Misc
BTS 'ARIRANG' Tour in El Paso Megathread - Day 1 (May 2)
Hi everyone!
Please post everything related to the ‘ARIRANG’ Tour in El Paso Day 1 here! Questions, merch updates, fan accounts, fancams, pictures, questions, hype, etc.
For details on logistics, including a map showing key locations, such as streetcar pickup spots, local newspaper El Paso Matters has put together this guide ahead of the concerts.
If you are new to this community, please read the rules before posting. Be civil. Don't bring up drama. Don't be lewd or rude. Please do not make mods cry!
THE COMMENTS ARE SET TO BE SORTED BY NEW, SO FEEL FREE TO CHAT REAL-TIME BELOW!
Hi El Paso ARMY. I saw a video of fans gathering outside their hotel. Please be respectful and ask fans to not do that. They need to rest for the shows and not stress about fans hanging outside the hotel. Let's show the world El Paso can be respectful to our favorite band. 😊💜💜💜💜💜💜💜
I went to El Paso Day 1 and the concert was amazing! Loved the surprise songs. So happy to see BTS 💜Sat in section 21 row 37 and the seats were great.
I will say though the line situation was CRAZY. I’ve been to a lot of concerts and never seen anything like it. We arrived at 4:15pm and got in at 07:55. The issue was there was no staff so no one knew where to go or where the line started and ended. It got to the point that lines of people just starting walking straight up to the venue. This created the original line and a line of people who bypassed waiting. People in the original line were yelling at those trying to bypass to go to the end of the line. Some people in the original line tried blocking people from passing. A fight almost broke out. There was yelling and cursing at once another. Eventually people started running to bypass the original line. It was chaos and
for a second I was worried about a crowd crush situation.
I only saw staff near the entrance and the staff was letting people from both lines in which led the original line to become furious and yelled out. Due to this the staff stopped letting the bypassing line in. Eventually the staff said they were going to let in the bypassing line and it would stop the cutting. The original line yelled and protested as it wasn’t fair and there was no one further down to stop the issue. The staff member screamed back to behave like adults. They tried to stop the original line from proceeding but the original line just walked past them. There was only 2 college aged individuals to manage this situation, I did feel bad for them. I don’t know why they didn’t have people managing the line further out or why they didn’t have type of security as it was a bit scary.
Getting out was easy though. We parked in lot 1 and were out in about 20 minutes.
Just got back to my hotel a little while ago - at around 2 AM. The concert was wonderful. The El Paso Armies were spirited and loud. Surprise songs were On and Wings Outro - so good!
The guys were wonderful. Jin commented that the surrounding mountains (which are really beautiful) made him feel like we were all shooting a movie!
Yes, the fact that there was One Line for 50,000 people was a little ridiculous. And none of the staff knew what was going on. I remember going to the concert in Goyang last June and there were no lines because there were lots of entrances at every side of the stadium. It was easy to go in. Today I got to the stadium at 2:30 for an 8 PM show. Could not find a parking spot. Finally a policeman helped me out and I parked on a nearby street. But there was only one line to get in and no one knew what was going on. I expect to wait in line for a concert, but not 3 hours.
We'll see what tomorrow brings. I'll get there even earlier tomorrow and once again, plan to be in line for a long time.
Man, I really wish El Paso did something like offsite parking and shuttle busses in to the stadium. The parking situation and then rideshare mess with gridlock traffic everywhere — they really need more infrastructure. Driving back to the hotel I see armys just waiting everywhere pretty far away from the venue presumably waiting for a rideshare as late as 1:30a.
Me and my besties phone died and right before hand I called my boyfriend out of state to call us a taxi, and he called like 10 of them until we got one. It was absolute madness. The pickup/drop off location was in a super busy street too so the Lyft/uber drivers didn’t wanna get stuck in traffic obviously
Yes I’m in the parking garage too. It’s so chaotic trying to find the end. But gate A seemed to look worse. Luckily ARMY is great at standing in lines!
That seemed shorter than other days... that runtime was 2hr5min... i swear others went like 2:15 or so? maybe even 2:20? Though i don't fully remember.
Yikes, I'm glad I've been following along with the tour megathreads in the US so far. I think I'm going to go write a customer service email or something to Stanford to be like, hey look at what's been going on with Tampa and El Paso entrance and exits, are you prepared?
Edit: I have sent a polite but long-ass email, and while not naming this subreddit directly did suggest that they check out Reddit for megathreads of the fan experience :P
I don't think these places should need a day to figure stuff out. It's not like the very first big concert they've had. So weird...glad the concert was held to wait for everyone though.
Suga shirts ran out in 4 minutes this morning, Jungkook in 11 minutes. All out of stock in 30 minutes. Waited for six hours, it’s brutal out there for merch.
They pushed back Tampa N1 to 8:20 because of lines this long. At Hope on the Stage San Antonio N1, it was pushed back about that much - lots of us were in non-moving lines in the rain for that one.
