On Monday night, BTS performed their latest single “ON” in an empty Grand Central Terminal in New York City to close out The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. (They also occupied an empty subway car for “Subway Olympics” and served pastrami sandwiches at Katz’s Deli in sketches that are similarly charming but not nearly as impressive.) According to the transportation hub’s website, Grand Central sees 750,000 passengers a day—even in the wee morning hours when drunks waddle in and realize they’ve missed the last train out. This leaves me with a few questions starting with the obvious: how the hell did they pull this off?
It’s clear that multiple cameras were used, but echoing is only heard in scenes where they are speaking—which could mean that the song was dubbed over the performance, but the dancing and movement is, of course, happening in real-time. I wondered if any green screens were used, too, but the clip gives no indication that they were. I am bewildered by the scope of the set, which mirrors their larger-than-life music video released last Friday, but I’m mostly confused. HOW? and WHEN? and then again, HOW?
I’ve reached out to representatives of The Tonight Show for answers, and until they reply, please enjoy the set. I’m on my eighth viewing. It’s great.