BIGBANG Sydney Concert: First K-pop Act at Accor Stadium
BIGBANG played Sydney's Accor Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 31, and its agency, YG Entertainment, says the show made the trio the first K-pop act to headline the venue.
The concert opened the Oceania leg of "XX : Cosmos," the group's 20th-anniversary world tour, and Sydney is the only Australian city on the schedule. G-Dragon, Taeyang and Daesung started with "Fantastic Baby," "Hands Up" and "Tonight," The Korea Herald reported, then moved through "Loser," "Haru Haru," "Lies" and "Bang Bang Bang." Each member also took a solo stage, and the set included "BiiiG," the group's newly released song. The production used a live band, dancers, special effects and fireworks.
Accor Stadium sits in Sydney Olympic Park and is described by The Korea Herald as the city's largest stadium. The Herald noted that Taylor Swift and Coldplay have played there, which gives a sense of the room BIGBANG was asked to fill. The Sydney date was promoted by AEG and Frontier Touring in partnership with Destination NSW, according to the promoters' announcement. Neither the Herald nor the Korean outlet JKN reported an attendance figure, though JKN said the tour's official schedule listed the show as sold out.
The night also ended a long gap. It was BIGBANG's first standalone Sydney concert since its "Made" show in October 2015, the Herald reported. The group returned in 2022 after a four-year absence with the single "Still Life."
The members thanked their fandom from the stage. "Our 20th anniversary was possible because of V.I.P.," they said, according to the Herald, referring to the fan club's name. They added that they hope the night marks the start of more time together with fans.
Sydney follows a run of stadium and dome dates in Asia. The tour schedule shows Taipei Dome on Oct. 10 and 11, Singapore National Stadium on Oct. 17 and Hanoi's My Dinh National Stadium on Oct. 24 and 25 before the group flew south. JKN put the full tour at 39 shows in 19 cities across North America, Europe, Oceania and Asia, a figure that has grown since the tour was first announced with fewer dates.
Next is Bangkok. The group is due at Rajamangala National Stadium from Nov. 7, with The Korea Herald listing both Nov. 7 and 8. Hong Kong follows, then Osaka, Nagoya, Tokyo and Fukuoka through December. The Herald said the tour continues in the new year with Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta and Manila in January and Taiwan in January and February.
The Sydney show also fits a pattern in which K-pop acts are testing Western-style stadium touring outside Asia. A single Australian date at a venue that normally hosts Western pop headliners puts BIGBANG, formed in 2006, in that category on the strength of a catalog that fans in the crowd could be expected to know.
