World, get ready for Beast, Big Bang, Super Junior and other K-Pop acts.
From world tours to music festivals, Korean pop music will be making a lot of noise in 2012.
On Wednesday, more than 10,000 fans at the Bercy Stadium in Paris were treated to the 2012 Music Bank K-Pop Festival, which saw performances from acts like 2PM, 4 Minute, SISTAR, SHINee and Girls' Generation. During SHINee's set, the excitement was a bit much for four fans, who reportedly fainted and were taken to a nearby hospital.
On the same week that Madonna and Lady Gaga announced their extensive world tours for the year, YG Entertainment boy band Big Bang announced dates for its first ever world tour.
The ALIVE tour will take the group to North America, Europe, Asia and South America. American concert promoter Live Nation is behind the 25-city tour, which will be directed by Laurieanne Gibson, who previously worked on Lady Gaga's Monster Ball Tour.
In April, the Korean Music Festival will celebrate its 10th year at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. Organizers are expected to announce this year's line-up in coming weeks.
Click through for some of 2012's most-anticipated K-Pop world tours and festivals (in no particular order).
Did we miss anyone on the list? Which K-Pop act are you excited to see on tour this year? Share your comments below.
Formed in 2009, Beast (sometimes written as B2ST) is already on its first world tour. Titled “Beautiful Show,” the tour kicked off earlier this week with a 2-day gig in Seoul. The 6-member boy band (soon to be 7) is scheduled to play in 21 cities, including Berlin, New York, San Francisco, Vancouver, Bangkok and Hong Kong.Beast is expected to debut their new digital single, the ballad “I Knew It,” during the tour. REUTERSSM Entertainment’s contemporary boy group, SHINee will be bringing their talents to Japan this spring for 14 concerts. The Japan tour, scheduled to begin on Apr. 25 in Fukuoka, is the group’s first nationwide tour outside of South Korea.REUTERSOriginally scheduled for Jan. 13, the San Francisco show is now slated to take place in April. Female pop group T-ara (pictured), the duo Davichi and Yangpa (Lee Eun Jun) are all expected to play.REUTERSSuper Junior is currently in the middle of its tour, which started in Seoul on Nov. 19. The boys are due for a double header at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on Feb. 18-19, followed by shows in Macau, Bangkok and Tokyo.The nine-member Super Junior is touring in support of their latest album, “Mr. Simple,” which has sold more than 473,000 copies since its August 2011 release.REUTERSThe girls are actually near the end of their tour of Asia, which began back in July 2011 in Seoul. All 9 members are due in Bangkok on Feb. 12 to wrap up the “Girls’ Generation Tour.” The sold out Thailand gig broke the record for the fastest concert to sell out in the country, with tickets at around $200 USD a pop.Their new album, “The Boys” will be released the following day in Japan.REUTERSJaejoong, Yoochun and Junsu (JYJ) are almost finished with their world tour, which began nearly a year ago in Bangkok. In January, the group announced two South American dates -- Mar. 9 in Santiago, Chile and Mar. 11 in Lima, Peru.The tour is in support of JYJ’s second studio album, “In Heaven,” which has spawned the hits “In Heaven” and “Get Out.”REUTERSNow in its 10th year, the Korean Music Festival draws crowds of more than 18,000 at the legendary Hollywood Bowl. Expect the line-up (TBA) to be just as impressive as last year’s, which included the likes of U-KISS, SISTAR, 4minute, Jay Park and K. Will.KMF is scheduled for Apr. 28.The Korea TimesThe London K-Pop festival is merely a rumor at the moment, but all fingers are pointing the event to take place June 2-3, just in time for the Summer Olympic crowd.REUTERS