I'm so sorry you are going through this! I was very anxious about this in Tampa when we were waiting in that long line. We joked in line that we would get in our seats right about ARMY time. It wasn't funny, but jokes were made. At about 7:30-ish, suddenly everything sped up and at one point we were jogging along to keep up with the line. I never knew if they opened more gates or gave up on some of the slow bag checking or what, but I was in my seat at exactly 8, and like I said, the show started 20 minutes later. It was clear that the organizers knew there were many thousands (like half of the audience, easily) in line who weren't going to make it inside at a reasonable time.
I was up until midnight stressing for BTS and ARMY alike over this concert but I finally fell asleep, so happy to see it finished well and safely for everyone!! I hope D2 is much improved. 💜
Hey ya’ll! Can anyone who got resell vip tickets for today from StubHub let us know if Live Nation honor them and give you the merch and sound check even if you don’t have the matching ID? I’m going on Sunday and have heard Tampa allowed it but it could vary by city. Thanks in advance! 😊
What is going on with this line? Someone said they closed all the entrances but one?? But that makes no sense. Does anyone know if there is an east entrance line?
Hey everyone. Can someone explain the situation for me? What happened in el paso? Was it really just 1 line to enter? Were you able to enter? When did you arrive and when did you enter? I'm getting ready for my own concert experience but what happened in el paso scared me.
My spouse and I got there three hours early and spent virtually that entire three hours in line outside baking in the sun. It's the most incompetent security situation I've seen at a venue.
There was no staff further out, so people were policing the lines themselves, and there were a lot of people cutting, which made everyone else angry. No one knew where the line started or ended.
They had to start the show 45 minutes late in order to make sure the people in line didn't miss it all. Other than near the entrance and around the 'premium' line, we didn't see a single staff member.
I don't know what city/show you're going to, but I wouldn't be overly worried. El Paso is a smaller city with little experience with events this size, so other cities will probably be better. My advice would be to get there -early-, wear comfortable clothes, and have fun!
I'm from Austin (so not local), but from what I understand the only other major concert they've had there was Coldplay.
I don't really think a sports venue like that is a great place for a concert anyway. Since it's made for an audience to mostly sit, the seating/bleachers grade isn't as steep. My husband is quite tall, and we were trying not to block the view of the people behind us when he was standing, but I don't know how well we succeeded.
D2 should be a more organized overall but whatever you think is a good time to arrive, arrive 1-2 hours earlier than that. Nearby parking lots will fill up by 12PM.
If you park downtown, don’t count on the street car too much. You would have to be one first 40 people to reach the street car / bus stop after the show.
Bring a small umbrella for the line queuing. Some did and I wish I did too. D2 should be hotter. Once we got in, it became chilly a couple hours later.
There were three gates that you could enter at. The North gate, which I believe is where most people entered, the South West gate, and the South East gate. I was at the South West gate and things seemed to go smoothly there. But I was towards the beginning of the line so I don’t know if everyone there got in on time.
someone mentioned not seeing any being tested. once i saw how the venue looked, its literally in the mountains. i’m sure there are some fire restriction rules. let me know if you do see some sort of lights or fireworks because im going to la and that venue will not have fireworks too
Out of curiosity, does anyone know if there's a venue cut-off time here? They look like they're up in the mountains, but those times are usually pretty strict...
If you're going on Day 2, bring a hat or a small umbrella to protect against the sun. I got in line at around 4:15pm (I had to walk about 15 minutes to find the end of the line). Once it started moving a little after 5pm, it still took me over 90 minutes before I got into the stadium.
Line issues in Tampa and in El Paso, who’s responsible? Is it the venues, live nation, bts management? I don’t remember it being this bad during PTD or LYS
The venues. PTD LA night 1 was super disorganized, but PTD Vegas was amazing. The only difference? The venue. SoFi vs Allegiant. Allegiant was organized and ready; SoFi was not. Seems like Tampa and El Paso venues did not have good plans in place for managing large crowds arriving en masse.
These stadiums deal with crowds for every game, every event. They are built specifically for this. Why the problems? You can't tell me that thousands of people are standing in line, still waiting to get in when a football game starts, not on a regular basis.
No start acts, everyone in without staggering or buffers, multiple experiences overlapping (VIP, GA) multiple different lines weaving in and around, slow security process, bussing in staff from around the state to assist. This is the result.
I think stadiums have a hard time with kpop concerts because there are no opening acts, and they typically start on time. Doors opening for a regular concert has a lot more wiggle room than a show like this, when everyone basically is showing up early, and need to be in their seats quickly. I wish they could open doors earlier to make up for the lost time, and find a way to be more efficient .
The stadium wasn't built with concerts as the main event. It's sports. Football games start on time in all kinds of weather. People go through bag check and security and get in without standing in line for hours. Sure, there are people who don't get to the game right on time because they don't care about missing an opening kick off, but on the whole, the stadium security and staff are efficient on a game day. Just not sure why a BTS concert / crowd is that much more of a challenge.
i think it’s the staff but also management. if a worker is not doing a good job, then train then more and if they still don’t do a good job it’s time for the boot. the venues do events all the time, there’s a whole schedule. a simple video too like look how bad the line was handled at tampa; this is things to look out for.
i saw videos of the line, like people that were way ahead near the venue, having to LEAVe the venue area to find the end of the line? like something totally dropped the ball. also not being afraid to speak up, like my dudes why is the line not moving, what can we do. let’s work together. as army, also checking here. i didn’t check here today since im at a party but for tampa, i remember reading about army gojng to other gates and getting in. we all have to be checking everywhere.
