{"id":826990,"date":"2026-08-27T00:26:25","date_gmt":"2026-08-27T00:26:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/826990\/"},"modified":"2026-08-27T00:26:25","modified_gmt":"2026-08-27T00:26:25","slug":"k-pop-band-bts-world-tour-arirang-in-chicago-unites-fans-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/826990\/","title":{"rendered":"K-pop band BTS world tour \u2018Arirang’ in Chicago unites fans"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s been seven years since K-pop superstars BTS have been in Chicago. But the group\u2019s fans have kept the fire burning during that time.<\/p>\n

Earlier this month Gov. JB Pritzker declared Aug. 27 and 28 \u201cBTS Day<\/a>\u201d in Illinois as a result of petitioning by Chicago BTS Army and the HANA Center, an immigrant advocacy nonprofit in Irving Park. And ahead of BTS\u2019 return to Chicago this week, fans have been gathering to bond over their shared love of the K-pop titans, including a trivia night at Lincoln Park\u2019s Replay on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Between the arcade games in Replay, the tables and bar are packed with buzzing BTS fans ahead of the South Korean superstars\u2019 sold-out \u201cArirang\u201d world tour shows Aug. 27-28 at Soldier Field.<\/p>\n

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\"bts<\/p>\n

BTS \u2014 Jimin (clockwise from top left, J-Hope, SUGA, V, Jin, RM and Jung Kook \u2014 return to Chicago Aug. 27-28 as part of the K-pop supergroup\u2019s Arirang world tour.<\/p>\n

The trivia night hosted by KPOP Merch by Choc Choc<\/a> displayed the passion fans had for the band, as well as the community that the music welcomed them into. For each round, teams huddled over sheets filled with hyperspecific questions and obscure images of the members to identify in order to prove their knowledge of the band. <\/p>\n

Many eventgoers were no stranger to local events hosted by fellow fans, and relished the friendships they were able to make through attending.<\/p>\n

Daniella Thompson, 40, and Erum Ahmed, 40, of Bucktown, were playing as a team and had met a month earlier at BTS night at the House of Blues.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was our first time ever meeting, in line. I was like, \u2018Are you going to this event tonight? And she was like, \u2018Yeah.\u2019 So this is our second time ever seeing each other,\u201d Thompson said.<\/p>\n

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\"Megan<\/p>\n

\u201cBy being a fan, I was able to connect with other people that I might never have met if I didn\u2019t know [BTS], and those people became my best friends,\u201d Megan Herrera said.<\/p>\n

Anthony Vazquez\/Sun-Times<\/p>\n

Megan Herrera, 25, of Pilsen, who had been a fan since 2016, started a craft club for BTS Army. She said she first became a fan in high school, when not many people knew of the band. But at Replay, she was playing trivia with a group of friends whom she met through their shared love for BTS.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe all met through BTS. Some [friends] I met online, so that\u2019s another reason that they mean a lot to me. Like when I met them, I didn\u2019t know a lot of people, but by being a fan, I was able to connect with other people that I might never have met if I didn\u2019t know [BTS], and those people became my best friends,\u201d Herrera said.<\/p>\n

BTS first came to Chicago in 2015 on the group\u2019s first U.S. tour \u201cEpisode II: The Red Bullet.\u201d While Herrera didn\u2019t make it to that show, she went to the band\u2019s \u201cLove Yourself\u201d tour in 2019, at United Center, as well as its stadium extension in 2019, at Soldier Field<\/a>. She plans on going to both Chicago dates, as well as the L.A. dates, and she\u2019s established a national network of Army through going to shows.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have friends in the East Coast that I met because of BTS, and I have friends in LA that I met. When I travel [to shows], it\u2019s kind of a reunion,\u201d Herrera said.<\/p>\n

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\"BTSARMY_260827-07.jpg\"<\/p>\n

Daniella Thompson contemplates an answer alongside friends during BTS trivia night at Replay Lincoln Park on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Anthony Vazquez\/Sun-Times<\/p>\n

Many of BTS\u2019 fans have grown up with the band, and for many, they anticipate hearing \u201cArirang\u201d live because of how it calls back to the early days of BTS, as well as \u201990s R&B from the States.<\/p>\n

Ahmed said the new album reminded her of the group\u2019s 2014 debut album \u201cDark & Wild.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cListening to \u2018Arirang\u2019 the first time was really exciting because you \u2026 could hear echoes of [\u2018Dark & Wild\u2019] in \u2018Arirang,\u2019 but you can also hear how much they\u2019ve grown over the years, and especially what they kind of explored during their solo careers as well,\u201d said Ahmed.<\/p>\n

Even newer fans felt similarly. A\u2019riel Warren, 34, of Chicago\u2019s West Side, became a fan in 2021 and enjoyed the nostalgic vibes of the track, \u201cthey don\u2019t know \u2019bout us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI like the tempo. It gives very … R&B \u201990s Houston, like if you know, if you know,\u201d Warren said.<\/p>\n

Warren was introduced to BTS through her algorithm, and was introduced to the fandom community by her friend when they went to a BTS rave. Since then, she\u2019s been supporting their solo work, but is excited to finally see them reunite. For fans who got introduced to BTS after the height of the pandemic, this will be the first time seeing the band in full.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis would be my first time actually seeing them as a group,\u201d Warren said. <\/p>\n

BTS went on break four years ago as members fulfilled South Korean\u2019s mandatory military service. Fans, like Samantha Gusman, 40, and Tyxie Vandoorn, 40, of Wrigleyville, remained steadfast in their support of bandmembers\u2019 solo projects. This meant attending J-Hope\u2019s headlining<\/a> performance at Lollapalooza in 2022, his \u201cHope on the Stage\u201d tour in 2025<\/a>, as well as SUGA\u2019s \u201cAgust D\u201d tour<\/a> in 2023.<\/p>\n

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\"Mollie<\/p>\n

Mollie Menuck, 25, manager at KPOP Merch by Choc Choc, hosts trivia night at Replay in Lake View on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Anthony Vazquez\/Sun-Times<\/p>\n

\u201cWe always know the military service is coming, so it was bittersweet. But the fact that they all did solo stuff, so that it never felt like we were without them for that whole time, was really awesome,\u201d said Gusman.<\/p>\n

As the night wound down at Replay, Army kept their enthusiasm high, oohing and aahing at the esoteric answers they had gotten wrong. At the podium calling out the results was Mollie Menuck, 25, manager at KPOP Merch by Choc Choc. It\u2019s the third trivia event that the Lake View store has hosted.<\/p>\n

Menuck said became a BTS fan in 2021 thanks to her friend, but she was always a boy band lover, citing groups like One Direction, 5SOS and Why Don\u2019t We.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy really good friend at the time was shoving K-pop down my throat, and I started watching the music videos. I realized how much of a unique industry it is that we don\u2019t have here. Especially [since] One Direction\u2019s inactive. We don\u2019t really have any boy groups, so I feel like it really filled a void,\u201d Menuck said. \u201c[BTS] was my first group. I call them the gateway drug.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like many others, it\u2019s Menuck\u2019s first time seeing BTS, and she is going both nights. When asked how she managed to snatch seats given the notoriously difficult ticket-buying process, she once again credited her friend for being able to secure their spots.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always say K-pop is a team sport.\u201d<\/p>\n