If there were any questions about BTS’ staying power after a four-year hiatus, they were squashed by the best-selling boy band’s reunion concert in Seoul, South Korea on March 21. Netflix aired The Comeback Live – Arirang concurrently with BTS’ 10th studio album release. A whopping 18.4 million streamed the event. Rolling Stone reported more than 250,000 fans attended the concert in person, shattering records for the largest public show in South Korea’s history.
After completing mandatory military service, the Bangtan Boys were back, more popular, more seasoned than ever before. Their solo projects have seen to that.
That Seoul performance set the stage for BTS’ 70-plus date Arirang World Tour, the largest of any K-pop group to date. And Las Vegas will soon be a witness to this history-making run when BTS returns to Allegiant Stadium on May 23-24 and 27-28.
For local mother and daughter Cindy and Ashley Cruz, this comeback couldn’t arrive sooner. Ashley had been introduced to BTS in 2022 through her cousin, immediately drawn in to the fanbase’s energy. She soon roped in Cindy, and now the two belong to Las Vegas’ ever-expanding BTS ARMY and the expressive, artist community the K-pop fandom fosters.
Together they run Cruz Co-op, where they sell clothes, stickers and even coasters with original designs drawn by Ashley. They’ve gotten to connect on a deeper level with ARMY (which stands for Adorable Representative MC for Youth) through fan-centric K-pop events called “cupsleeves,” where vendors design a themed sleeve for drinks and gather at boba shops and cafes to sell their merchandise and engage with other fans.
The Cruzes have met people of a range of genders, ages and backgrounds through these events. But the common thread tying everyone together has always been their love for Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, V, Jimin and Jung Kook—the boys.
Cindy says she’s seen ARMY show up and show out, offering free crafts at shows, sharing snacks in long merch lines and even cleaning up stands after performances, like what was seen after BTS’ one-hour comeback concert in Seoul.
Tammy Sakaguchi
“Everybody thinks, oh, it’s just like a teen-bopper kind of thing, like the typical pop-type fandom. But when you think about it, and you look at all the variations of the fans, they come from all sorts of different backgrounds,” Cindy says. “People are taking care of each other, and [there’s] not many fan communities that would do that.”
It’s a community that Tammi Sakaguchi had so little of growing up, she says.
Sakaguchi, 32, was raised in Hawaii and has been listening to K-pop since 2009, but discovered BTS through its 2014 album Skool Luv Affair. She spent her childhood learning BTS songs and dances with her sister, just the two of them in their bedroom with a small laptop screen and a certainty that this music was made for them.
As a kid, having cute group members and catchy music was good enough. But as she’s grown, she’s developed a newfound respect for the band’s music production and performance. Sakaguchi, like many other BTS fans, grew up with the members.
Las Vegas and Hawaii’s ARMY fanbase share similarities, says Sakaguchi. But because Hawaii is usually left off of tour stops, she’d rarely see community-led events around the islands. In 2018, she moved to Las Vegas and gradually got more immersed in the local fandom and its community. And like many other fans, Sakaguchi found a way to turn her passion into a profession. She joined the ARMY ranks in full force in 2021 after getting pregnant with her daughter, quitting her job and starting her small business Knotty Noona, where she makes original decals and crochet.
Now, Sakaguchi is passing her love of BTS down to her 4-year-old daughter and partner as well. They host dance parties in their living room, have posters plastered across their house and attend fandom events together.
She’s spent the last five years meeting other vendors and customers, developing a close relationship with many of them and connecting with other ARMY who were patiently waiting for their favorite band member to return from enlistment. It’s even more special when Sakaguchi meets other Hawaiian ARMY through her shop, she says.
“Growing up listening to K-pop, I almost felt like an outcast. That’s how small the community was there,” says Sakaguchi. “[But] people like them have truly become like my second family here, and being able to share the culture we had back home, as well as the K-pop culture with BTS ARMY here, it feels good. I wouldn’t have met them if it wasn’t for BTS.”
As one of K-pop’s biggest crossover successes, BTS has created a cultural breakthrough—especially in Las Vegas. Before BTS’ first major headlining performances at Allegiant Stadium in 2022, there was BigBang, a group of K-pop idols who performed at Mandalay Bay in 2015 during their Made World Tour. If BigBang cracked open a door to the K-pop wave in Las Vegas, BTS blew the hinges off, paving the way for other major artists to step through.
Popular girl groups like Blackpink and Twice have anchored shows at Allegiant Stadium, while acts like Lucy, Big Ocean—a boy band whose members are all deaf or hard of hearing—and Kiss of Life have all booked smaller venues throughout the city. Other popular K-pop acts, including Enhypen, Dreamcatcher and Monsta X, also took the stage through the short-lived We Bridge Festival at Mandalay Bay in 2023.
This year, Dolby Live at Park MGM hosted a double-header weekend of K-pop acts with SHINee’s Taemin performing on January 16 and Exo singer Baek Hyun taking the stage a night later. Lisa of Blackpink will also stage her four-night show, Viva La Lisa, at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace this November—making her the first K-pop artist to perform a Las Vegas residency.
The first stop on BTS’ U.S. leg of the tour brought 180,000 fans to Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida across three days, according to the Tampa Bay Times. Allegiant Stadium can hold about 65,000 people, and for the four sold-out shows BTS will be performing in May, that’ll amount to approximately 260,000 fans in total—many traveling to Las Vegas.
Suga picket and other BTS-themed merchandise
In terms of tourism dollars, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority isn’t making any premature guesses on what that impact will look like. But it’s bound to bring a much-needed boost to the region’s hospitality industry that’s been reporting lower-than-average numbers since last year.
On April 19, Hybe, the entertainment company behind BTS, announced that it would be bringing the group’s popular citywide experience BTS the City: Arirang to Las Vegas and Busan, South Korea. The experience begins on May 20 and lasts until May 31.
Experiences include a pop-up shop at Caesars Palace, advertising campaigns on the Las Vegas Monorail and Sphere, photo opportunities at the airport and throughout the Strip, and fireworks atop the MGM Grand on May 23—the night of the first concert.
The Strip’s most well-known attractions will also light up red along with marquees following each show, while nightclubs, restaurants and bars curate special meals and deals. If Vegas’ 2022 celebration is any indication—with its BTS-themed Bellagio Fountains production and immersive Permission to Dance experience at Area15—the festivities will deliver.
Local fans also have various events planned outside of the concert, from cupsleeves at Sunright Tea Studio in Chinatown to Downtown dance parties. The fandom has been waiting for this reunion and there’s much to look forward to.
As rapper Suga puts it on Arirang track “Aliens,” “This gon’ be the jam of the year.”
K-pop events to add to your BTS itinerary
Exhibit: Arte Museum X BTS THE CITY ARIRANG May 20-June 17, lasvegas.artemuseum.com.
Justin Park May 22, Gatsby’s Cocktail Lounge, gatsbysvegas.com.
BTS Night May 22, Brooklyn Bowl, brooklynbowl.com.
BTS Rave Tour May 22-24 & 26-28, Backstage Bar & Billiards, backstagebarlv.com.
Bora Bash May 22, HyperX Arena at Luxor, hyperxarenalasvegas.com.
BTS ARMY Brunch May 23-24 & 27-28, Front Yard at Ellis Island, ellisislandcasino.com.
BTS The City Arirang Concert Afterparty May 23, Jewel Nightclub, taogroup.com.
BTS Is Back Cupsleeve Event May 25-26, Sunright Tea Studio, snrtea.com.
ARMY Day Out May 26, Area15, area15.com.
