May 16, 17, and 19 concerts at Stanford Stadium

May 16, 17, and 19 concerts at Stanford Stadium - Printable Version

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RE: May 16, 17, and 19 concerts at Stanford Stadium - Farm93 - 05-17-2026

(05-17-2026, 05:31 PM)Jamesy Wrote:
(05-17-2026, 04:53 PM)Treebound Wrote: We were there last night and it was wonderful to see the stadium completely sold out and jumping! If only it had been for our football team! The show was enjoyable and I'm not a BTS or KPop fan. Lots of screaming girls and moms, which was good fun to witness. Props to Stanford Live, The Arts leadership and the AD for making this happen across three nights this year. I'm not sure what the AD netted from Cold Play - would love to know what others have heard?

$4-5m sounds within reason for three shows. We were in the press box and there were plenty of staff, faculty and VIPs on hand for the show. They were serving Korean food and Soju along with the normal faire. I think a good time was had by all and it was nice to see some of the BTS guys in Stanford gear including a baseball jersey. Would love to see something a little more main stream next year. My undergrad son and his friends had no interest in this show and they were all heading to Bay to Breakers this morning.

How are they not mainstream if they packed the stadium and had hours long waits for merchandise?

They literally have their own Army. Like many Kpop groups their fans are fiercely loyal and will spend thousands of dollars to show they are true members of the Army. It is a fanbase that has grown in the USA over time, but the instant sellout and crazy merch lines were a function of the Army, not casual fans that one might associate with "mainstream" USA groups.

There are probably a few other Kpop groups that could have produced similar numbers with their fandoms. For example, Blackpink sold out Oracle Park in 2023 right after the Giants' season ended and likely had similar merch hype that year.

Fans scrambling to learn dance moves for tiktok covers.
Fans coming from hundreds, or even thousands, of miles away to attend a concert.
Fans buying crazy numbers of lightsticks and merch.
That's Kpop.

All of that noted...
I am not sure a true "mainstream" USA act would be as lucrative or at least as reliably lucrative. Most USA based acts tour enough that I doubt fans would trek to the ultra expensive SF Area if the group is also performing on tour in dozens of other USA venues over the summer.

I would love to see Stanford use Stanford Stadium for more big events between football seasons, but I suspect the political challenges are too great even if the venue is available 40+ weekends a year.

Getting BTS to bring their tour to Stanford Stadium was a true win for those that made it happen.

RE: May 16, 17, and 19 concerts at Stanford Stadium - 82lsju - 05-17-2026

(05-17-2026, 08:07 PM)Farm93 Wrote: All of that noted...
I am not sure a true "mainstream" USA act would be as lucrative or at least as reliably lucrative. Most USA based acts tour enough that I doubt fans would trek to the ultra expensive SF Area if the group is also performing on tour in dozens of other USA venues over the summer.

I would love to see Stanford use Stanford Stadium for more big events between football seasons, but I suspect the political challenges are too great even if the venue is available 40+ weekends a year.

Getting BTS to bring their tour to Stanford Stadium was a true win for those that made it happen.

I'd be very happy if they booked Springsteen, and yes I went to his last two concerts at the Chase Center so I might be an outlier....

And I think Stanford Live has hopes of bringing more concerts to the stadium

RE: May 16, 17, and 19 concerts at Stanford Stadium - Jamesy - 05-17-2026

(05-17-2026, 08:07 PM)Farm93 Wrote:
(05-17-2026, 05:31 PM)Jamesy Wrote:
(05-17-2026, 04:53 PM)Treebound Wrote: We were there last night and it was wonderful to see the stadium completely sold out and jumping! If only it had been for our football team! The show was enjoyable and I'm not a BTS or KPop fan. Lots of screaming girls and moms, which was good fun to witness. Props to Stanford Live, The Arts leadership and the AD for making this happen across three nights this year. I'm not sure what the AD netted from Cold Play - would love to know what others have heard?

$4-5m sounds within reason for three shows. We were in the press box and there were plenty of staff, faculty and VIPs on hand for the show. They were serving Korean food and Soju along with the normal faire. I think a good time was had by all and it was nice to see some of the BTS guys in Stanford gear including a baseball jersey. Would love to see something a little more main stream next year. My undergrad son and his friends had no interest in this show and they were all heading to Bay to Breakers this morning.

How are they not mainstream if they packed the stadium and had hours long waits for merchandise?

They literally have their own Army. Like many Kpop groups their fans are fiercely loyal and will spend thousands of dollars to show they are true members of the Army. It is a fanbase that has grown in the USA over time, but the instant sellout and crazy merch lines were a function of the Army, not casual fans that one might associate with "mainstream" USA groups.

There are probably a few other Kpop groups that could have produced similar numbers with their fandoms. For example, Blackpink sold out Oracle Park in 2023 right after the Giants' season ended and likely had similar merch hype that year.

Fans scrambling to learn dance moves for tiktok covers.
Fans coming from hundreds, or even thousands, of miles away to attend a concert.
Fans buying crazy numbers of lightsticks and merch.
That's Kpop.

All of that noted...
I am not sure a true "mainstream" USA act would be as lucrative or at least as reliably lucrative. Most USA based acts tour enough that I doubt fans would trek to the ultra expensive SF Area if the group is also performing on tour in dozens of other USA venues over the summer.

