As the opening bars of “Body to Body” reverberated through Stanford Stadium on Sunday night, the members of BTS were in a dogpile in the middle of the stage.

RM, the group’s leader, was stuck on the ground as V rolled on top of him like a toddler and Jung Kook joyfully feigned performing CPR. With seconds to go until he needed to start rapping, RM kicked out from under the giggling saboteurs with a “F—k off!” into the mic. 

After years of uncertainty, pressure and anxiety, it was clear that BTS, now on the biggest tour of their career, are finally at ease. 

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It’s been eight years since BTS performed as a full group in the Bay Area. In that time, everything has changed. That was before “Dynamite,” the English language song that turned them into international superstars, before “Butter” got over a billion views on YouTube, before a global pandemic, before the military enlistments that put the group on hiatus from late 2022 until their comeback this year. 

Eighteen months of military service is mandatory for all men in South Korea. Most serve while in their early 20s, but some celebrities can defer for a time. Jin, the oldest member of BTS, was 30 when he began his enlistment. 

There is no good time for a Korean musician to enlist. The peak age for K-pop idols, the term for performers in teams like BTS, tends to be very young. Many are teens when they debut; Jung Kook was just 15. If they’re lucky enough to break through, they’re hitting their apex in their early........

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