Two weeks after their World Cup Final Halftime Show performance in the same stadium, BTS gave New Jersey the complete two-and-a-half-hour version.
BTS perform during their Arirang tour at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on August 1, 2026.
Leonardo Munoz/AFP via Getty Images
Less than two weeks ago, the world watched BTS take the field at MetLife Stadium for the first-ever World Cup Final Halftime Show, performing “Dynamite” on a bill alongside fellow global superstars Madonna, Shakira, Coldplay and Justin Bieber. It was an all-too-short flex of the septet’s showmanship with the few minutes reminding the world why they belonged on the planet’s biggest stage.
On Saturday (Aug. 1), BTS returned to the same venue with two and a half hours to show what they could really do. Night 1 of BTS’ MetLife run was a near-nonstop ARIRANG showcase with nearly every song from the multi-week Billboard 200 chart-topper performed plus some classic hits and fan favorites. The guys only paused mostly to thank ARMY for showing up and turning up. Absent was any direct extension of the collective statement the members issued earlier this week announcing they would not submit their music to this year’s Grammy Awards. ARMY, however, had plenty to say, and those messages made it to the jumbotron (read on for those messages).
