Shot from giant screen, BTS performing in the pouring rain
SEOUL (Day 1)—BTS ARMY, arguably the most engaged, if not the biggest, fandom in the world, saw the BTS through the rain—literally—in their milestone concert last April 9 at Goyang Stadium in Seoul. BTS performing through continuous downpour before an ARMY that stayed made Day 1 of their comeback concert series truly symbolic, even historic—of the unbreakable bond between BTS and their fandom.
Coming from the world over, from Russia to the US and China and Asia, they packed the 44,000-plus-seat open-air Goyang Stadium, sitting—no, standing actually to dance, chant, cheer through the two-hour concert in the continuous downpour. The concert started at 7pm but some ARMYs were there as early as 3:44pm for the soundcheck performance—such was the peak of excitement and anticipation to watch again the world’s phenomenal South Korean band in their first concert after they completed their mandatory military service last year.
These fans braved four hours of intermittent rain and Seoul’s chilly spring to watch RM, Jin, Suga, j-hope, Jimin, V and Jungkook—seven pop artists whose music and lyrics (“You can’t stop me loving myself”) have resonated with today’s generation, transcending and redefining the stereotypical sounds of K-pop, and whose choreography has been described as an almost physically impossible feat.
Thursday night, in the BTS World Tour Arirang, the kick-off concert of their 2026-2027 world concert tour, such incredibly awesome choreography proved indeed challenging on a slippery stage that had accumulated pools of water. The downpour not letting up, the boys were literally splashing in water as they performed choice moves from such dance heavyweights as Idol. But BTS being BTS, they not only pulled it off, they also kept raising the energy level—and consequently the bar for all pop music performed in the rain— and left the audience wanting for more. (To be clear, it would have been unthinkable for the audience to expect them to do the original choreo of such hits in the swirl pool of a stage. We wouldn’t want you injured, nope.)
The downpour didn’t let up but nor did the ARMY’s signature chant of BTS’ full names—in correct order: Kim Namjoon, Kim Seokjin, Min Yoongi, Jung Hoseok, Park Jimin, Kim Taehyung, Jeon Jungkook.
The author before the concert on a rainy April 9, with fellow ARMY Olive Santos
As the clock struck seven, the audience rose, light sticks moving as one, chanting feverishly, and in the electrifying atmosphere, heightened by columns of flames onstage and fireworks in the uncooperative sky, BTS dashed to center stage from a side exit — it was a 360-degree view—and opened the show with Hooligan, from their newly released album Arirang. The album’s launch in Netflix’s BTS The Comeback March 21 turned Seoul into one big BTS city.
Hooligan was followed by Aliens, then Run BTS.
By now the audience and the rest of the fandom are already familiar with the songs in the latest album. They did the chants—unmistakably popular hits by now: Swim, Normal, Like Animals, they don’t know ‘bout us, 2.0, Merry Go Round, Body to Body where the audience sang along Arirang, and the live debut of Come Over.
BTS didn’t disappoint a drenched audience as they delivered the well-loved hits Fake Love, MIC Drop, Not Today, Idol (to the audience’s chants that reverberated in the entire stadium), and of course, Butter, Dynamite.
They turned up the much needed heat in our bodies collectively soaked in the rain (yes, we were there for four hours, and thank god for the perfect puffer jacket and water-repellent raincoat).
The BTS anthem (or one of them) Fire did it for the fandom whose intensity didn’t once cool off in the relentless downpour. It was ingenious how they segued their new hit FYA to Fire then outro back to FYA.
As the lights dimmed, ARMY knew that the boys would be back for Mikrokosmos (the veritable parting song between BTS and ARMY), and they indeed were. Mikrokosmos signaled the encore, along with I Need U, the live debut of Please (my favorite in the new album apart from 2.0), and Into The Sun, the latest song to seal the bond between ARMY and BTS. (I would feel bad that I wasn’t around on Day 3, when they sang my other favorite—yes, I have many—Spring Day, the well-loved hit that doesn’t fail to make you tear up, especially when you see its MV.)
Clear message from ARMY, rain or no rain
The members kept thanking their audience for braving the rain, showing up even if the weather forecast put the possibility of rain at 90%, even 100%, for that day. Ironically, the rest of the week was sunny. Apparently, not only did the fandom show up and brave the rain, ARMY also stayed… like they have done the past 13 years or so.
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