BTS jumpstarted its first offline concert in two years at the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles on Saturday with its megahits "Dynamite" (2020) and "Butter" (2021), performing in front of approximately 50,000 fans.

The concert titled “BTS Permission to Dance On Stage – LA" will have three more runs on Nov. 28, Dec. 1 and Dec. 2. All tickets have long been sold out thanks to the boy band’s large and famously loyal fandom dubbed ARMY.

The last time the boy band performed in person was in October 2019 before the Covid-19 pandemic hit. But as many nations, including Korea, have started easing their pandemic regulations, K-pop acts are planning returns to the offline stage, both domestically and overseas.

BTS’s concert in Los Angeles also brought along a wave of Korean companies’ marketing campaigns. The boy band’s in-person concert has become an opportunity to promote not only K-pop but also Korean brands and tourism amid the BTS fever that is sweeping Los Angeles.

Korea’s electronics giant Samsung and cosmetics conglomerate Amore Pacific have installed booths nearby the SoFi Stadium, where the concerts are taking place, to promote their products and host various events. Samsung promoted its foldable phones while Amore Pacific distributed samples of a skincare product released in collaboration between its cosmetics brand Laneige and BTS.

Screens around the stadium also displayed advertisements from Samsung and Hyundai. McDonalds, which released a BTS-themed set menu in collaboration with the boy band earlier this year, distributed BTS photo cards and food vouchers to fans visiting the stadium.

K-pop acts are not the only ones eyeing the overseas market once again as pandemic measures have been eased. To fans who attend the concert, the Los Angeles branch of the Korea Tourism Organization is promoting travel to Korea once the pandemic subsides.

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