Girl group BLACKPINK announced weeks ago that they would soon be heading to North America. This week the group made a couple of national TV appearances to announce the official dates and venues.
BLACKPINK Makes US TV Appearances Ahead of Tour
Tour Details
From April to May this year, the group will go to six locations, five of which are in the United States. The tour will start at The Forum in Los Angeles, then head to Allstate Arena in Chicago. The group will head to Hamilton, Ontario, Canada for a show at the FirstOntario Centre, and then come back to the United States for shows in Newark, Atlanta and Fort Worth. The population of all venues combined gives the group the potential to reach 100 thousand fans.
To promote this upcoming tour, the group performed on Good Morning America and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert earlier this week. Both shows had a performance of the song “DDU-DU DDU-DU,” but offered different atmospheres. Good Morning America’s venue was smaller, with the studio audience being fans of the group. Colbert’s evening program was a bigger venue with an audience who most likely wasn’t familiar with the group (when fans are confirmed to attend tapings for The Late Show they don’t know the lineup for the show yet). That performance also seemed to have better audio. BLACKPINK also performed at the un-televised Grammy Artist Showcase a day before the 61st Grammy Awards. The Grammy’s also saw K-pop group BTS make an appearance, presenting an award on the broadcast.
The Numbers Behind BLACKPINK
While not having a deep discography, the group has the success that can be measured next to groups like TWICE or Red Velvet. Their last title track “DDU-DU DDU-DU” currently has 665 million views on Youtube. Older song “Boombayah” reached the milestone of 500 million views earlier this week. The most relatable name for the North American audience that the group has worked with is Dua Lipa. The solo artist collaborated with the group for the song “Kiss and Make Up,” as part of her full-length 2018 album.
Upcoming Tour Dates
The tour of North America will be the third of four legs in the BLACKPINK World Tour. The group is set to finish their first leg in March after starting it in November. The group will also be Europe bound in May, heading to five countries and six venues. So far the group has performed in South Korea, Thailand, and Indonesia. They will head to Hong Kong, Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, and Taiwan before heading west.
The group will also see itself making a stop at Coachella in April. The group will be performing on the 12th and 19th at the top American music and arts festival. Notable Korean rock group Hyukoh will also be making appearances on the Sunday dates for the festival.
BLACKPINK’s Fun in America
The group has had their fun while in the country, too. It was noted in their Good Morning America interview that the group went out for dinner together to celebrate Rose’s birthday. Earlier this month Jennie from BLACKPINK was spotted in Los Angeles hanging out with Irene from Red Velvet. The SM Entertainment group is also in North America as they are partaking on their own tour of the continent. Their tour concludes on the 21st of February in Vancouver.
BLACKPINK’s worldwide expansion will be the group’s main focus for the first half of 2019. There are no new releases planned yet, but you never know when something will be on the way.
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