Army training: Russian cinemas to show BTS concert
The capital of South Korea is preparing, perhaps, for the main show of the year — the k-pop group BTS will perform in the center of Seoul for the first time after a break of several years due to military service. The event attracted thousands of ARMY from all over the world to the city (that's the name of the band's fan community). The day before, the atmosphere of a national holiday prevails there — a drone show took place in the sky, which depicted the faces of the boy band members, their hits sound on the streets, and local authorities talk about the economic effect of millions of dollars. The concert will be officially broadcast by Netflix. In Russia, several cinemas have announced the screenings. For more information, see the Izvestia article.
Where to watch the broadcast of the BTS concert
BTS's The Comeback Live: Arirang concert will be held in downtown Seoul on March 21st. Officially, it will be broadcast worldwide by Netflix, which is currently unavailable in Russia. But several Russian cinemas have announced pre-screening screenings as part of a campaign run by tenants.
In Moscow, you can watch the first show of the most popular k-pop group in several years at the Otrada Soft Cinema. According to the information on the official website, the premiere will take place only on March 24. The concert will be shown as part of the pre-screening service before the movie "The Wizard". The ARMY thematic groups plan to watch the concert simultaneously with the concert in Seoul at the capital's Almaz Cinema, where tickets are sold using a special bot. There are also offers for this meeting on Avito for 2 thousand rubles.
In Yekaterinburg, on March 21, screenings will be held at Greenwich Cinema and Passage Cinema. The posters state: "This advertisement was compiled and posted by the organizers of the action/event, who rent the cinema halls." The cost of tickets is from 1 to 1.5 thousand rubles. There are practically no empty seats left for the premiere. However, there will be repeats on other days in the Passage.
Drone shows and the economic impact of millions of dollars
What is happening in Seoul now resembles a national holiday. There are thematic symbols everywhere. And on the eve of the concert, a large-scale drone show was held there, which depicted the faces of BTS members in the sky above the city.
— The central streets turned purple (the color of the BTS logo) and red (the color of the new album). There are a lot of banners saying "Welcome to Seoul!" because foreign fans are coming. BTS is playing everywhere. Stores display products with the participants' images in their windows. For example, Jin (the vocalist of the band. — Ed.) advertises tuna. Indeed, it feels like some kind of celebration," Yulia from Moscow, who is currently in Seoul, told Izvestia.
The concert will be held at Gwanghwamun Square. It is expected that hundreds of thousands of people will visit it. Yulia added that the area has been closed off for several days.
— Since Korea has a very sad experience with Itaewon, when many people died in a stampede, they are categorically afraid of its repetition. Therefore, I am sure there will be truly unprecedented security measures. In general, k-pop concerts, especially in Asia, are always well organized in Korea — there are rules that are followed, and everything is done to make the event comfortable for most people," she said.
Despite the fact that the upcoming concert is free, local authorities expect it to bring in millions of dollars.
"Although this concert is expected to bring trillions of won in economic benefits, its intangible impact will be ten times greater," Koo Yun—chul, Minister of Economy and Finance of the Republic of Korea, wrote on the social network.
Now experts are speculating whether BTS will break the records of Taylor Swift, who stimulated the economies of many cities where her concerts took place. Both she and the guys from the k-pop group are no longer just artists, but entire corporations, where many people work "behind the scenes", and every public step is carefully calculated, explains musicologist, candidate of art history Sergey Uvarov. All of this, he notes, of course, wouldn't work if there weren't really talented, incredibly hardworking people at the center of it.
— The question is why exactly these people "shot" like that, because, for example, Taylor Swift does not have any unique voice data, composing abilities, etc. I think both phenomena are based on a surprisingly accurate balance of ideal and real. Both the boys from BTS and Taylor Swift, on the one hand, seem flawless — both in terms of appearance and in terms of their behavior. On the other hand, the public feels that these are not unique people, geniuses, but ordinary people," he says.
Ultimately, the expert believes, their success is not even related to music as such (although it is a very high-quality product), but to their successful entry into the psychology of the mass public.
Where will BTS concerts be held
The band's full-fledged comeback will take place in early April. Then the boy band, which was taking a break due to all the participants serving in the army, will embark on their first world tour after returning. The band starts at home in South Korea. There, the team will give three stadium concerts in the city of Goyang at once. Next, BTS will travel to Tokyo, where they will perform on April 17 and 18, and to Tampa, USA, where three more shows are scheduled this month.
Then the tour program includes Mexico, Spain, Belgium, England, Germany, France, Argentina, Australia and other countries. The most accessible for Russians are Bangkok (Thailand), where three shows will also take place at once — in December 2026, as well as Hong Kong (Special Administrative Region of China) and Manila (Philippines), where BTS will arrive next year — in March 2027.
And if tickets for the upcoming concerts were sold out at the start, then sales for the latest shows are not yet open. This means that the fans will still have the opportunity to compete for them.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
