is dialled up to the red zone. If you think take-no-prisoners pop is one of 21st-century humanity\u2019s great achievements, it\u2019s irresistible.<\/p>\n Blending East Asian and western influences, songs such as Kill This Love and How You Like That cheerily pummel the listener into submission. They\u2019re like mini pop operas, splicing hip-hop and Charli XCX<\/a>-style hyperpop and conjuring the zesty punch of a thumping Bollywood soundtrack and the pulsating energy of the best production-line chart music.<\/p>\n Unlike Oasis, this is also a band of equals: it may be Lisa (recently seen playing a maid in the third season of The White Lotus<\/a>) who has the guy next to us on his feet, but the band are fuelled by the interplay between Manobal and her bandmates Jennie, Jisoo and Ros\u00e9 (who collaborated with Bruno Mars on the irresistible APT).<\/p>\n There are some surprises, too: at one point Ros\u00e9 is filmed shuffling along the tunnel beneath the ramp, where she bumps into the singer FKA Twigs<\/a>, who seems to be imprisoned there.<\/p>\n![\"Blackpink:](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/ILJRM3GFERCEBFRNALVZPBKQ2M.jpg\")
Blackpink: the band performed at Wembley Stadium, in London, on Friday and Saturday. Photograph: YG Entertainment <\/p>\n![\"Blackpink:](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/RMRZEDFPTBF7XP5P7DFIIFLMXQ.jpg\")
Blackpink: the band performed at Wembley Stadium, in London, on Friday and Saturday. Photograph: YG Entertainment <\/p>\n