Stray Kids adds dates after US shows sell out

As fan chants and sing-alongs are back at K-pop concerts, Stray Kids is proving once again its worldwide popularity – selling out its US shows so fast that its label added extra shows in Los Angeles and Newark, New Jersey.

The band‘s agency JYP Entertainment said Monday that it has added two more North American dates to its second world tour, dubbed “Maniac,“ which will kick off in Seoul this week.

The announcement came after the band‘s tickets for shows in seven US cities sold out. In response to the growing demand for the band’s offline gigs, the act said it would hold two additional concerts on June 28 in Newark’s Prudential Center and July 10 in Los Angeles’ Kia Forum, respectively.

The tickets for the band’s concerts in Seoul also sold out immediately. The three day run of shows starts Friday at the Jamsil Indoor Stadium.

After its Seoul gig, the band will head to Japan, where they will perform a series of live shows in Kobe from June 11-1 and Tokyo from June 18-19 before flying out to the US.

The upcoming tour marks Stray Kids’ second international tour in nearly two years since it last hosted its first-ever world tour, “District 9: Unlock,” in 2019. The band had hit Asia for 10 shows, visited the shores of North America for eight live events, and held six performances in Europe. But the ongoing pandemic kept the band from freely crossing over borders for concerts. 

With its “Oddinary” album, released in March, the octet landed atop the iTunes top albums chart in 53 regions, including the United States, Germany and Australia. Not only did the band sweep multiple charts across the globe, but it also stayed on top of music charts at home.

The title track “Maniac” sat on No. 1 on iTunes top songs chart in 35 regions and the worldwide iTunes songs chart. The track hit global streaming platform Spotify’s global top 200 chart at No. 2, surpassing the band’s previous record-high of No. 86 by “Thunderous,” from its second LP released last August.

The most popular albums of the week in the US are ranked on Billboard 200 and are measured by equivalent album units comprising physical album sales and other digital sales records.

The band’s latest EP notched the top spot on Billboard 200 with equivalent album prints earned in the United States in the week ending March 24.

With the feat, the group debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s main albums chart through its latest seven-track package, listing itself as the third K-pop group after BTS and SuperM to notch the chart’s top spot. It was also the K-pop act’s first entry into the chart apart from the chart-topper record.

Debuting in March 2018 under pop powerhouse JYP Entertainment, Stray Kids has grown into a K-pop juggernaut. Last year, the band put its talents on full display through a survival program, “Kingdom: Legendary War,” and became the final winner among boy bands iKON, SF9, Ateez, The Boyz and BTOB.

The eight-piece group includes Bang Chan, Lee Know, Changbin, Hyunjin, Han, Felix, Seungmin, and I.N.

Stray Kids also released JYP Entertainment’s first million-selling album with it’s second long-player, “NO Easy.”

By Park Jun-hee (junheee@heraldcorp.com)