BTS officially kicked off the ARIRANG World Tour on April 9, 2026, at Goyang Stadium in South Korea, and the opening night delivered exactly what ARMY had been waiting years for. All seven members performed through torrential rain for approximately two and a half hours, powering through a 23-song setlist that balanced new tracks from the ARIRANG album with career-defining hits.
BTS ARIRANG World Tour Opening Night at a Glance
| Detail | Info |
| Date | April 9, 2026 |
| Venue | Goyang Stadium, Goyang, South Korea |
| Total songs performed | 23 |
| Show duration | Approximately 2.5 hours |
| Live debuts | 4 songs |
| Songs returning since 2021 | 2 songs (Not Today, I Need U) |
| Tour continuation | Tokyo next, then North America, Latin America, Europe, Australia, and more through March 2027 |
Full BTS ARIRANG World Tour Setlist – Goyang Night 1
The show ran across two main acts and an encore. Here is every song performed in order:
Act 1 – The Return
| # | Song | Album / Notes |
| 1 | Hooligan | ARIRANG (2026) — show opener |
| 2 | Aliens | ARIRANG (2026) |
| 3 | Run BTS | Proof (2022) — remix |
| 4 | They Don’t Know ‘Bout Us | ARIRANG (2026) — live debut |
| 5 | Like Animals | ARIRANG (2026) — transition into Fake Love |
| 6 | FAKE LOVE | LOVE YOURSELF: ‘Tear’ (2018) — remix |
| 7 | SWIM | ARIRANG (2026) |
| 8 | Merry Go Round | ARIRANG (2026) — live debut, extended outro |
Act 2 – The Power Set
| # | Song | Album / Notes |
| 9 | 2.0 | ARIRANG (2026) |
| 10 | NORMAL | ARIRANG (2026) |
| 11 | Not Today | Wings: You Never Walk Alone (2017) — first time since 2021 |
| 12 | MIC Drop | LOVE YOURSELF: Her (2017) — Steve Aoki Remix |
| 13 | FYA | ARIRANG (2026) — transitions into Fire |
| 14 | Fire | Youth (2016) — remix with FYA elements |
| 15 | Body to Body | ARIRANG (2026) |
| 16 | IDOL | LOVE YOURSELF: Answer (2018) — remix, extended outro |
Encore – The Emotional Finale
| # | Song | Album / Notes |
| 17 | Come Over | ARIRANG (2026) — live debut |
| 18 | Butter | 2021 single |
| 19 | Dynamite | BE (2020) |
| 20 | Mikrokosmos | Map of the Soul: Persona (2019) |
| 21 | I Need U | The Most Beautiful Moment in Life, Pt. 1 (2015) — first time since 2021 |
| 22 | Please | ARIRANG (2026) — live debut |
| 23 | Into the Sun | ARIRANG (2026) — live debut, reprise with fireworks |
How the Setlist Breaks Down by Category
| Category | Songs |
| ARIRANG album tracks | Hooligan, Aliens, They Don’t Know ‘Bout Us, Like Animals, SWIM, Merry Go Round, 2.0, NORMAL, FYA, Body to Body, Come Over, Please, Into the Sun |
| Classic BTS hits | Run BTS, FAKE LOVE, Not Today, MIC Drop, Fire, IDOL, Butter, Dynamite, Mikrokosmos, I Need U |
| Live debuts (night 1) | They Don’t Know ‘Bout Us, Merry Go Round, Come Over, Please, Into the Sun |
| Returning after 2021 absence | Not Today, I Need U |
Out of 23 songs, roughly 10 came directly from the ARIRANG album, representing nearly the full record performed live for the first time.
The Four Live Debuts from Opening Night
Four tracks received their very first live performance at Goyang, which made the night significant beyond just being a tour opener:
They Don’t Know ‘Bout Us arrived early in Act 1, landing as one of the first major emotional moments of the evening. Fans had been listening to the track since the album dropped on March 20, which made hearing it fill a stadium for the first time something genuinely different.
Merry Go Round followed later in Act 1 with an extended outro. Its psychedelic production translated well to the stadium setting and gave the first act a distinct change of pace before the energy ramped back up.
Come Over opened the encore, which meant the emotional closing stretch of the show began with another live debut. The placement worked well as a bridge between the high-intensity Act 2 and the more reflective songs that followed.
Please and Into the Sun both debuted in the final stretch, with Into the Sun closing the entire show alongside fireworks and a reprise. The closing moments, where all seven members performed the final section together, ended the night on a note that the crowd at Goyang Stadium responded to strongly.
The Two Songs Returning After a Long Absence
Not Today and I Need U had both not been performed since 2021. Their return at Goyang carried particular weight given the four-year gap, during which all seven members completed mandatory military service in South Korea.
Not Today arrived in Act 2, coming right after NORMAL and directly before MIC Drop. The song’s original theme of resilience and persistence landed differently in the context of a full comeback, and the crowd response reflected that.
I Need U appeared in the encore, positioned between Mikrokosmos and Please. The combination of its emotional weight as a track and the years since its last live performance made it one of the most discussed moments from opening night.
Notable On-Stage Moments
A few unscripted details from opening night are worth knowing before you attend a later show on the tour:
RM performed through an ankle injury. Three weeks before the Goyang shows, RM sustained a torn ligament. He addressed the crowd directly about it and performed the IDOL section from a traditional sedan chair, still participating fully in the show.
The rain became part of the performance. Rainfall continued throughout the entire show, turning the stage into what Suga described as a water park. Rather than limiting the performance, the conditions created a different kind of connection between the group and the crowd.
V turned a near-fall into an improvised moment during the wet stage conditions, which was widely shared in fan footage after the show.
Jimin acknowledged mid-show that he was soaked through, which reflected the shared experience between the performers and the audience who stayed through the full two and a half hours of rain.
The Show’s Production
The Goyang opening used a 360-degree in-the-round stage with multiple extended catwalks running out from the main platform. Production elements included pyrotechnics, walls of flame, and large-scale LED displays. The FYA into Fire transition was highlighted by flames erupting during the performance, blending the new and classic tracks in a single visual sequence.
The show also saw BTS’s industry peers in attendance, with members of TXT, Stray Kids’ Bang Chan, and IVE’s Wonyoung visible in the VIP sections.
What to Expect at Later Tour Dates
The ARIRANG World Tour continues with two more shows in Goyang (April 11 and 12) before moving to Tokyo. From there the tour travels through North America, Latin America, Europe, Australia, and further parts of Asia, running through March 2027 across 34 cities and 85 scheduled dates.
The Goyang setlist gives the clearest picture of what the show looks like, and the core structure across both acts and the encore is likely to remain consistent. However, BTS typically adapts setlists based on crowd energy and venue, so regional variations, different remix versions, and spontaneous additions are all possible as the tour progresses.
You can watch the ARIRANG World Tour in cinemas via a livestream from Goyang on April 11 and from Tokyo on April 18 in venues worldwide.
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