With approximately 70,000 seats, SoFi Stadium is not an average concert stadium. Tuesday night, the venue came to life with a sea of glowing light sticks as fans flooded in. Their voices singing every lyric, English or Korean, and cries of happiness shook the venue with their vocal support.

But who could expect anything less when an extraordinary band like BTS brings its record-breaking “ARIRANG” world tour to Los Angeles?

The seven-member band is hard to miss. For the last 13 years, BTS has grown exponentially into a major K-pop group with record-breaking global album sales and impressive performances. And their performance on Tuesday proved exactly why they are featured in every media headline.

The concert marked the group’s first time in L.A. since its last tour before entering a hiatus for mandatory military service in 2022 and 2023.

Now, four years later, BTS’s fanbase, or ARMY, was rewarded for its patience when the group reunited in March for its latest release, “ARIRANG.” BTS’s four-show run in L.A. this week marks the end of the North American leg of the tour.

As the show was about to begin, the energy of ARMY was electric as the entire dance crew ran through the stadium, alerting the audience that the group was about to make its grand entrance. Thanks to the impressive 360-degree stage, any seat in the house connected with the spectacular performance.

The setlist connected new fans with old ones through songs from albums spanning the group’s thirteen year career. The flow from old to new was effortless and easily showed not only the group’s versatility, but also ARMY’s dedication to learning the entire catalog. The show opened with a beautiful string arrangement of “Hooligan” from their 2026 album, “ARIRANG.” Most of the first act consisted of songs from the new album, including “Aliens”, “they don’t know ’bout us” and “Like Animals.”

BTS also played two songs from older albums, “Run BTS” and “FAKE LOVE,” readily keeping audience members of all levels of familiarity with the group hyped for what was next to come. “Run BTS” even featured a drone perspective of the members, creating an on stage experience, leaving fans breathless with the creativity of the band and their production team.

Elements representative of Korean culture were also incorporated into the three-hour show. The stage was set to mirror the Korean flag with a circle in its center and four walk-out stages resembling two black lines in each corner. At one point, BTS and their dancers walked out, half of the dancers covered in red and the other half blue, splitting the stage to make the flag’s circle.

The group members also further incorporated tributes to their heritage through stage props like Korean flags and using a sample of the traditional folk song “Arirang” in the song “Body to Body.” In “Idol,” the members run around the stadium perimeter, greeting fans in the upper sections while leading a parade of dancers with flags featuring the “ARIRANG” album symbol and the Korean flag in a proud fashion. Their powerful stage presence during this song reminded people to live in that moment and literally “Put your phone down, let’s get all the fun”.

After a brief outfit change, the members came out in streetwear for the second of three acts, fitting/not fitting for the act’s setlist. The energy built in the first act only rose in the second, including plenty of high-energy songs that had people jumping, such as new songs “2.0” and “NORMAL” and older hits like “Not Today” and “MIC Drop.”

The second act was by far the loudest and flashiest, with audience members getting up to sing and be dazzled by a deluge of pyrotechnics.

The final, third act was a tribute to their fans, featuring their most-streamed and most vulnerable songs. With yet another outfit change, BTS was decked out in personalized versions of their tour merchandise. Each of the tour shirts was either cut up or decorated with jewels spelling out their name.

“Come Over,” the exclusive song originally available for fans who had purchased a vinyl record, opened the final part of the set. Hearing it live was an unreal moment as someone who had been watching all the live streams of the concert on TikTok and it truly exceeded all of my expectations. It was followed by “Butter,” “Dynamite,” “Please” and “Into the Sun”.

Every night, the band selected two surprise songs, which they introduced by stating, “DJ spin that shit.” And the DJ did spin that shit. For L.A.’s opening night, the two surprise songs were “Boy in Luv” from their 2014 album “Skool Luv Affair” and “Magic Shop” from their 2018 album “Love Yourself: Tear,” some of the band’s first albums.

Despite the final act being late in the night, the hour did not hinder anyone’s energy, as fans cheered the loudest during the surprise songs.

Tens of thousands of voices joined in to sing “Happy Birthday” to Jungkook, with the whole stadium covering their flashlights with a yellow sticker to make the stadium shine golden for the youngest member.

The concert managed to encapsulate the enthusiasm of a 13-year-long career. Attendees had the chance to showcase their dedication to the band and its music with BTS’s outfits and fan projects shared throughout the night. But what made the night truly special was the stunning performances of every BTS member.

The “ARIRANG” world tour will continue at SoFi Stadium until Sept. 6.