Music

From 5,000 to 4 Million: BTS's Concert Journey Reflects a Decade of Unprecedented Growth [BTS 10-Year Anniversary Feature]

Jun 12, 2023 | by COLT NAVA

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On their 10th anniversary since debut, BTS's growth is perfectly encapsulated by the expansion of their concerts. Making their musical debut in 2013, they first met fans at their solo concert in 2014. As their global popularity skyrocketed, so did the scale of their performances, turning entire cities their symbolic color purple and solidifying their place as a global K-pop powerhouse.

BTS held their first solo concert on October 17, 2014. Over a span of three days in Seoul at the AX Korea (now YES24 Live Hall), they drew an audience of about 5,000. Following this, they embarked on a tour from November 2014 to March 2015 across Asia, including Japan's Kobe and Tokyo, the Philippines' Manila, Singapore, Thailand's Bangkok, and Taiwan's Taipei.

From June to August 2015, BTS conducted their world tour, visiting eight countries and twelve cities, including New York, Dallas, Chicago, Los Angeles, Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, and Mexico City in Mexico. The tour attracted around 80,000 fans, laying the foundation for BTS's transformation into a 'global idol'.

BTS's subsequent performances were largely concentrated in Asia, in countries like Korea, Japan, Macao, and China. However, their fan base kept growing steadily, thanks to their meticulously crafted setlists, dazzling performances, and spectacular stage productions. In 2017, they toured the US, Brazil, and Chile. Their North American tour in Newark, Chicago, and Anaheim attracted about 60,000 fans, signaling their rapidly growing global popularity.

2018 marked the year when BTS truly spread their wings. Starting from a performance in Seoul in August that year, they embarked on the 'Love Yourself' tour, which continued till April 2019 in Thailand. Only five years into their debut, they made a major entry into the Seoul Olympic Stadium, and their performance at the New York City Field Stadium set a new record as the first stadium concert by a K-pop artist.

After wrapping up the 'Love Yourself' world tour, BTS immediately embarked on the 'Love Yourself: Speak Yourself' tour in May 2019. The tour, conducted in stadiums across the United States, Brazil, UK, France, Japan, and Saudi Arabia, made headlines especially when they performed at the Wembley Stadium in London, a venue previously graced by legendary musicians such as Queen, the Beatles, and Michael Jackson. This performance cemented BTS's position as global artists.

BTS returned with the 'BTS Permission To Dance On Stage' tour in 2021. The tour first opened in the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, renowned as one of the most expensive stadiums in the world, where they performed four times, attracting around 210,000 fans.

Revitalized from their Los Angeles performances, BTS concluded their Seoul Olympic Stadium performance in March 2022, then moved on to perform in Las Vegas in April. The scale got even grander. To commemorate BTS's concert, Las Vegas was bathed in purple. The tour successfully pulled in about 4 million fans through offline performances, live viewings, and live streams.

Following this, BTS announced a temporary halt to their group activities before the members' military enlistment. Their last concert before this hiatus was 'Yet to Come in BUSAN', held in October of last year. As ambassadors for the Busan Expo, BTS held the concert as a tribute to the Expo 2030 in Busan, which created quite a stir as it was conducted free of charge.

The concert took place at the Busan Asiad Main Stadium, attracting a crowd of approximately 50,000 spectators. A unique live play experience was provided on-site, which allowed roughly 12,000 additional fans to watch the performance via separate screens. The concert was also streamed online on Weverse, with play counts reaching around 49.07 million.

The remarkable journey of BTS, from drawing an audience of 5,000 in their early concerts to attracting over 4 million fans, solidifies their status as a global powerhouse. As the group currently takes a break due to members' military enlistment, anticipation is growing over what new records they will set when they reunite and return to the stage.