Should K-pop acts have concert openers?
In this time of high ticket prices, here’s why it makes sense...
Two years ago, I attended my very first K-pop concert. Epik High, the veteran Korean hip-hop trio had a show in Toronto. Woosung from The Rose opened the concert for them to promote his own solo songs. As someone who wasn’t super familiar with Woosung, it was that night that I became a fan of his music.
Openers play the role of hyping an audience up before the headliner. From All Time Low, Ed Sheeran, Harry Styles to One Direction, most concerts I’ve been to has had them. And while I haven’t always found myself gravitating towards all opening acts, I consider them personal recommendations from the artists I love. That’s why it was only natural for me to think openers would be the norm for K-pop shows too.
But a month after that Epik High concert, I flew to Las Vegas to see BTS. Despite having already seen the show online multiple times, it was only there that I clued in on the fact that the group did not have a supporting act. Instead, music videos from BTS’s career over the years played as the pre-show, hyping fans up with each track that came on.
The next two major K-pop shows I attended that year — Seventeen and Blackpink — followed a similar format. But the latter was not as successful in setting up the atmosphere. Blackpink doesn’t have enough music videos to entertain the crowd. Instead, the same songs played on loop for an hour and a half.
“Boy! Wouldn’t it be nice if they had an opener!” I found myself thinking.
Having attended more K-pop shows since, it is surprising to me that supporting acts are not the norm.
What was even more confusing for me was seeing some online reaction from fans getting upset over the decision to have the new girl group VCHA open up for TWICE during the latter’s recent concerts in Mexico, São Paulo, and Las Vegas. Some tweets noted mixed feelings that it wouldn’t be a full TWICE concert experience with an opening act. Others said a rookie group with little live experience wouldn’t be able to execute at a stadium-level. I think the most common sentiment of all was placing blame on JYP Entertainment for “using” TWICE to promote the VCHA.
Granted, this contingent of folks are not what I would say is representative of how K-pop fandoms are broadly. I just think these shows are a lot of people’s very first concerts, and therefore they don’t have much experience with opening acts.
Personally, I actually thought it was really smart to bring VCHA along as an opening act.
(VCHA opened the show for five of TWICE’s recent concerts)
While headliners should and always be the main highlight, bringing on an extra act is good for business for all parties involved.
For the venue, it means more time to sell drinks and other concessions. For the headliners, it means some extra downtime — all while using your opener to build up anticipation for the audience. And for openers, supporting the main act is yet another opportunity to market yourself to the world and gain experience performing in front of crowd who might not be familiar with your songs.
But the party who stands to benefit the most here is probably the artist labels themselves, who can use stadium and arena tours to market rising groups under the same company. In my opinion, it’s a complete missed opportunity not to have an opening act. Fans are already there because they love K-pop. Chances are, they might even like other bands under the same company. Why not give fans some bang for their buck?
I will never forget when KQ Entertainment brought out a group of trainees to open up for ATEEZ during the band’s U.S tour. Performing under the moniker KQ Fellaz 2, the group hyped up the crowd for ATEEZ to follow moments later. But more importantly, they set the stage for what would come when it was time for their debut months later as the group Xikers. With an already-established fanbase, Xikers’s EP House of Tricky: Doorbell Ringing sold over 100,000 copies in its first week, the fifth-highest sales figure for a debut album in South Korea on the Hanteo Chart in 2023.
At a time when concerts are becoming more and more expensive to afford, it should be a no-brainer for more companies to consider such a move. To me, it’s a 2-for-1 deal, and further incentive for me to see a show.
As more and more K-pop acts go on tour, it will be hard to expect every fan to try and go to every show— especially when tours are announced with little notice and dates overlap with one another.
As a Canadian fan who has goes out of town for shows, I know it would give me further reason to buy a ticket if it meant I’d get to see two acts perform on the same day.
Just as Taylor Swift is bringing along performers like Sabrina Carpenter and Paramore to open up her shows, it makes all the money spent on travel, tickets, accommodation and outfits hurt a little bit less.
With many summer K-pop tours already being announced right now, I am actually curious how many of them are going to sell. Fans are not made of money. Not to mention, we don’t have all the time in the world.
Some tours— like P1Harmony — are not yet sold out. Wouldn’t it be nice to add FNC Entertainment labelmates AMPERS&ONE along for the ride?
JYP Entertainment is onto something when it comes to its plan for promoting VCHA and the label.
Other companies should follow suit.
Stray Kids, IVE and VCHA set to play Lollapalooza 2024
Stray Kids, IVE and VCHA are among the performers set to play at this year’s Lollapalooza. It will be the first time Stray Kids will be a headliner at the Chicago event, after headlining Lollapalooza in Paris last year.
From Glastonbury to Coachella and Lollapalooza, I am seriously loving all the music festivals that are starting to embrace Asian performers. Imagine my surprise when I saw Seventeen on the list for Glastonbury and Lollapalooza Berlin! I am very happy for all the Carats in Europe. But as someone who has been dreaming for another North American tour…I guess I will wait with bated breath!
What I’m listening to: Day6 - Welcome to the Show
Three years since their last album, South Korean rock band Day6 finally has a comeback. ‘Welcome to the Show’ is a rock anthem that is simply made to be belted out in a stadium or arena. One of the things I love about this group is their ability to make you feel emotional through their sentimental melodies, even with a song as upbeat as this. It’s a grand comeback for a group who just returned from military service. Welcome back! Or shall I say…Welcome to the Show?
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I suppose it depends on logistics, too. I don’t think we’ll have opening acts here because it’d be expensive to bring a second act over… unless they source locally and go for a P-pop group, and that won’t fly well with some fans, I feel.
Luckily my two K-pop concerts (GFriend in 2016 and Mamamoo last year) were full and wasn’t lacking in momentum. I suppose there was also the fact that there were a lot of fans seeing them live for the first time, so the atmosphere was strong. I think we were outsinging recorded Mamamoo songs!
Definitely enjoyed it when I saw xikers open for ATEEZ. I've been saying companies should do two-artist tours more. Great read!