BTS' World Tour and the Problem With Uninformed Media Criticism

BTS embarked on the European leg of their "ARIRANG WORLD TOUR" on June 26 with two concerts in Madrid, Spain. The stadium tour, spanning 34 cities across 23 countries, began in April at Goyang Stadium before traveling through the United States, Mexico City and Busan, where the group reunited with Korean fans during their 13th debut anniversary celebrations.

While the Madrid concerts were met with an enthusiastic response from attendees, Spanish newspaper EL PAÍS published a review titled 'BTS en Madrid: mucha comunidad y poca entrega' ("Lots of community, little commitment"). Critical reviews are an essential part of cultural journalism, however, several of the article's central arguments appeared to stem less from subjective opinion than from evaluating a K-POP concert through a framework that does not fully account for how the genre's live productions are designed.

One of the review's principal criticisms concerned the absence of a live band or orchestra. While live musicians have become increasingly common in Western stadium tours, they have never been a defining feature of K-POP performances. The genre has historically been built around electronic production, layered vocal arrangements and programmed instrumentation that cannot easily be reproduced without fundamentally changing the songs. A live band is an artistic option, not an objective measure of a concert's quality.

Furthermore, solo artists often rely on musicians to add movement and visual dynamic to the stage but with seven members already occupying the stage through choreography, formations and their own stage presence, it seems more of a choice rather than a need. However it is important to note that neither format is inherently superior, they simply represent different approaches.

The review also questioned the use of backing tracks yet they are a standard component of modern stadium productions across many touring acts. Throughout the show, BTS moves continuously across an expansive stadium stage while performing live. Supporting tracks help preserve the fullness of the original arrangements, especially for venues as large as stadiums. Removing them would not make the performance more authentic but rather it'd simply leave the production sounding noticeably thinner.

The latter half of the concert was also described as feeling "empty" once the dancers left the stage. However, this overlooks one of the show's central artistic decisions. BTS has consistently structured its stadium concerts around two contrasting identities. The opening sections emphasize choreography and theatrical production, while the latter half intentionally strips much of that spectacle away, allowing the members to move more freely and connect directly with the audience. So, rather than maintaining maximum spectacle throughout, the concert deliberately changes emotional pace.

This narrative structure is hardly unique to BTS, with artists Western artists similarly alternating between elaborate production and more intimate moments. Whether a reviewer enjoys that transition is subjective. Describing it as an "empty" stage, overlooks that it is a deliberate artistic choice rather than an absence of effort.

That distinction also applies to the criticism of fan interaction. Throughout the Madrid concerts, members crossed the extended stage to greet different sections of the audience, acknowledged banners and signs, and even paused to offer water to attendees near the barricade. Like any stadium act, BTS cannot physically interact with every person inside a venue holding thousands of people. This is a criticism rarely directed at Western stadium performers as artists such as The Weeknd or Taylor Swift are not generally evaluated by the amount of direct interaction they maintain throughout a nearly three-hour production. Applying a different standard raises the question of whether the concert itself or the expectations brought into it are actually being judged.

Perhaps the most concerning elements of the review, however, were its references to the concert's supposed "factory-like" atmosphere and its perceived lack of "Koreanness."

The "factory" comparison was partly attributed to the synchronized lightsticks used throughout the audience. Yet synchronized lightsticks are one of the defining production elements of K-POP concerts. Through wireless synchronization, tens of thousands of lightsticks become part of the show's lighting design so that the audience itself becomes part of the performance. Describing that synchronization as creating a "factory-like" atmosphere may initially appear to be an aesthetic observation.

However, within the broader history of how K-POP has been discussed internationally, that language also echoes longstanding stereotypes portraying the genre as mechanical, manufactured and lacking artistic authenticity. Whether intentional or not, invoking the imagery of a "factory" risks reinforcing those familiar narratives rather than offering meaningful criticism of the concert itself.

Moreover, the review's suggestion that the performance lacked "Koreanness" is difficult to reconcile with what unfolded on stage. Korean identity was present not only through the performance of the folk song "Arirang", but also through fans arriving in traditional Korean attire, dancers carrying flags and, perhaps most fundamentally, the seven Korean artists themselves.

More broadly, the criticism raises a question that extends far beyond BTS. As K-POP has become global, artists are often judged against ideas of what their culture should look, sound or feel like. Similar debates have long surrounded Latin, Black and Asian artists who are expected to represent a singular experience or image.

In that sense, asking where the "Koreanness" of the concert was may say less about the performance than about the expectation that Korean culture should present itself in one particular way. Korean identity is not confined to one thing as it is also present in the seven Korean artists performing their own music, speaking their own language and presenting a version of contemporary Korean culture that has evolved alongside the rest of the global music industry.

The overall issue is not that EL PAÍS published a negative review but rather it is why the performance was judged the way it was. A concert can certainly be criticized for its pacing, musical direction or artistic choices. However, criticizing a K-POP concert for being too technologically produced or insufficiently "Korean" misunderstands the very language of the genre it seeks to evaluate. If global critics expect K-POP to be recognized alongside other major music industries, then it must also be approached with the same willingness to understand its artistic conventions rather than measuring it against Western expectations.