BTS‘s J-Hope filled his first solo concert in 12 years with the cheers and tears of 37,000 ‘Army’ (BTS fandom name).

J-Hope held his first solo world tour, ‘J-Hope Tour - Hope on the Stage in Seoul’, at the KSPO DOME in Olympic Park, Songpa-gu, Seoul for three days from February 28 to March 2.

This concert is J-Hope’s first solo world tour since his debut. It is also his first opportunity to reunite with his fans in one place since completing his military service in October of last year, so it created a huge sensation both in Korea and abroad.

Thanks to this, he single-handedly filled the Olympic Park K-POP Dome (formerly the Gymnastics Arena), known as the ‘dream stage’ among many K-pop artists, drawing an incredible 37,500 audience members in three days. Tickets for the Seoul concert sold out as soon as they went on sale.

J-Hope directly participated in stage composition, planning, and setlist selection, as evidenced by the fact that he included part of his name, ‘Hope’, in the title. In the concert, which consisted of a total of five sections: ‘Ambition’, ‘Dream’, ‘Expectation’, ‘Fantasy’, ‘Wish’, he presented his first solo album in 2022, ‘Jack in the Box’, to his special album, ‘Hope on the Street Vol. 1’, revealing at a glance the path he has walked.

In the second section, ‘Dreams’, he created a separate section themed on street dance, which he considers the foundation of his dreams, and created a “stage that properly shows my roots”. He expressed his confidence, saying, “I wonder how many artists there are who can actually pull off a street dance stage”. At the same time, he said, “I‘ve been dancing street dance since I was little. I’m so touched that I can enjoy this stage that contains those roots so authentically with my fans”, expressing his gratitude to ‘Army’.

In addition, he raised fans‘ expectations for his new activities by pre-releasing his digital single ‘Sweet Dreams’, which will be released at 2 PM on the 7th. J-Hope, who sang a new song with a sweet melody, explained, “While thinking about what kind of music to show after my discharge, I thought about the fact that I lack the emotion called ’love‘ these days. I also thought about whether J-Hope has ever sung a proper love song. So this time, I completed my first proper ’serenade‘ for you all.”

In addition, J-Hope also included various songs from BTS albums, such as ‘Bbaengsae’ from the 4th mini album ‘Hwa Yang Yeon Hwa’, to further solidify his identity as BTS. For J-Hope, the eldest brother Jin stood up from the audience and greeted the ‘ARMY’, thereby supporting him. J-Hope’s stage manners, where he actively communicated with the audience by approaching them and singing, were enough to wash away the long wait. The stage setup, which featured 26 cubic lifts that went up and down to create a three-dimensional effect, also created a fantastic atmosphere.

At the end of the concert, J-Hope said, “It‘s been three years since the BTS concert. I forgot how much passion and support ’ARMY‘ had. I want to show the world this proud scene of fans and artists connecting so well to create a concert.” He added, “Everything was perfect. ’ARMY‘ is the best. I’m the happiest when I‘m on stage, just like the concert title suggests. I’ll work hard to sing, dance, and rap and become your ‘hope on stage.’”

Meanwhile, after the Seoul concert, J-Hope will continue with 31 concerts in 15 cities in total, including Brooklyn, Chicago, Mexico City, San Antonio, Oakland, Los Angeles, and in North America, as well as Manila, Saitama, Singapore, Jakarta, Bangkok, Macau, Taipei, and Osaka.


Reporter Yoo Ji-hye yjh0304@donga.com

This article is automatically translated using Google AI. If you notice any inaccuracies, please let us know at allkstar@donga.com.