{"id":203102,"date":"2026-03-23T23:03:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-23T23:03:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/203102\/"},"modified":"2026-03-23T23:03:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-23T23:03:09","slug":"usfsp-students-prepare-for-btss-long-awaited-arirang-world-tour-the-crows-nest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/203102\/","title":{"rendered":"USFSP students prepare for BTS\u2019s long-awaited \u201cARIRANG\u201d World Tour\u00a0 \u2013 The Crow’s Nest"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cBTS has\u00a0basically\u00a0been\u00a0pretty inactive\u00a0since [2022] And they\u00a0haven\u2019t\u00a0released a full album in [three] years.\u00a0So,\u00a0people are obviously\u00a0really excited\u00a0to see them back together as a seven-member group,\u201d said USF alum Karin Woodbury.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Photo courtesy of Big Hit Music<\/p>\n

By Secilia Ruiz\u00a0<\/p>\n

K-pop fans around the world shrieked in their bedrooms when the popular K-pop boy band BTS announced on\u00a0Jan. 4 that they would not only be releasing their fifth studio album, \u201cARIRANG,\u201d but that they would also be going on a world tour for the first time since their three-year hiatus.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI saw a notification from \u201cWeverse,\u201d which is the app that BTS\u2019s company made to connect with fans\u2026I checked and it said that they were going on tour \u2013 and that they were coming to Tampa \u2013\u00a0and I lost it. I completely lost it,\u201d said\u00a0junior environmental science major Adriana Santos.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

BTS, which is an acronym for the Korean phrase \u201cBangtan\u00a0Sonyeondan\u201d (Bulletproof Boy Scouts), is a beloved\u00a0K-pop\u00a0band that has been in the international limelight for many people\u2019s entire childhood.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sophomore studio arts major\u00a0Chaziah\u00a0Parker has been a part of the BTS fandom, or \u201cArmy,\u201d since sixth grade.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201c[BTS] was different than what I was raised on\u2026the aesthetic, the music videos.\u00a0At the time of where I was, it was different and it was new and it was happy and bright,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

USF alum Karin Woodbury agreed, highlighting a unique aspect of BTS\u2019s music videos.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were one of the first artists that I found [where] their music videos were\u00a0actually creating\u00a0an overarching story. It\u00a0wasn\u2019t\u00a0just random vignettes with the members in it. I liked the kind of story\u00a0or\u00a0lore aspect,\u201d Woodbury said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Santos pointed out how the band\u2019s discography includes a multitude of different genres.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI just really like how diverse their music is,\u201d they said. \u201cThe fact that they have everything from R&B to like electro-pop\u2026\u00a0it\u2019s beautiful to me.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

At the height of their popularity, BTS went on a three-year hiatus during which the members embarked on solo careers while each completed the mandatory military service that is custom in South Korea.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Parker hopes this time apart will influence BTS\u2019s new releases as a group.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m excited to see what kind of music they make again \u2013 if it\u2019s altered because everyone\u2019s touched into their own things, if they\u2019re going to bring that together now,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Woodbury echoed a similar sentiment.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026For the last few years as they\u2019ve been in and out of the military, it\u2019s mostly just been solo acts, but I think it\u2019ll be good to see them trying to work together as a group again, because we haven\u2019t really seen that in a while,\u201d Woodbury said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Santos argued that the blossoming of the members\u2019 solo careers means\u00a0that BTS as a group may become\u00a0a thing of the past.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201c[The members are] becoming different people, and I really don\u2019t know how long they\u2019re\u00a0gonna\u00a0still be making music together,\u201d Santos said.\u00a0\u201cThey\u2019ll always be friends, but I think they\u2019re enjoying\u00a0the solo\u00a0music more.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

With a combination of uncertainty and excitement present in the BTS \u201cArmy,\u201d\u00a0students\u00a0were excited when a tour date was announced in Tampa.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt the most able to\u00a0participate\u00a0just because\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0so close.\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0like an adult now, so I could go,\u201d Parker\u00a0said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Luckily, Santos was able to get tickets.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAs much as I\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0want to give the company money, I caved because I just wanted to see them.\u00a0I\u2019ve\u00a0been a fan of them for so long that I\u00a0can\u2019t not\u00a0[see them] \u2026 I think it would have\u00a0broke\u00a0me,\u201d Santos told\u00a0The Crow\u2019s Nest.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Reflecting on the impact of BTS across their career, Woodbury brought up the significance of an international group\u00a0gaining\u00a0such popularity in the United States.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think they\u2019ve done a big part in legitimizing international artists\u2026They were kind of another stepping stone in that when other international groups or artists have been trying to break into the Western market for a long time, and they were the most successful with it, I think,\u201d Woodbury said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Santos added that the group has brought her a lot of friendships.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s kind of hard to find places where you can connect with your peers\u2026So having that similar interest and having places to go to like [places] hosting birthday cup sleeve events and card swaps\u2026It just provided a community for me and that was really monumental to me when I was 13-14 and even now it still is,\u201d Santos said.\u00a0<\/p>\n


\n\t\t\t\t Post Views: 58 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\"More<\/a>
Written by: Secilia Ruiz<\/a> on March 23, 2026.
Last revised by: Julia Ferrara<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cBTS has\u00a0basically\u00a0been\u00a0pretty inactive\u00a0since [2022] And they\u00a0haven\u2019t\u00a0released a full album in [three] years.\u00a0So,\u00a0people are obviously\u00a0really excited\u00a0to see them back…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":203103,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[202,204,203,199,201,200],"class_list":["post-203102","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203102","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=203102"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203102\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/203103"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=203102"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=203102"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=203102"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}