Tickets for BTS concert at National Stadium sell out in less than 4 hours

SINGAPORE - Tickets for a concert by K-pop boyband BTS on Jan 19 sold out in less than four hours after they went on sale on Saturday (Oct 27).

At 1.30pm, concert organiser One Production announced on its Facebook and Twitter accounts that the show, which will be held at the National Stadium, was sold out. Ticket sales started at 10am.

Some fans had started queueing five days before tickets for the show went on sale at the box-office booths outside Kallang Wave Mall, The New Paper reported.

The tickets were priced at $348, $268, $238, $198, $148, $118 and $88, excluding booking fees.

Malaysian Melody Siow from Kuala Lumpur was one of those who managed to buy tickets. She accessed the Sports Hub ticket website about an hour before ticket sales started.

"I'm very excited and happy, I can't wait," said Ms Siow, who bought a pair of $268 tickets for herself and her sister.

Ms Siow, who is in her 30s, said she has been a BTS fan since last year.

"BTS concerts are the only ones I would be willing to watch overseas," said the personal assistant, who earns about RM7,000 (S$2,300) monthly.

Many others could not get the prized tickets.

One of them was housewife Sophia Phang, 36, an American based in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia.

She said she was in the virtual waiting room for the Sports Hub ticket website since 2am on Saturday. Her husband was also trying to get tickets on his laptop, she said.

"For sure I'm disappointed," said the K-pop fan of 20 years.

However, she added that she will not be resorting to more desperate measures.

"I don't believe in buying from unauthorised sellers because they are taking advantage of real fans who genuinely want to attend the concert. I will just stick with authorised retailers," said Mrs Phang.

She said she will be trying to get tickets for the Thailand and Hong Kong concerts instead. BTS will also be performing in Hong Kong and Bangkok in March and April respectively as part of its Love Yourself World Tour.

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Earlier on Saturday, the police issued an advisory against buying from unauthorised agents on its Facebook page.

On Saturday morning, The Straits Times found more than 20 postings on online retail platform Carousell that claimed to sell tickets for the BTS concert here. Many were charging commissions of at least $50 for each ticket.

BTS, which consist of seven members aged between 21 and 25, last held a concert here in 2014. The band made its debut in 2013.

Recently, they have gained massive success as the only K-pop artist to top the Billboard 200 albums chart.

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They will be the first K-pop group to play at the National Stadium, which has a capacity of 55,000.

The band have enjoyed a meteoric rise in popularity in the past few years, making the latest cover of Time magazine and giving a speech at the United Nations last month.

The South Korean presidential office also said that it would award the band members an Order of Cultural Merit for their contributions in spreading Korean culture and language.

This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.