Stray Kids wraps up Seoul portion of second world tour

K-pop

Published: 02 May. 2022, 10:36

Stray Kids wraps up Seoul portion of second world tour

Boy band Stray Kids performs during a concert on May 1 held at the Jamsil Indoor Stadium in southern Seoul. The three concerts in Seoul on April 29, 30 and May 1 marked the beginning of the band's "Stray Kids 2nd World Tour 'Maniac.'" [JYP ENTERTAINMENT]

Boy band Stray Kids concluded the three runs of its Seoul concert on Sunday at the Jamsil Indoor Stadium in southern Seoul, the first round of many in its “Stray Kids 2nd World Tour ‘Maniac.’”

Stray Kids performed on April 29 and 30 and May 1 for the world tour’s first three runs; the band’s first in-person standalone concert in over two years. As the eight members started with their most recent smash hit “Maniac” (2022) released in March, fans' cheers filled the stadium. Loud cheering is now allowed at concert venues along with the easing of social distancing measures.

The audience cheers during Stray Kids' concert on May 1. [JYP ENTERTAINMENT]

“We’ve performed for the past two days, and my heart is still fluttering,” said the group’s leader Bang Chan.

“We’ve been thirsty for a stage like this,” said member I.N. “Performing each song, we’ve been trying to hold back tears.”

The world tour follows the exceptional success seen by the band’s most recent EP “Oddinary” and its lead track “Maniac.” The EP sold over 1,546,900 copies by the end of March according to the Korean album sales tracker Gaon Chart, becoming the boy band’s most-sold album. “Oddinary” made Stray Kids the third K-pop act to top the Billboard 200 albums chart, following BTS and SuperM.

The three concerts in Seoul are Stray Kids' first in-person standalone concerts after two years and five months. [JYP ENTERTAINMENT]

The audience cheers during Stray Kids' concert on May 1. [JYP ENTERTAINMENT]

Sunday’s final run in was also livestreamed for paid view on the concert streaming platform Beyond Live.

Stray Kids will continue its world tour with 18 runs in 10 cities in total: Seoul, Kobe, Tokyo, Newark, Chicago, Atlanta, Fort Worth, Los Angeles, Auckland and Seattle.

"It's been two years and five months since our first tour," said member Han. “This concert feels even more special to us after a long period of not being able to do anything in person [due to the Covid-19 pandemic],” said member Han.

Stray Kids performs during Sunday's concert. [JYP ENTERTAINMENT]

Stray Kids debuted in 2018 and consists of members Bang Chan, Lee Know, Changbin, Hyunjin, Han, Felix, Seungmin and I.N. The band is known for hits such as “My Pace” (2018), “Miroh” (2019), “God's Menu” (2020), “Back Door” (2020) and “Thunderous” (2021).

BY HALEY YANG [yang.hyunjoo@joongang.co.kr]