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After two long years of empty stadiums, K-pop groups are finally hitting stages not only in Korea, but overseas as well.

Starting with BTS, other groups such as Twice and Stray Kids and even indie artists are heading to stages across the world.

BTS held a four-show run of “BTS Permission to Dance on Stage” this month in Las Vegas, with about 200,000 live spectators. Including online streaming, a whopping 624,000 people watched the show over four days. During their last concert on April 16, BTS made a surprise announcement that they’d be dropping a new album on June 10.

Groups a part of the newest generation of K-pop boy groups—Stray Kids, Ateez, The Boyz—have also announced world tour dates.

Starting with their Seoul concerts from April 29 to May 1, Stray Kids will perform in 10 cities around the world, including Kobe and Tokyo in Japan and Chicago, Atlanta, Los Angeles, and Seattle in the US until the end of July. This is their first tour in about two years since their 2019 world tour.

The Boyz will also be setting off to North America and Europe for their first world tour. Starting in Los Angeles on May 29, concerts will be held in six US cities, including Chicago. After that, the group will go to Europe and meet local fans in four European cities, including London on June 20 and Rotterdam on June 22.

Ateez will hold concerts in five cities, starting in Madrid on April 23 and then followed by London, Paris, Berlin, and Amsterdam. In July, their first Japanese offline solo concert will be held in Yokohama.

Monsta X will also hold nine concerts in North America, starting in New York on May 21 and ending in Los Angeles on June 11.

NCT 127 is also scheduled to hold a dome tour in Japan five times in three cities, starting with Nagoya on May 22, followed by Tokyo Dome and Kyocera Dome Osaka in June. After holding a concert in seven cities in six European countries this month, MCND will also hold concerts in 10 cities including the US, Canada, Mexico and Brazil in June.

K-pop singers were also present at this month's Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, one of the largest outdoor music festivals in the US, which was held for the first time in two years due to the pandemic.

Held in Coachella Valley, a desert area in Indio, California, this festival invites artists with musical talent that goes beyond mainstream popularity, making it a highly sought-after stage by musicians.

Aespa graced the Coachella stage on April 23. SM Entertainment, the group’s agency, said that it was “the first time that a K-pop girl group has been officially invited to the main stage.”

Another memorable moment happened on April 16, when 2NE1, a four-member K-pop girl group that disbanded in 2016, gave a reunion performance on the Coachella stage without prior notice.

CL, a former member of 2NE1, gathered the three other members (Gong Minzy, Sandara Park, and Park Bom) and performed their famous song “I Am the Best.” It was the first time in seven years that all four members performed on stage together.

In addition, hip-hop group Epik High, DJ Peggy Gou, rapper Yoon Mi-rae, and Hong Kong-born Jackson Wang, a former member of GOT7, performed as well.

“While they survived online during the pandemic, the true essence of K-pop is to perform and communicate directly with highly involved fans, so it is true that they have suffered a significant blow [due to the pandemic],” says Kim Young-dae, a music critic.

Kim says that, with the popularity of K-Pop reaching its peak, it is expected that the overseas performances of various K-pop singers will surely lead to an upward trend, further strengthening the entire K-pop movement.

Moreover, not only K-pop singers, but also Korean indie musicians will be performing in the US. Bands Jannabi and Bye Bye Sea will perform at the “K-Indie Music Night” concert at the Lincoln Center, New York's flagship cultural and artistic venue, on July 27. It is the first large-scale Korean indie music concert to be held at the Lincoln Center.

By Jung Hyuk-june, staff reporter

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