South Korean idols, including BTS, ATEEZ, BLACKPINK, and LE SSERAFIM, with their strong fan bases and quality performances, have been increasingly featured at large music festivals such as Coachella over recent years.
On Apr. 12, at the Sahara Stage of the Coachella Valley Music Festival in Indio, California, the K-pop boy group ATEEZ greeted the audience with enthusiastic words that were met with loud cheers.
The festival, which began in 1999, has become the largest of its kind in the United States and attracts between 200,000 to 300,000 attendees each year. Artists who perform at the festival are invited by the organizers.
ATEEZ has created history by becoming the first K-pop boy group to perform in Coachella for 60 minutes. The next day, the girl group LE SSERAFIM staged a 40-minute solo performance on the same stage. Both ATEEZ and LE SSERAFIM are scheduled for their second performances on Apr. 19 and 20 at Coachella.
K-pop idols are increasingly being featured in the lineups of famous international festivals like Coachella. In June, Seventeen will be the first K-pop boy group to take the main stage at the UK’s biggest music festival, Glastonbury, and will headline Lollapalooza in Germany in September.
In August, the boy group Stray Kids will headline at Lollapalooza in Chicago, and the girl groups IVE and VCHA will appear as guest performers.
Global festivals often invite K-pop groups because of their large fan base, which can attract large crowds.
BTS member J-Hope made history by headlining Lollapalooza in Chicago in 2022, becoming the first K-pop artist to do so and setting records for the highest number of tickets sold by any artist.
Additionally, K-pop groups are often preferred because fans enjoy seeing stages that incorporate Korean cultural elements.
For instance, during their performance at Coachella on Apr. 12, ATEEZ featured stage visuals decorated with traditional Korean decorations such as Jagae (a decoration made with mother-of-pearl), as well as choreography that incorporated traditional dances like the Ganggangsullae and Lion Dance, all of which were performed to a total of 10 songs. ATEEZ’s performance at Coachella’s first day was also highly praised by Billboard, who dubbed it the “best moment” of the day.
Also, in last year, the girl group Blackpink, the first Korean girl group to headline at Coachella, earned acclaim for their use of traditional black Hanbok costumes, a stage set inspired by Hanok rooftops, and large feather fan dances.
However, S. Korean idols, who rely primarily on lip-syncing to pre-recorded songs, also struggle to meet the expectations of festivals that prefer live singing.
After their performance on Apr. 13, LE SSERAFIM received criticism for their unstable live performance, which surfaced on social media.
Kim Do-heon, a music critic, stated, “Fans who attend festivals prefer live performances over polished choreography. In addition to impressive staging, there is also a need for thoughtful musical arrangements and diverse presentations for K-groups.”
