{"id":2295,"date":"2026-05-25T18:31:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-25T18:31:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsmag.live\/2026\/05\/25\/global-powerhouse-bts-takes-over-las-vegas-with-high-energy-arirang-world-tour\/"},"modified":"2026-05-25T18:31:00","modified_gmt":"2026-05-25T18:31:00","slug":"global-powerhouse-bts-takes-over-las-vegas-with-high-energy-arirang-world-tour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsmag.live\/ja\/2026\/05\/25\/global-powerhouse-bts-takes-over-las-vegas-with-high-energy-arirang-world-tour\/","title":{"rendered":"Global Powerhouse BTS Takes Over Las Vegas With High-Energy Arirang World Tour"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\tBTS<\/a>, the trailblazing global boy group who helped popularize K-pop internationally, made their grand return to Las Vegas Memorial Day weekend. <\/p>\n

\tThe seven-member outfit, comprising members RM, Jin, Suga, J-hope, Jimin, V and Jungkook, sold-out four nights at Vegas\u2019 Allegiant Stadium as part of their Arirang World Tour<\/a>. BTS played their first show in Vegas on Saturday (May 23) and will resume on May 27 and 28. The K-pop group last played the stadium in 2022 during their concert series Permission to Dance on Stage\u00a0\u2014 it was one of the few locations the group performed the show due to COVID regulations at the time. \t<\/p>\n

\tThe Bangtan Boys had just as many fans lining up to see their Sunday night two concert as the group did four years ago. The stadium inside was illuminated by the group\u2019s lightsticks, known as ARMY Bombs, and the screams were near deafening. Lines to get in wrapped throughout the stadium\u2019s parking lot, and there wasn\u2019t an empty seat visible throughout the venue.<\/p>\n

\tSunday\u2019s concert was a just over two-hour show of elaborate production and cool performances. The tour\u2019s been highly anticipated as Arirang<\/a><\/em>, the group\u2019s album that the tour\u2019s named after, is their first album in years. BTS, much like all young men in South Korea deemed fit to serve, spent the last few years completing their mandatory military service. Seeing BTS onstage, however, you\u2019d never know the members each had to take a minimum 18-month hiatus over the last few years.<\/p>\n

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\t \t\t\t\t\tThe crowd at BTS\u2019 Arirang World Tour in Las Vegas. <\/span> \t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBigHit Music<\/cite> \t\t\t\t\t \t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\tMuch like Arirang<\/em> the album, Arirang the tour is saturated in Korean culture. BTS has long been the end of accusations of being \u201ctoo westernized\u201d in their music<\/a> as their popularity has exploded globally over the last decade. But it\u2019s hard to believe one could see a show like this one \u2014 which included introductions and interludes of traditional Korean music, an elaborate homage to the Korean flag motif and a 360-degree \u201cjeongja\u201d style pavilion inspired by Gyeonghoeru Pavilion in Gyeongbokgung Palace \u2014 and deny that the group\u2019s cultural identity has been infused into every moment. \t<\/p>\n

\tThe show, which kicked off with \u201cHooligan\u201d off of Arirang<\/em>, was performed in the round. While their 2021-2022 run of shows felt like a celebration of their careers up to that point, a healthy mix of new and old songs, Arirang solidly felt like a show for those who have stuck by the group and are fully immersed in Arirang<\/em> as an album.<\/p>\n

\tSunday\u2019s show leaned heavily on Arirang<\/em>, performing only nine older tracks. If there are older fans looking to relive past tours, Arirang is not the tour for them. BTS has made it very clear they\u2019re looking ahead, not backward, while staying true to their roots and the fans who got them to this point.<\/p>\n

\tAmong the non-Arirang<\/em> songs performed were some of BTS\u2019 legendary hits \u2014 \u201cFake Love,\u201d \u201cMic Drop\u201d and \u201cIdol\u201d \u2014 along with two of their pandemic-era English language singles \u2014 \u201cButter\u201d and \u201cDynamite\u201d \u2014 and two surprise songs. \u201cBlack Swan\u201d off their 2020 chart-topping album, Be<\/em>, was the first surprise song, and their 2014 song \u201cSpinebreaker,\u201d a longtime fan favorite, was the second. <\/p>\n

