BTS's Suga to add three August dates to 'D-DAY' tour

One would have thought that Sunday would be the day Suga concluded his world tour, but it turned out the BTS member was finally able to break some exciting news to ARMY, or BTS’s fans, that very day. The singer, rapper and producer announced that...

Suga of BTS performs in Seoul over the weekend for his first world tour “SUGA | Agust D Tour ‘D-DAY’ in Seoul.” [BIGHIT MUSIC]

One would have thought that Sunday would be the day Suga concluded his world tour, but it turned out the BTS member was finally able to break some exciting news to ARMY, or BTS’s fans, that very day.

The singer, rapper and producer announced that he would be holding two encore concerts from Aug. 4 to 6 at the KSPO Dome in southern Seoul. The news was announced during his solo world tour “SUGA | Agust D Tour ‘D-DAY’ in Seoul” at the Jamsil Indoor Stadium, southern Seoul, on Sunday.

Suga, who also goes by the alias Agust D, performed two days in Seoul over the weekend, garnering a total of 15,000 ARMY in attendance.

“2023 BTS Festa,” a celebration of BTS’s 10th anniversary that turned the entire city of Seoul purple and was filled with related events throughout June, has already ended. But fans still turned out in droves for the concert, with many international fans who had flown in for the event carrying their suitcases around as they arrived at the stadium.

Suga of BTS performs in Seoul over the weekend for his first world tour “SUGA | Agust D Tour ‘D-DAY’ in Seoul.” [BIGHIT MUSIC]

On Sunday, before Suga made his stage entrance, a “trigger warning” appeared on the screen, informing the audience that there would soon be stage sounds and effects, including gunshots and lasers, and for them to seek staff assistance if needed. A loud gunshot sound accompanied by fireworks shocked the audience shortly afterward, followed by rain effects.

This was precisely the kind of musical identity the artist has been establishing since his debut and particularly after he introduced his second persona Agust D in 2016; gloomy yet aggressive. In his mixtapes “Agust D” (2016) and “D-2” (2020), which are available for free on streaming platforms like SoundCloud, Suga wasn’t afraid to show his vulnerable and angry side and dealt with topics such as mental health. His frankness continued with his album “D-Day,” released earlier this year.

After the album’s release, Suga toured 10 cities in North America and Asia: Elmont, Newark, Rosemont, Los Angeles, Oakland, Jakarta, Kanagawa, Bangkok, Singapore, and finally, Seoul. Over 280,000 ARMY turned up to see the artist.

The Seoul leg kicked off with two numbers that incorporated traditional Korean music: “Haegeum” (2023) and “Daechwita” (2020).

Suga of BTS performs in Seoul over the weekend for his first world tour “SUGA | Agust D Tour ‘D-DAY’ in Seoul.” [BIGHIT MUSIC]

After performing other upbeat and vigorous tracks like “Agust D” (2016) and “give it to me” (2016), Suga sat down in a chair, pulled out a guitar and started strumming an acoustic version of “Trivia 轉: Seesaw,” his solo track from BTS’s third full-length album “Love Yourself: Answer” (2018).

He continued with “SDL” (2023), “People” (2020) and “People Pt. 2” (2023), the latter featuring singer IU.

“You know how my solo songs are just full of rage,” Suga told fans afterward. “Now I’m aiming for milder music – oh, you want my songs to continue to be angry? Alright then!”

In “Moonlight” (2020), Suga screamed out expletives, and in “Burn It” (2020), fire effects burst out every few seconds while Suga spit out lyrics about burning everything to the ground.

There is no question that his rapping style is fast-paced and hardcore both as Suga or Agust D – and the firework effects maximized fans' concert experience, with the rapper bouncing around on stage and not missing a single beat or lyric.

But his rapping career was not the only thing that stood out on Sunday evening. He proved that his spectrum as an artist had expanded immensely since debuting as a member of BTS 10 years ago, boasting his ability to play not only the guitar (which he had continuously been practicing since the pandemic) but also the piano, which he has played from a young age. His 2016 song “First Love” was even based on his love for the instrument.

Suga of BTS performs in Seoul over the weekend for his first world tour “SUGA | Agust D Tour ‘D-DAY’ in Seoul.” [BIGHIT MUSIC]

And on Sunday, Suga was not alone in that journey.

“It is pretty lonely performing without the members here,” Suga admitted, before pointing to the back of the second-floor seats where Jimin, V, and Jungkook were waving enthusiastically in support of their fellow bandmate.

The concert did not simmer down in the least during its entire two-hour duration. Taking their cue from the fervor onstage, the fans were ferociously waving their ARMY bombs and yelling their hearts out.

“I'm so happy thanks to you guys,” Suga said. “Thank you for gifting me with the best time ever.”

But before he could say that the concert had truly come to an end, he asked, “Are you sad that it’s over?” And that’s when he excitedly shared his news.

To find out more about Suga, check out Celeb Confirmed!

Surrounding the Jamsil Indoor Stadium over the weekend were many international fans, many of which were also carrying around suitcases who had flown in to see Suga for his first world tour “SUGA | Agust D Tour ‘D-DAY’ in Seoul.” [BIGHIT MUSIC]

BY SHIN MIN-HEE [shin.minhee@joongang.co.kr]