{"id":179193,"date":"2026-08-23T00:31:53","date_gmt":"2026-08-23T00:31:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/179193\/"},"modified":"2026-08-23T00:31:53","modified_gmt":"2026-08-23T00:31:53","slug":"bts-army-descends-on-rogers-stadium-ahead-of-k-pop-bands-first-of-two-toronto-shows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/179193\/","title":{"rendered":"BTS Army descends on Rogers Stadium ahead of K-pop band\u2019s first of two Toronto shows"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Fans arrive for the first of two concerts in Toronto for Korean idol group BTS, in Toronto, Saturday.Diana Mussina\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

Fans of the Korean pop group BTS, known as the Army, began flocking to Rogers Stadium as early as 3 p.m. Saturday for the first of two shows the group is playing this weekend.<\/p>\n

Many donned Arirang world tour merch and jerseys with their favourite members\u2019 name embroidered on them. <\/p>\n

Claudia Zanteno and Mai Shimla both wore sailor hats from the band\u2019s 2026 \u201cSwim\u201d video, enthusiastic to see the boy band who they\u2019ve followed for years \u2013 in Zanteno\u2019s case since 2018, when she was 12.<\/p>\n

\u201cTheir lyrics are very personal and we don\u2019t see that too much,\u201d said Zanteno, who hoped to hear some of BTS\u2019s older hits.<\/p>\n

Shimla hoped to hear \u201cFYA.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018Cause that\u2019s my dance pop,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

By the numbers: How BTS measures up in Canada<\/a><\/p>\n

The sky darkened, however, and as thunder boomed and rain began falling at the outdoor venue in the city\u2019s Downsview area, Rogers Stadium announced it was monitoring conditions.<\/p>\n

At one point it announced a weather delay and that everyone needed to exit the grandstands and proceed to the fan plaza. But just before 8 p.m., it said the show would continue and that everyone could return to their seats.<\/p>\n

BTS is touring its latest album with stops across North America, Europe and Latin America.<\/p>\n

Saturday night\u2019s sold-out show marks the first time the K-pop group plays in the city in over a decade, after their 2020 show was cancelled due to the pandemic. <\/p>\n

The band went on hiatus in 2022 to allow members to focus on solo projects and fulfill mandatory military service in South Korea.<\/p>\n

Naiess Karkan, who travelled to the Toronto show on Saturday from Niagara Falls, said he became a fan the first time he heard one of their songs. Unity and diversity are what bring the BTS Army together, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur main goal is to, like, love ourselves,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Narrin Roya said she\u2019s been hooked since she heard \u201cBoy In Luv,\u201d saying the band\u2019s songs and videos have been \u201cjust a new world for me and it\u2019s been non-stop since.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI like that all seven of them are just really good role models,\u201d Roya said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just nice to have some artists that are spreading positivity and love, and just all-around goodness.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Fans arrive for the first of two concerts in Toronto for Korean idol…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":179194,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[164,224,238,214,212,239,17,211,230,231,227,213,210,235,171,234,143,222,249,215,216,229,225,226,219,240,220,244,245,247,242,246,94,243,217,142,233,113,232,241,223,236,48,237,228,221,218,248],"class_list":["post-179193","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-toronto","tag-alberta","tag-arts-news","tag-bc","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-british-columbia","tag-canada","tag-canada-news","tag-canada-sports","tag-canada-sports-news","tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","tag-canadian-breaking-news","tag-canadian-news","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-environment","tag-federal-government","tag-foreign-news","tag-globe-and-mail","tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","tag-government","tag-life-news","tag-lifestyle","tag-local-news","tag-manitoba","tag-national-news","tag-new-brunswick","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","tag-northwest-territories","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nunavut","tag-ontario","tag-pei","tag-photos","tag-political-news","tag-political-opinion","tag-politics","tag-politics-news","tag-quebec","tag-sports-news","tag-technology","tag-toronto","tag-travel","tag-trudeau","tag-us-news","tag-world-news","tag-yukon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179193","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=179193"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179193\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/179194"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=179193"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=179193"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=179193"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}