KUALA LUMPUR, Feb xx — It was just another Thursday for everyone else, but for fans of K-pop supergroup BTS, January 22 was D-day.
This frenzy came after BTS revealed their first world tour dates back on January 13 after a nearly four-year hiatus and this has left their global fanbase, better known as ARMY, gearing up for their eventual ‘call of duty’.
That mission was to secure seats to the group’s historic comeback show especially for their first three opening dates at their home ground in Goyang Stadium on April 9, April 11 and April 12.
And a frenzy it was as, within just two days, Live Nation and BTS’ label Bighit Music had announced that all 41 stadium dates across North America and Europe — including the highly anticipated three‑day opening shows at Goyang Stadium — had sold out during the pre‑sale and general on‑sale windows.
Although BTS will also be performing in KL on December 12 and 13, several Malaysian ARMYs just couldn’t resist the thought of catching the opening shows of their beloved idols.
Equipped with high-speed internet, patience and lots of prayers, these Malaysian ARMYs had gone the extra mile in trying to secure seats for the opening show of the Arirang World Tour.
Cyber cafes and ticketing prep
Ticketing battles nowadays are mostly done online, and although having a working internet connection would suffice, several local fans still opt to do their battles at places with high‑speed internet just to be safe, with many flocking to their nearest cyber cafes as the best option.
Nadia Iskandar told Malay Mail that despite her arriving at her local cyber cafe an hour and a half early and joining the ticketing queue at 7pm sharp, her queue number was still at around 120,000.
The 36-year-old, who works as a Human Resource executive at a cybersecurity firm, said that during the D-day, she was feeling rather anxious and had even lost her appetite briefly.
“I didn’t really eat much and just spent the day counting down until I could go to the cyber cafe and get ready for the whole process.
“Surprisingly, I always seem to feel calmer the closer ticketing (time) gets,” she said.
Despite her high queue number, Nadia was surprised that once she got into the actual ticket buying page, the whole process was smooth as butter, and she managed to secure a seat for the April 9 concert in just minutes.
She was even surprised by how smooth the process was, comparing it to her attempt in trying to buy the 2023 Coldplay in KL concert tickets where she didn’t even manage to get into the buying page.
As for 27-year-old accountant, Anis Syahira, she and a couple of friends had also gone to their nearest cyber cafe for the ticketing battle and were surprised to see other Malaysian ARMYs who were also there for D-day.
After waiting around for an hour, she finally got her Goyang Stadium seat.
However, her other two friends were out of luck as they couldn’t secure their tickets due to website issues even after sticking around until the pre-sale ended at around 11pm.
“I only went to cyber cafe for BTS-related ticketing, not for other groups — because the truth is, even if you have money and high-speed internet, it still won’t assure that you’ll get the tickets as there might be other issues that might arise, so you’ll need luck too.
“And I don’t want to risk my chances, which is why I just try to get to a place with the fastest internet and compatible devices and just pray a lot,” Anis said, adding that there were also around 15 other Malaysian ARMYs at the cyber cafe she was in during D-day.
Another local ARMY who just wants to be known as Azniza had gone to two different cyber cafes as she wanted to make sure to get the best spot for her ticketing battle.
The 43-year-old housewife then decided to settle down at a cyber cafe in the Damansara area, where she managed to secure her Goyang Stadium ticket, and she was even close to buying another ticket for the BTS Paris concert but failed after the website crashed just as she was about to make payment.
Despite going to a cyber cafe with high-speed internet and compatible devices, there is no guarantee the website will not crash — even at the final stage of purchase.
This was the situation for another local ARMY Nursyafiqa or better known as Kiera, who almost lost her seat because she was being a bit choosy with her seating choice.
“I wanted to look for a specific seat until an ‘access denied’ page came on — I can’t lie, I almost cried because this was my first time experiencing it.
“So I just tried clicking each seat or whatever necessary because I am not going back to the queue of thousands and thankfully, at the end, it was a success.
“This ticketing was truly a test of my past ticketing experiences,” Kiera said.
The 29‑year‑old F&B administrator at a private hospital added that she has been preparing herself for the ticketing battle by going to other websites with ongoing ticket sales and trying to buy them to test the website flow, the payment options available, and to keep a look‑out for other details she might need to prepare, such as her passport number or other identification details.
During the BTS ticket-buying process, she would also keep tabs on the official website on her mobile phone so as not to miss any updates.
Damages done and more battles ahead
All in all, the fans have spent roughly between RM570 and RM700 for their concert tickets alone while their accommodations range between RM350 and RM580 per night as some of them, such as Kiera, managed to secure a dormitory to accommodate her during her stay.
Meanwhile, their round-trip flight ticket prices range between RM1,800 and RM2,000.
Most of the fans have had experiences going to overseas concerts and they are very excited to finally get to catch BTS performing live again, especially being able to experience the first-ever comeback concert by the group, which made it all the more worthwhile.
However, the battle doesn’t stop there as these Malaysian ARMYs will also be joining the ticketing battles for when BTS comes to KL later this year.
Kiera, who has been following BTS since 2014, managed to catch the Bangtan Boys when they came to Malaysia previously in 2015 and she is excited that they are returning again.
Azniza predicts that the upcoming Malaysian shows will be historic, especially if it’s happening at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium, which could accommodate up to 85,000 fans.
She added that the accessibility of the stadium would make it easy for travelling fans.
As for Anis and Nadia, both of them are expecting another uphill battle when it comes to ticketing for the Malaysia shows and they are also expecting a lot of scalpers who would join in the eventual ticketing battle.
“I think it will be much harder than Goyang because there are just so many people that have been waiting for BTS to return to Malaysia, and I think the ticketing will be a bloodbath,” Nadia said.
As of now, aside from the dates, no further details have been shared about the BTS concerts in Malaysia.
Malay Mail – Malaysia
