Intro for July 23, 2025

Dear Gossips,   

I was at BLACKPINK’s first show in Toronto last night – the weather was perfect, after a couple of weeks of extreme heat; getting in and out of the venue was smooth, after a controversial start last month when the new stadium opened; I saw my friends, I got my merch, I danced up a good sweat, and the girls were delightful. Jisoo’s face card is ridiculous, a prettiness that doesn’t seem real. Lisa is too cute but also mesmerising when she moves. Rosé’s voice sounded so good and she was so funny on the mic during their interactions with the crowd. And when Jennie turns on the swagger, it is sexy AF. 

What was most appealing though is how much they love being on stage together. BLACKPINK was having FUN, and you could tell. It was unmistakable, especially during the encore when the Toronto crowd was treated to a version of “APT.” featuring all four members. 

ROSÉ is joined by her BLACKPINK bandmates to perform “APT.” during the encore at their sold out show in Toronto tonight.

pic.twitter.com/jXXQjhJQJX

— Buzzing Pop (@BuzzingPop) July 23, 2025

I’ve seen BLACKPINK before, in Hamilton in 2022. But this concert, for me personally, was on a whole other level. Because when I was a kid growing up in Toronto, I don’t think I could have ever imagined watching four Asian girls performing in Korean and English, in front of a crowd of 50,000 predominantly Asian people in an open-air stadium in my hometown, a major North American city. Because for most of my life in Canada at mainstream pop culture events, I’ve been a minority. But that was not how I felt last night. What I felt last night was new, so new that I questioned whether or not it was valid, whether or not it was actually significant, whether it should even be significant. 

All morning in my head I’ve been debating the legitimacy of my feelings, wondering if the show was actually as important as I’ve made it out to be, and at the same time trying to figure out if this is self-gaslighting. If the swell of emotion that was washing over me last night was a reaction to the rare experience of NOT being diminished, why am I diminishing my experience?

These are questions that can’t be answered in a day, or maybe ever. But I do hold onto the memory of seeing so many little Asian Canadian girls, dressed in black and pink with bows and sequins, at their very first stadium concert, dancing and singing along with the four Asian women on stage who look like them. This I have no doubt about. This, for sure, will always be real. 

Yours in gossip, 

Lainey