BTS.<\/a> The sense of anticipation was absolutely bubbling over as Saturday approached, heightened by the fact that the group was returning to action after several years spent apart while members fulfilled their mandatory South Korean military service requirements and focused on solo projects.<\/p>\nAnd BTS Army would definitely let its collective voice be heard, in a fashion that certainly could be heard in the neighborhoods surrounding the stadium and possibly well beyond, as the band finally opened this tour \u2014 its first since 2021\u20132022\u2019s very limited Permission to Dance on Stage trek \u2014 with a pair of rowdy new album cuts, \u201cHooligan\u201d and \u201cAliens.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s our first time here at Stanford. Why is it so good?\u201d Jung Kook commented in Korean (and translated into English) to the crowd. \u201cWe are having such a great and joyful time today.\u201d<\/p>\n
Moving about the huge circular stage, complete with four catwalks extending out to each of the four corners of the field, the seven vocalists \u2014 who sang in both Korean and English \u2014 made a welcome pitstop at \u201cRun BTS\u201d (from the 2022 anthology album \u201cProof\u201d) before racing right back to the present to further spotlight the new album with \u201cThey Don\u2019t Know \u2019bout Us\u201d and \u201cLike Animals.\u201d<\/p>\n
This segment included the best slow jams of the night, including \u201cLike Animals\u201d and, especially, the soulful \u201cMerry Go Round\u201d \u2014 the latter of which might be the best song off the new album. Then it was time to crank things back up, once again turning to \u201cArirang\u201d for \u201c2.0\u201d and \u201cNormal.\u201d<\/p>\n
The new album\u2019s \u201cFYA\u201d \u2014 with its repeated chorus of \u201ceverything lit, it\u2019s fire, everything big, it\u2019s fire\u201d \u2014 was a definite winner, especially when cleverly paired with the relative oldie \u201cFire.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"(EDITORIAL](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/SJM-L-BTSREV-0518-X2.jpg\")
(EDITORIAL USE ONLY) K-pop boy band BTS perform onstage during comeback concert at Gwanghwamun Square on March 21, 2026 in Seoul, South Korea. The free concert is the band’s first performance in nearly four years. (Photo by Kim Hong-Ji – Pool\/Getty Images)\u00a0<\/p>\n
Over the course of the night, there had been fireworks, special effects, legions of accompanying dancers and other visual candy, yet the best moments of the show often came when the BTS guys just quieted the bells and whistles and connected with the crowd. The best example came late in this concert as the seven stars sat on the stage and shared their appreciation \u2014 some in English, others translated from Korean \u2014 with the crowd.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat an honor to be here,\u201d Jin remarked in English. \u201cThanks to you, we had a wonderful time. Stanford, you\u2019re the best.\u201d<\/p>\n
The group then remained seated for a lovely take on \u201cPlease\u201d before closing the performance with yet another new album cut \u2014 \u201cInto the Night.\u201d When the fans began to walk out of the stadium, it was still relatively early in the evening \u2014 the show ended around 9:15 p.m., well before venue\u2019s 10 p.m. curfew. Yet, many of them would surely be back bright and early the next day, for Round 2 with these K-pop superstars.<\/p>\n
![\"BTS](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/SJM-L-BTSFANS-0517-02.jpg\")
BTS fans look at merchandise leaflet while waiting in line to purchase merchandise before tonight\u2019s concert at Stanford Stadium at Stanford, Calif., on Saturday, May 16, 2026. BTS will be performing three shows on May 16, 17, and May 19. (Jose Carlos Fajardo\/Bay Area News Group)\u00a0<\/p>\n
BTS Stanford Night 1 Setlist:<\/p>\n
1) \u201cHooligan\u201d
2) \u201cAliens\u201d
3) \u201cRun BTS\u201d
4) \u201cThey Don\u2019t Know \u2019bout Us\u201d
5) \u201cLike Animals\u201d
6) \u201cFake Love\u201d
7) \u201cSwim\u201d
8) \u201cMerry Go Round\u201d
9) \u201c2.0\u201d
10) \u201cNormal\u201d
11) \u201cNot Today\u201d
12) \u201cMic Drop\u201d
13) \u201cFYA\u201d
14) \u201cFire\u201d
15) \u201cBody to Body\u201d
16) \u201cIdol\u201d
Encore:
17) \u201cCome Over\u201d
18) \u201cButter\u201d
19) \u201cDynamite\u201d
20) \u201cN.O.\u201d
21) \u201cAnpanman\u201d
22) \u201cPlease\u201d
23) \u201cInto the Sun\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"We are in the very midst of the biggest pop culture event of the year. Maybe you\u2019ve heard…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":19599,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1167,1168,304,195,1163,1174,913,4987,4988,1170,1166,1171,4991,4989,4990,13908],"class_list":["post-19598","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-korea","tag-bay-area","tag-california","tag-concerts","tag-k-pop","tag-keywee","tag-latest-headlines","tag-music","tag-nightlife","tag-pop-music","tag-santa-clara-county","tag-social-alert","tag-south-bay","tag-stanford","tag-stanford-university","tag-things-to-do","tag-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19598","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19598"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19598\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19599"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19598"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19598"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19598"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"(EDITORIAL](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/SJM-L-BTSREV-0518-X3.jpg\")
(EDITORIAL USE ONLY) K-pop boy band BTS perform onstage during comeback concert at Gwanghwamun Square on March 21, 2026 in Seoul, South Korea. The free concert is the band’s first performance in nearly four years. (Photo by Kim Hong-Ji – Pool\/Getty Images)\u00a0<\/p>\n