BTS World Tour: ARIRANG — Tour Merch Haul

BTS World Tour ARIRANG merch. There are ARMYs that waited hours and hours for it. (People literally started lining up for merch at 2:00AM for the public merch sale last Friday.) But my friend Iris got the VIP soundcheck package for Day 1, so she got access to VIP shopping which has a separate merch booth just for VIP ticket holders. And she got there at 8:00AM on Saturday, so not only did she get all the merch items we wanted, but she only had to wait in line for 30 minutes. (Most items have a limit of one per person for this tour, but I wanted the items that she didn't want and vice versa, so it worked out perfectly for us.) So, thanks to her, I didn't have to line-up for merch at all for this tour. It's like karma finally paid me back for having had to wait dozens of hours for merch at all their previous tours. (Yes, I did treat Iris to lunch.)

Here's what I got:

BTS World Tour ARIRANG Charcoal Zip-Up Hoodie — Front

BTS World Tour ARIRANG Charcoal Zip-Up Hoodie — Back

BTS World Tour ARIRANG Charcoal Zip-Up Hoodie — Detail

BTS World Tour ARIRANG Sweatshirt (North American Exclusive) — Front

BTS World Tour ARIRANG Sweatshirt (North American Exclusive) — Back

BTS World Tour ARIRANG Sweatshirt (North American Exclusive) — Detail

BTS World Tour ARIRANG Black Tour T-Shirt — Front

BTS World Tour ARIRANG Black Tour T-Shirt — Back

BTS ARIRANG Deluxe Vinyl (Color ver.) — Front

BTS ARIRANG Deluxe Vinyl (Color ver.) — Inside

BTS ARIRANG Deluxe Vinyl (Color ver.) — Vinyl

BTS World Tour ARIRANG ARMY Bomb Plush Keyring

BTS World Tour ARIRANG ARMY Bomb Plush Keyring

BTS World Tour ARIRANG Tour Stamp — Toronto

BTS World Tour ARIRANG Tour Stamp — Toronto

BTS World Tour ARIRANG ARMY ZONE Gift (Toronto) — Member Photocards

BTS World Tour ARIRANG ARMY ZONE Gift (Toronto) — Member Photocards

Despite being able to get all the items I wanted, I will say that the pricing was ATROCIOUS for Toronto. Even with the currency exchange, the pricing here actually ended up being higher than the retail prices on Weverse Shop Global plus shipping costs plus duties. Which means, yes, I spent just under $800 after tax on SIX ITEMS. This is, of course, on top of the ticket price for a floor seat ($845 after tax per ticket, and I went to BOTH days), transportation ($75 just on Uber there and back on Day 1 — I decided to drive to the subway for Day 2), and water ($15 per can per day — which is highway robbery even if I refilled the shit out of that can). So, all in all, I spent just over $2,500 for the entire weekend — and this is without the cost of flight and hotel for going to another city. 

Do I regret it? No. Would I do it all over again? ABSO-FUCKING-LUTELY.

BTS World Tour: ARIRANG in Toronto — Day 2

(Warning: This post is long and photo-heavy.)

So, Day 2 of the BTS World Tour ARIRANG in Toronto.

Iris and I were exhausted from Saturday because, on top of the concert itself (during which I carried my ARMY Bomb in one hand and my phone in the other to take a million videos and photos during a RELENTLESS, TORRENTIAL DOWNPOUR), walking 15,000+ steps in the rain is TIRING AF. Luckily, we didn't have anything to do but watch the actual concert on Sunday, so we decided to get to Rogers Stadium for 6:00PM, leaving just enough time to get the ARMY ZONE gift (we were hoping it might be different from the member photo card set on Saturday, but it was the same), line up to get into the fan zone, and go through bag check and ticket scan. I will say, despite it raining for most of the day on Sunday, by the time we got to Rogers Stadium, the weather was PERFECT. The sun came out, the sky was clear, and it was a mild 22°C. (It was like the weather gods wanted to reward us for being SO GODDAMN SHITTY the day before.) And at 8:00PM, BTS got on stage and the rest was history.

