In 2016, Seventeen was one of the many K-pop bands that performed at the Seoul World Cup Stadium for the joint K-pop event "Dream Concert." Its fandom, Carat, filled a small section of the stadium.

Eight years later, the boy band filled the stadium by themselves for a four hour concert, entertaining some 35,000 Seventeen fans for its “Follow Again” encore concert.


“One of my biggest dreams started from this very place: when I saw the one section [of seats] where Carats sat, I thought to myself whether we’d ever fill the stadium together. That was such an unrealistic dream, but we’ve now achieved it after relentlessly running for years,” Seventeen’s The 8 said during the band’s “'Follow Again’ to Seoul” concert held at the Seoul World Cup Stadium in Mapo District, western Seoul on Saturday.

Despite being the second largest stadium in Korea, Seoul World Cup Stadium mostly functions as a home to FC Seoul and the National Football Team of Korea. It used to host the annual joint K-pop event "Dream Concert" until 2021, and since then, the stadium rarely hosts musical acts.

“I was one of the co-presenters [of ‘Dream Concert’] not long after we made our debut, and when I spoke in Chinese, I could see the first-row audiences being surprised to know that I spoke Chinese,” Jun, one of the two Chinese members of Seventeen, said.

“But now, all Carats here know and think it’s obvious for me to speak Chinese!”

Fans of Seventeen were proud to witness the band's milestone performance at the Seoul World Cup Stadium.

“To be able to perform in this stadium is a big, big achievement, especially when they started as a relatively small group,” said Chan, a 22-year-old Singaporean fan who traveled to Korea for Seventeen’s concert. While this wasn’t her first Seventeen concert, it was her first time seeing them perform at the World Cup Stadium since she started following the band in 2021.

Seventeen kicked off its “Follow” concert at the Gocheok Sky Dome in western Seoul back in July. The band returned to Incheon for a “Follow Again” encore concert on March 30 and 31 after its tour around Asia, making “'Follow Again’ in Seoul” Seventeen’s third concert in Korea in less than a year. First-timers were excited for their first Seventeen concert experience while returning fans were excited to see the band again.

“They are Seventeen — I’m sure they will do well, and I’m sure the concert will be good,” said Ethel, a Carat who attended a Seventeen "Follow" concert at every tour stop spanning five regions.

On Seventeen’s Saturday concert, the band performed a total of 29 songs inducing four new tracks from its upcoming “17 is Right Here” compilation album which drops on Monday.

Carats energetically cheered for the four new songs the band performed. Three songs were performed by different sub-units of the group: “Cheers to youth” featured the vocal unit of the band, “Spell” was by the performance unit and “Lalali” was sung by the hip-hop unit.

The lead track, "Maestro", was a performance by the full thirteen-member group, where the members dressed in black and used batons to conduct the 35,000 fans in the stadium.

The rest of the concert remained similar to the encore concert held in March as the band played alongside a live band, but featured modifications like different stage outfits. The concert also continued “It’s Carat Time,” a unique session where fans have a mini singalong — without the Seventeen members — as they wait for the band’s next stage.

“We will be releasing our ‘best’ album in a couple of days, a precious album filled with the decade-long history of Seventeen, and I feel like today’s performance was just like the album. I thought of the memories we cherished together as we performed each track,” Woozi said.

“The size of the performance matters for sure, but I think it’s more important for us to share the same [good] feelings together, and I think it was a really fun day today,” Dino said.

“I hope you don’t feel like you are just a little nobody in a big crowd as you return home. You guys are all special and a necessary factor for Seventeen,” S.Coups said.

“We will be performing in even bigger venues with even better facilities and we hope we can make changes, improving the environment and circumstances for the future generations of K-pop.”

BY CHO YONG-JUN [cho.yongjun1@joongang.co.kr]