Published : Oct. 22, 2012 - 19:13
Big Bang, one of the most recognizable boy bands in the K-pop scene, demonstrated why they are still thriving with a record-breaking concert in Taipei held as part of their first world tour, the “Big Bang Alive World Tour 2012.”
Big Bang’s G-Dragon, T.O.P, Taeyang, Daesung and Seungri continue to show monstrous popularity overseas six years after their debut. The boys held two sold-out concerts over the weekend with some 20,000 Taiwanese fans and set a record for having that country’s most expensive ticket prices for a Korean artist. The concerts became the highest grossing event for any Korean artist in Taiwan.
The tickets were approximately $243, surpassing the previous record held by Jang Geun-suk and his “The Cri Show,” where the tickets were priced at around $227. This is also a significant price gap from the previous Korean superstars who performed in Taiwan such as Super Junior, with tickets set at $160, and SHINee’s concert at $140.
Korean boy band Big Bang, (from left to right) Daesung, G-Dragon, Taeyang, Seungri and T.O.P., pose for a photo call before a media event announcing their “Alive Tour” concert in Taipei, Taiwan, on Friday. ( AP-Yonhap News)
The group also drew in 30,000 fans in their first ever concert in Jakarta, Indonesia. The tickets for the show sold out in 10 minutes on one online ticket distributor and even caused the server to crash on another online purchase site after nearly 50,000 fans logged in attempting to book their tickets.
Big Bang is about to embark to the U.S. in November, and with their concert tickets selling out in a matter of hours, the group announced two additional tour dates in the U.S. The boys will perform two shows in Los Angeles on Nov. 2 and 3, and two shows in New Jersey on Nov. 8 and 9.
The tour, which kicked off in March, will cover a total of 25 cities in 16 countries. Big Bang still has upcoming performances in the Philippines, Malaysia, Peru, Hong Kong and Japan.
The members, who are trendsetters in both the music and fashion industry, first debuted in 2006 and since then have taken the K-pop nation by storm.
Their hit singles include “A Fool’s Only Tears” and “This Love,” a remake of Maroon 5’s popular hit. The following year, the group brought home numerous awards including the Best Male Group and Song of the Year awards at the 2007 Mnet Asian Music Awards and later received the Artist of the Year award at the 17th Seoul Music Awards.
In 2009, the five members took a break to focus some of their solo careers, where G-Dragon launched himself to superstardom with his debut solo album release, “Heartbreaker,” winning the Mnet Album of the Year award.
Then in 2011, after a near two-year hiatus from their group activities, the members of Big Bang came together with the album “Tonight,” which reached the top 10 on the U.S. iTunes album chart.
In January of this year, the group released teasers for their 5th mini-album, “Alive,” and in just two weeks, preorders for the album reached around 260,000 copies. The album took five positions on the top ten in the Billboard K-Pop Hot 100 charts and it became the first Korean album to make the U.S. Billboard 200 chart.
By Julie Jackson (juliejackson@heraldcorp.com)