ACT I: Setlist

1. Hooligan
2. Aliens
3. Run BTS 
4. They Don't Know 'Bout Us
5. Like Animals
6. FAKE LOVE
7. SWIM
8. Merry Go Round

Jimin performing "Aliens"

Jimin performing "Aliens"

BTS performing "Run BTS"

BTS performing "Run BTS"

V during 1st ments

Jin, Jimin, V, RM, and Jungkook during 1st ments

BTS performing "Like Animals"

Act II: Set List

1. 2.0
2. NORMAL
3. Not Today
4. MIC Drop
5. FYA/FIRE Medley
6. Body to Body
7. IDOL 

Jungkook performing "NORMAL"

Jungkook performing "NORMAL"

BTS performing "2.0"

BTS performing "2.0"

Suga performing "Not Today"

Jin performing "FIRE"

RM during 3rd ments

Encore: Set List

1. Come Over
2. Butter
3. Dynamite
4. DJ Spin That (Toronto Day 2): 00:00 (Zero O' Clock)
5. DJ Spin That (Toronto Day 2): Outro: Tear
6. Please
7. Into the Sun

BTS during encore

Jimin during encore

BTS during final ments

BTS during final ments

BTS during final ments

Fireworks!

Same set list as yesterday, of course, with the exception of the "DJ Spin That" segment, during which Toronto Day 2 got "00:00 (Zero O' Clock)" and "Outro: Tear" — which might be the most perfect song pairing of all time within the BTS discography. For those who don't know, "Outro: Tear" is a song written by the rap line about BTS' near-break-up in 2017. We all thought it was a song about a terrible romantic break-up for years, until Suga revealed in an interview that it's a song written by them to each other, and it became even more heart-wrenching. "00:00 (Zero O' Clock)," released two years after "Outro: Tear," is a song of hope and renewal; the day always resets at midnight, so no matter how bad things get, we can start over again. It was the pairing of these two specific sub-unit songs — one sung entirely by the vocal line and one sung entirely by the rap line — played one after the other, especially now that they're all back together after the military, that made this segment the most poignant of any date on the ARIRANG tour. Toronto truly got something special this night.

On that note, it seems like all the confetti and fireworks that they couldn't launch on Saturday night because of the rain was released in its entirety on Sunday. There was a point when there was so much confetti in the air that it looked like a total white-out and you couldn't even see the stage. And it was the perfect ending to a glorious BTS concert weekend. 

As per usual, you can view all my video clips from this concert on my Instagram. 

BTS World Tour: ARIRANG in Toronto — Day 1

(Warning: This post is very long and photo-heavy.)

THE DAY HAS COME. BTS WORLD TOUR ARIRANG HAS FINALLY ARRIVED IN TORONTO. 

Without having merch to worry about (my friend Iris got everything for me through VIP shopping), I decided to get to Rogers Stadium around 4:00PM because I wanted to stop at ARMY ZONE first and didn't know what the line-ups would be like. Toronto is, so far, the only stop in North America on the ARIRANG Tour that got an ARMY ZONE — it's basically a booth set-up for ARMY Membership holders to get a free gift. (FYI, our gift was a set of exclusive photo cards with TORONTO printed on the back.) Of course, I didn't have to get there nearly as early as I did because there was no line-up at all by the time I got to the ARMY ZONE booths. Went straight to a staff member, showed my concert ticket and my membership card, and got my pack of photo cards within 2 minutes. (Turns out, the line-ups are typically at opening time with virtually no-line ups later in the day.) Of course, I still had to wait for soundcheck to be over at 6:00PM to meet with Iris. Which meant I had 1.5 hours to kill. (In order to preserve my phone battery, I literally vaped and people-watched for over an hour. Even I am impressed with myself.)