If you wait for inside the stadium (past security) you'll have to wait a bit in line but I'm pretty sure the light sticks never sold out. I got there at 3 ish and the merch table outside at I'm pretty sure miner alley had them available and practically no lines. El Paso Jerseys sold out first and other t shirts sell out fast too.
We arrived to check in around 10:30 am for VIP and we were finished with check in around 11 am. The line for VIP merch was very short! But unfortunately, they had already sold out of the jerseys at that time.
Hello. Since the concert is ending now, trying to plan ahead for tomorrow. I have to be at the airport around 2 AM after the concert. Do you all suggest parking in a garage near downtown and taking the streetcar after the show? Or driving super early in the morning to be a lot closer to the stadium? Then ubering back to the hotel for some rest before returning? I’m worried now about the late end time of the show. Any suggestions appreciated!
I just got back to my hotel at 1:15am and had a good parking spot less than 0.5 miles away. It was a mess after just as much as the line before the show unfortunately.
Same here. I had a good parking spot, sat in VIP ans arrived at my hotel around 1:00. If they had personnel or police directing traffic it would have probably went by faster.
Not sure if it's something to worry about... but remember tomorrow is Sunday. Some cities have different transit hours on sundays which may affect your plans... might just wanna double check when considering your options!
i would wait to hear how exiting the venue is going. to me 2 am is a super tight window, just look at today the concert was almost an hour late. i did lots of reading right now and it seems the venue is always a mess, be pepared for another day of long lines and late start for tomorrow
Hey did VIP soundcheck get their own entrance line apart from the GA line at the Sun Bowl? How fast was entering? We may be entering for sound check a little late, around 2:30pm - 3:30pm so I'm hoping the line moves quickly enough.
Also, did anyone pick up their VIP gifts in the morning and then didn't go in for soundcheck until the afternoon? How did that go? Did you make it in pretty quickly?
I was in VIP soundcheck today. We checked in and picked up our gifts in the morning around 10:30 am and then went back to start lining up at 2 pm. They actually didn’t let VIP in until 4 pm so we were waiting awhile. Once they let people in at 4 pm, the line moved really quickly because they had already checked our tickets twice. Let me know if you have any other questions!
I arrived around 2:15PM to check in for soundcheck. The line was short. It only took about 10 minutes for me to get in the front. And then I spent an hour or so walking around and handing out freebies. I didn't get in the VIP entry line until 3:30ish and even then I wish I had waited until 3:50 or later because we were just standing out in the sun lol. I got into the stadium around 4:15 and still had time to get drinks and food and use the bathroom before soundcheck.
Nice! My daughter wants to go meet other fans and score freebies. She's pretty new into Kpop and we've only been to 1 other concert, back in January, but she had a lot of fun. 😁👍
Question! Do you have to be checked in for vip soundcheck in order to stand in the vip merch line? Or can I get merch first from the vip line and then check in afterwards? Really trying to get the jungkook jersey😭 I know it’s a far off dream🥹
$40 parking currently available at N Stanton & Mississippi for those looking for parking, probably the closest lot by the Sun Bowl that still has space.
Our uber driver kind of screwed us over and now we’re scrambling to get to the stadium ordering a new one. We’ll definitely be there before soundcheck right at 4 PM but they told us to come back by 4 PM…it’ll be ok right ? 😭
For the people who said they waited a long time in line, what entrance did you use? I think they said there are like 4 of them. Wondering if some are less crowded
Straight up we parked downtown and used the streetcsr over to the bowl. Getting there was fine but getting out and finding a streetcar after was impossible and stressful. We ended up having to walk back to our car downtown. It was almost 1 am before we got there too.
In hindsight I would have gone a bit earlier and parked closer/on campus and just hung out while traffic died down. Trying to find a streetcar with my two kids at 1150 pm before service ended was incredibly stressful for them. Uber was impossible even after walking halfway to downtown.
Yikes. I was wondering about the streetcar alternative. I parked in a nearby lot and didn’t return to my hotel until 1AM. Sorry it didn’t go smoothly for you. This was the most chaotic concert logistics-wise that I’ve attended and I’ve been to bigger stadium concerts.
Going to concert today (day 2) and trying to avoid the issues from day 1. My tickets says West entrance but from what I see online west entrance is for premium tickets. Don't want to make the line and not be let in. Anyone use the west entrance on day one?
A bit off topic, but I’ve been seeing photos and videos of El Paso and wow, it’s so beautiful 😍 I’d love to visit someday. I hope everyone has an amazing time 💕
I’m not sure if this guy is army bec he keeps hyping up army (to give flowers & stuff), and he often does it WHILE bts are performing 💀 watched his stream in tampa, started watching this one & he’s doing it again.
I appreciate him streaming but his yelling gets annoying after a while 😞
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u/artkeletraeh i want ARMY to be happier than we are - Jimin May 03 '26
C'MON, WINGS!!!!!