BTS Army celebrates at Oracle Arena for 'Love Yourself' concert in Oakland
OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) -- Thousands of young fans, better known as the BTS Army screamed and cried as their favorite boy band from South Korea brought their 'Love Yourself' Tour to Oracle Arena on Wednesday. Fans say the band performed for more than two hours.
Before the show, fans cheered "BTS" in the parking lot while some recreated the band's choreography moves in the parking lot. "We've been here since 8 a.m., we're super excited, BTS has changed our lives, " said the Mendez family from Sacramento.
"They make really good music and they are seven humble guys," said Sacramento resident Junior Saeturn. "They do so much for us we just want to give back to them. They give us life advice through their music and they teach us how to love ourselves and feel confident with ourselves and it's a really powerful message they send to their fans. That's why we love them. Not just because of their looks."
VIDEO: K-Pop mania in Oakland for BTS's 'Love Yourself Tour' at Oracle
Saeturn was one of many with a general admission ticket, who started camping out on Monday in order to be the first to grab a spot in the first come, first serve pit near the stage.
Jocelyn Salazar from Fontana told ABC7 she'd been camping out since Monday night because, "I love them so much and they've worked so hard for this."
Castro Valley resident Jocelyn Chan add, "It's crazy, but like, I feel like it's definitely worth it cause they're amazing and I can't wait to see them in person cause I've been waiting so long for this and they've finally come to the Bay Area so I'm so happy about this."
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One woman in line from Southern California told ABC7 she didn't have tickets to the show, she was just there to buy shirts. She said they sold out of shirts at the Los Angeles show. She planned to spend about $900 on BTS merchandise.
Many fans say they were there for the music and also the positive message in the band's lyrics, which is also the name of the tour: "Love Yourself."
Some fans told ABC7 they had DoorDash bring them food while they waited in line.
They passed the time getting to know other fans in line. And watching BTS videos on YouTube, of course.
Fans say BTS is more than a band, it's a following. Their music has a positive message. "I feel like they've helped a lot of people grow more confident, they talk about self love a lot," said BTS fan Lulu Burns.
Many parents brought their kids to the concert but some admit they don't get it. "What planet are we on? I don't know who they are but my daughter wanted to see them so here we are," said Mike Capperauld from Brentwood.
VIDEO: BTS fans in SoCal celebrate South Korean boy band's 5th anniversary
Tickets were available on the secondary market. On Stubhub, they started at about $470.
According to Stubhub, this was one of the top selling concerts this fall. They note that BTS outsold The Eagles, Beyonce and Jay Z, Journey and Def Leppard.
The group also just found out they have been nominated for an American Music Award for Favorite Social Artist.