The weather started off pretty great — warm and sunny. Over the next hour, there was a little drizzle here and there, but nothing crazy. Rain was in the forecast for today, so I had brought two waterproof ponchos with me and put one on just in case. By the time 5:30PM rolled around and I went to line-up to get into the stadium, it started raining. By the time I got through bag check and ticket scan and walked into the stadium's fan area to meet with Iris, it was pouring. Thank god I already had my poncho on because I would've been soaked within a couple minutes. Of course, by 7:00PM, the thunderstorm started. Lightning streaked across the sky, a weather delay warning was put up on the big screens, and the people that were already seated in the metal grandstands were asked to head outside of the stadium for safety. 

Obligatory ARMY Bomb photo (In the Rain edition)

By 7:30PM, with the delay warning still in effect, the security was allowing those of us with floor seats to go into the stadium. So Iris and I — who had seats in different sections — went off into our own section entrances. By 7:50PM, even though it was still pouring rain, the venue made the announcement that the concert will go on as planned. I gotta say, it really speaks to the dedication of BTS and their staff to continue with the concert. I mean, I know that cancelling a concert results in a plethora of losses — for BTS, their company, and their fans — but honestly, artists have cancelled concerts for much less. And man, I am so glad the concert went on, because torrential downpour or not, it was FUCKING INCREDIBLE.

ACT I: Setlist

1. Hooligan
2. Aliens
3. Run BTS 
4. They Don't Know 'Bout Us
5. Like Animals
6. FAKE LOVE
7. SWIM
8. Merry Go Round

BTS performing "Hooligan"

BTS performing "Aliens"

BTS performing "Aliens"

BTS performing "Aliens"

BTS performing "Aliens"

BTS performing "Run BTS"

BTS performing "Run BTS"

J-Hope performing "Run BTS"

BTS during 1st ments

Jimin during 1st ments

Jin, Jimin, and V during 1st ments

BTS during 1st ments

BTS performing "Like Animals"

RM performing "Like Animals"

RM performing "FAKE LOVE"

Jin performing "FAKE LOVE"

J-Hope performing "Merry Go Round"

Act II: Set List

1. 2.0
2. NORMAL
3. Not Today
4. MIC Drop
5. FYA/FIRE Medley
6. Body to Body
7. IDOL 

BTS performing "2.0"

BTS performing "2.0"

BTS performing "2.0"

BTS performing "2.0"

Jungkook performing "NORMAL"

Jungkook and J-Hope during 2nd ments

Jungkook during 2nd ments

Suga during 3rd ments

J-Hope during 3rd ments

RM during 3rd ments

Encore: Set List

1. Come Over
2. Butter
3. Dynamite
4. DJ Spin That (Toronto Day 1): Outro: Wings
5. DJ Spin That (Toronto Day 1): DOPE
6. Please
7. Into the Sun

BTS during 4th ments

Jimin, V, RM, and Jungkook during 4th ments

J-Hope during 4th ments

Jungkook and V performing "DOPE"

Jungkook and V performing "DOPE"

Jungkook and V performing "DOPE"

BTS during final ments

BTS during final ments

We've seen them perform in rain before, but never like this. BTS gave it their all in a fucking TORRENTIAL DOWNPOUR, which made the experience truly unforgettable for everyone involved. I wasn't sure how I was going to like the 360 stage but it gave everyone in the stadium equally amazing views. I didn't think there was a particular side that they favoured — they even changed the choreography so they would be facing all four directions throughout a song — and all members made sure to spend time all around the stage and on all four ramps. Plus, RM in a Maple Leafs jersey, V in a Canada hat, and the rest of them with Canada patches sewn on their shirts made their Canadian visit a little more special. They acknowledged, more than once and by more than one member, that they know we've been waiting over ten years for their return to Toronto and they're so happy to be back. While there has been criticism of HYBE continually treating their Canadian fans as less than their US counterparts, tonight was proof that they love us and love being here.

I can't wait to do it all over again tomorrow.

As per usual, you can view all my video clips from this concert on my Instagram.