Concert Review: BTS Arirang Tour

On Sunday, September 6th, I had the chance to go to the last concert in Los Angeles, for the boy group, BTS, at SoFi Stadium. BTS is a Korean boy group under the entertainment company, HYBE, it includes the seven members: RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V, and Jungkook. They first debuted on June 13, 2013 with the song "No More Dream."

At around 8:00, BTS came out onto the stage starting their setlist with the song, “Hooligan”, from their new album, Arirang, which was released on March 20th, 2026. The other songs they had performed were “Aliens”, “They Don’t Know About Us”, “Like Animals”, “Swim”, “2.0”, “Merry Go Round”, “Normal”, “FYA”, “Body To Body”, also from their new album. During their first talk, they thanked fans, talked about the preparation process, and shared their emotions with the crowd. The leader, RM, talked about the weight of the new era that they were in, and noted how wonderful it felt to look out to 70,000 fans dancing and singing. The youngest member, Jungkook, expressed how he felt amazed at the energy of the crowd and a mix of nervousness and excitement returning to the stage after their break. The other members shared mutual appreciation towards their fans for waiting through their hiatus and making the stadium feel like home. There were multiple funny and shocking moments that the members had done that made every fan laugh, like V doing CPR on Jin during one of their songs, or him resting his legs on Jin’s head, which had me laughing hard.

During the second set, the other members were in shock when their youngest member’s physique was exposed and J-Hope playfully called him out. They also performed their old songs such as “Fake Love”, “Not Today”, “Mic Drop”, “Fire”, “Idol”, “Butter”, and “Dynamite” after their new songs as a part of the setlist. For the first time, they performed their new song, “Come Over”. Fans were immediately shocked and mostly emotional when they revealed their surprise songs which were “Whalien 52” and “Spring Day”. As another shocker, the members and fans also sang an early happy birthday to the leader RM. Then one of the members, Suga, crowned the leader with the birthday crown and he expressed his thanks to the fans and members for celebrating early as his birthday was 5 days later, on September 12th.

During the last few talks, they said that this memory will forever stay in their hearts as they return back to Korea. The youngest member Jungkook at the end said the most sweetest and memorable speech, “So let me say, without hope or agenda, just because it’s the last show, and I want to tell you the truth… My wasted heart will always love you.” Then, he later on took out a handmade sign he decorated himself, which read: “Bye, thank you ARMY. I have one thing to say… to me, you are perfect,” making a promise that they’ll return back to LA. For me, this experience meant a lot to me, since this was the same first group I grew up and liked throughout my life. 

Image Courtesy of Lorelei Howlett.