BTS Is Making Sure No Two 'ARIRANG' Concerts Feel the Same

With 88 concerts scheduled across its 'ARIRANG' world tour, BTS is finding ways to make each performance different, incorporating surprise songs, city-inspired outfits and local references into its shows.

The seven-member group launched the tour in Goyang, South Korea, in April and has since traveled through North America, Europe and South America. Although the tour is scheduled to continue into the first half of 2027, BTS has introduced several elements that change depending on the city and performance date.

One of the most noticeable is a rotating song segment, during which the members perform tracks outside the regular setlist.

The selections range from early releases to B-sides, with audiences discovering which songs will be performed only when the music begins. Even consecutive concerts in the same city can feature different selections.

Some songs have also been chosen specifically for the location.

In Tokyo, BTS performed Japanese-language tracks including "Crystal Snow" and "FOR YOU." During its Busan concerts, the group turned to "Paldogangsan" and "Ma City," songs that reference different regions and hometowns in South Korea. The members also adjusted lyrics in "Ma City" to reflect Busan.

The changes extend beyond the music as BTS has incorporated local accessories into its stage outfits, including cowboy hats in Mexico and keychains and animal plush toys sourced in Toronto.

For its October 9 concert in Lima, Peru, the group wore Hangul-inspired outfits featuring the members' real names, messages to ARMY and elements of the Korean flag. The styling coincided with Hangul Day, bringing Korean cultural references into a performance taking place thousands of miles from South Korea.

Language and humor have become another way of adapting the shows to their locations. For example, during the group's recent concerts in Bogotá, Colombia, BTS revisited the phrase "Assarabia Colombia," a joke originating from an earlier episode of its variety series Run BTS! that Colombian fans had continued to reference.

The members repeated the phrase onstage, accompanied by singing and dancing, turning an old inside joke into a shared moment with the local audience.

In Paris, BTS spoke to fans in French while also teaching the audience how to say "I love you" in Korean, creating an exchange between the two languages.

These details may be small compared with the scale of the tour's production, but they give audiences something specific to the concert they attend rather than an identical experience at every stop.

BTS passed the halfway point of its currently announced 88-show tour in September, with further performances scheduled across South America and Asia. The group will next perform in Santiago, Chile, on October 14, 16 and 17, before continuing to Buenos Aires, Argentina, and São Paulo, Brazil.

As 'ARIRANG' continues, the rotating performances and local touches remain part of how BTS is making each concert its own experience.