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\t \t\t\t\t\tBTS perform onstage at Arirang World Tour in Las Vegas. <\/span> \t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBigHit Music<\/cite> \t\t\t\t\t \t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\tA highlight of the set, however, was the performance of their new track \u201cFYA,\u201d which transitioned into one of the group\u2019s most iconic songs, \u201cFire,\u201d which the group mashed up with the beat of \u201cFYA.\u201d It felt like a truly special musical moment that could only be witnessed at a BTS concert. <\/p>\n

\tMany fans, like 21-year-old Natalie Nuntapreda, traveled from outside of Nevada for the show. She\u2019s been a fan for nearly a decade, she said, and traveled with a group from Utah. \u201cI love that they dance because I\u2019m a dancer,\u201d she said from inside the stadium about why she\u2019s drawn to BTS. \u201cIt\u2019s fun to see all the different, unique voices and styles. I just think they\u2019re so talented.\u201d \t<\/p>\n

\tKnowing fans would travel, Hybe, the parent company of BTS\u2019 label BigHit Music, once again put on \u201cBTS The City\u201d activation. The group all but took over the entire city for the weekend, turning red to match the Arirang<\/em> color scheme. BTS put on a similar activation when they performed in the city in 2022. The Arirang activation, however, took things to a new level. <\/p>\n

\tFireworks kicked off the weekend Saturday night at the MGM Grand. V cheekily mentioned the firework display during Sunday\u2019s concert, joking that the noise was preventing him from sleeping, so he looked out the window of his hotel room only to discover it was due to him and the group. <\/p>\n

\tThe Las Vegas Strip, as part of a partnership with Visit Las Vegas, turned fully red at 11 p.m. local time, with the group\u2019s picture and a message \u201cLas Vegas Welcomes BTS\u201d splashed across the marquees on the Strip. The nearby Sphere also featured Arirang displayed on its rotation. <\/p>\n

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\t \t\t\t\t\tBTS The City<\/span> \t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBigHit Music<\/cite> \t\t\t\t\t \t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\tThe City also hosted a slew of retail, dining and cultural events. Certain restaurants and cafes offered special BTS-themed items, official afterparties followed the concert at nearby nightclubs, the Arte Museum Las Vegas opened a BTS exhibit and the iconic Welcome to Las Vegas sign was even illuminated red in honor of the group.<\/p>\n

\tBTS is slated to make a special appearance tonight (May 25) at the American Music Awards<\/a>, which was announced last week. Monday\u2019s award show appearance<\/a> marks the group\u2019s first in four years. They\u2019re up for three awards at the show including artist of the year, song of the summer and best male K-pop artist.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BTS, the trailblazing global boy group who helped popularize K-pop internationally, made their grand return to Las Vegas Memorial Day weekend. The seven-member outfit, comprising members RM, Jin, Suga, J-hope, Jimin, V and Jungkook, sold-out four nights at Vegas\u2019 Allegiant Stadium as part of their Arirang World Tour. BTS played their first show in Vegas on Saturday (May 23) and will resume on May 27 and 28. The K-pop group last played the stadium in 2022 during their concert series Permission to Dance on Stage\u00a0\u2014 it was one of the few locations the group performed the show due to COVID regulations at the time. The Bangtan Boys had just as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2296,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1424,1425,2,116,1426,91,92],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2295","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-american-music-awards-2026","category-bts","category-hollywood","category-international","category-k-pop-news","category-music","category-music-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsmag.live\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2295","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsmag.live\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsmag.live\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsmag.live\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsmag.live\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2295"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsmag.live\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2295\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsmag.live\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2296"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsmag.live\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2295"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsmag.live\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2295"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsmag.live\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2295"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}