SHINee: SM Entertainment K-Pop Boy Band To Have First US Concerts During ‘SHINee World V’ In March 2017 [Video]
Thanks to the growing popularity of Hallyu or the Korean Wave, K-pop has experienced a dramatic increase in international popularity. However, there is one region that Hallyu had a very hard time breaking into, and ironically, it is technically the most profitable when it comes to all music markets and industries: the United States. There have been attempts by certain K-pop acts to be the first such as Rain and BoA, but they all have fallen short. Even the most popular girl group in K-pop history, Girls’ Generation, couldn’t do it when they had a U.S. release of their album The Boys. Still, that does not mean K-pop acts will stop trying as proven by CL and BP Rania.
But to be frank, K-pop has already broken into the U.S. music industry and market just by doing what they always do. Eventually, enough K-pop fans will result in a demand for K-pop acts to perform in the United States. That reality was realized when 2NE1 booked four concerts in the U.S. and all four of them sold out. It was a pivotal turning point in K-pop, and now other K-pop acts who are popular enough are following right after them. BTS, for example, sold out all their shows in the United States. The same goes for Got7.
Now, another popular K-pop act will be making the trip overseas to perform for the first time in the United States, Shinee. In a surprise announcement, the five-member boy band consisting of Onew, Jonghyun, Key, Minho, and Taemin will have its first U.S. stops during their fifth world tour, “SHINee World V.”
The news was officially announced by concert organizer SubKulture Entertainment in which they confirmed that the SM Entertainment boy band will be performing in the United States, as reported by Koreaboo. The concert stops will be a part of their current world tour, “SHINee World V,” and they will take place this coming March. Unfortunately, there are no exact dates, cities, ticket prices, and packages announced yet, but news that Shinee is performing in the U.S. on tour is good enough for K-pop fans, especially those who are Shawols (official fan club of Shinee), for the time being.
Take note that Shinee has technically performed in the United States as they been featured in both the Korea Times Music Festival and KCON LA. They even had fan meetings in both Dallas and Chicago. Those performances and meetings all help build the demand by American fans for Shinee to hold full concerts.
Shawols! We know how long you've all been waiting for this. "SHINee World V" is coming to the USA in March 2017!! #SHINeeWorldinUSA pic.twitter.com/xl47GOedBg
— SubKulture Entertainment (@SubKultureEnt) January 25, 2017
From what we can discern from previous stops on their “SHINee World V” tour, the group will perform four songs from their recently released sixth Korean studio album 1 of 1 featuring a title track song of the same name (music video attached above). The album itself received plenty of attention for its direction, a modernized twist on the retro genre in which it stretches back to a musical time period ranging from 1980 to 1990. Shinee even went all out with the retro vibe by having one of their special releases for 1 of 1 be a limited edition cassette tape alongside the other album versions.
The announcement of Shinee performing in the United States for the first time during their “SHINee World V” tour is very recent. When more information becomes available, this article shall be updated with the details. The information will most likely be available midway through February as Shinee is currently working on promotions for their fifth Japanese studio album, Five, which will be released on January 27.
[Featured Image by SM Entertainment]
