Seoul, Apr 9 (EFE).
K-pop band BTS launched its most ambitious world tour to date on Thursday, kicking off a global run in the city of Goyang that is set to become the largest in K-pop history by number of performances.
The tour will include 85 concerts across 34 cities worldwide, marking the group’s return to the stage after a four-year hiatus.
“We are trying to show a completely different production from what we’ve done before,” band member Jimin said in comments, reported by South Korea’s Yonhap news agency.
The concerts will feature a 360-degree stage and immersive visual elements, according to another band member, Suga.
The opening show was to begin at 7pm local time in Goyang, with additional performances scheduled there over the weekend, before the tour moved to Europe and the Americas.
The group is also set to perform for the first time in countries including Colombia, Peru and Argentina.
The tour, titled “BTS World Tour Arirang,” is scheduled to run through 2027 and is expected to be the most extensive of the group’s career.
During the tour, BTS will perform a mix of their biggest hits and songs from their new album, “Arirang,” released Mar. 20. The album draws on South Korean cultural heritage, taking its name from the country’s best-known folk song, according to the group’s label.
The release marks BTS’ first full project as a complete group since all members finished South Korea’s mandatory military service. Their previous group release, “Proof,” came out in 2022.
“Arirang” has been a commercial success, recording 828,000 album-equivalent units in the United States in its debut week, according to Billboard, the strongest debut for a group in more than a decade.
The album has sold more than 4 million copies overall, according to Hanteo Chart. Meanwhile, the group’s first reunion concert last month in Seoul drew more than 18 million global viewers on Netflix, the streaming platform said.
Formed in 2013, BTS is now enjoying one of the most successful periods of its career, with its latest album becoming its biggest to date and the new tour poised to set a new benchmark for K-pop globally. EFE