I would love to see Stanford use Stanford Stadium for more big events between football seasons, but I suspect the political challenges are too great even if the venue is available 40+ weekends a year.

Getting BTS to bring their tour to Stanford Stadium was a true win for those that made it happen.

Beyonce has the Beyhive, Taylor Swift has Swifties. Every "mainstream" act has their hardcore group of fans.

What do you define as mainstream? They are the most streamed group on Spotify. Have the largest social media following of any band in the world. Had the Billboard #1 song for 18 weeks twice, for two different songs.

I say this as someone who isn't even in to BTS, but hard to not call them mainstream. BTS is more popular than Coldplay. If by "mainstream" USA groups you mean an artist/group who is American, fine, but BTS is squarely in the mainstream American music world.

RE: May 16, 17, and 19 concerts at Stanford Stadium - chrisk - 05-17-2026

Santa Clara County rules currently allow Stanford to hold 3 concerts per year, ending by 10pm.

RE: May 16, 17, and 19 concerts at Stanford Stadium - johnbar - 05-18-2026

Enjoyed the show from the lower bowl. Decent seats; the crowd certainly had a good time. Maybe 75% female?
Stanford did a good job with logistics. We got there early and had paid for "VIP" parking, and everything went pretty smoothly, getting in and getting out. I didn't have the patience for the concession stands, so I was happy I brought my own food.
(Exiting the stadium, there was the bottleneck of getting out through the tunnel, but c'est la vie.)

RE: May 16, 17, and 19 concerts at Stanford Stadium - Treebound - 05-18-2026

Sorry Jamesy regarding my use of "mainstream."
You are correct - BTS is a world wide success and they are tremendously popular.

As stated, I enjoyed the show, the crowd and the fact that Stanford is benefitting heavily from this effort.

Boy bands are just not my cup of tea, as I find them too packaged. Not just BTS, but Boy'z to Men, In sync, etc... That said, The BTS Army was out in full force and it was fun to see it. The message was enthusiastic and positive, which is helpful given the state of the world right now.

RE: May 16, 17, and 19 concerts at Stanford Stadium - Leftcoast - 05-18-2026

(05-18-2026, 08:48 AM)Treebound Wrote: Sorry Jamesy regarding my use of "mainstream."
You are correct - BTS is a world wide success and they are tremendously popular.

As stated, I enjoyed the show, the crowd and the fact that Stanford is benefitting heavily from this effort.

Boy bands are just not my cup of tea, as I find them too packaged. Not just BTS, but Boy'z to Men, In sync, etc... That said, The BTS Army was out in full force and it was fun to see it. The message was enthusiastic and positive, which is helpful given the state of the world right now.

Many of the geriatric classic rock set can still sell out arenas but contemporary touring music looks more international and includes groups like BTS, Bad Bunny, TWICE, The Weeknd, Raye, etc. Some friends of mine were there last night and said K-Pop fans or not the energy in the stadium was wild and infectious. (And they took the sundown hours seriously, ended on time with no encore due to Palo Alto rules).

RE: May 16, 17, and 19 concerts at Stanford Stadium - Jamesy - 05-19-2026

(05-18-2026, 08:48 AM)Treebound Wrote: Sorry Jamesy regarding my use of "mainstream."
You are correct - BTS is a world wide success and they are tremendously popular.

As stated, I enjoyed the show, the crowd and the fact that Stanford is benefitting heavily from this effort.

Boy bands are just not my cup of tea, as I find them too packaged. Not just BTS, but Boy'z to Men, In sync, etc... That said, The BTS Army was out in full force and it was fun to see it. The message was enthusiastic and positive, which is helpful given the state of the world right now.

When Stanford first announced BTS, I was like you, wondering why they couldn't pick a group more mainstream (aka someone who's music Ive heard of), but once I looked them up I realized that it was I who was not with the times. *insert Simpsons meme with principal skinner*

I for one would love to see green day in concert at Stanford. Local band with music I enjoy.

RE: May 16, 17, and 19 concerts at Stanford Stadium - BobK - 05-19-2026

Really old but Sly and the Family Stone at Frost was great. Late 1970

RE: May 16, 17, and 19 concerts at Stanford Stadium - 82lsju - 05-20-2026

we went to the BTS concert last night (Tuesday). It was a great experience. As others have written the crowd was very enthusiastic. And while I had to look up who BTS was when the concert was announced we enjoyed the show. although I'm not quite ready to join the "BTS Army". We were definitely among the more "mature and experienced" audience members there, especially for audience members there without either daughters or granddaughters. We parked on Mayfield near Campus Drive and had no problem entering or exiting campus, we were a ~20 walk to the stadium.

RE: May 16, 17, and 19 concerts at Stanford Stadium - Nobadeer - 05-21-2026

Bravo to LSJU and the AD for the BTS shows (I didn't attend but heard from a friend and BTS "ARMY" member who went on Saturday and Sunday that it was fantastic)

Relatedly - the BTS band members and crew are apparently pickleball fanatics. They wanted to play during their stay in greater Palo Alto, and went online and looked at local private tennis clubs websites for pickleball facilities, and ended up playing at a private club near campus, on two nights!?

The club administrators were obviously surprised and delighted - I can just imagine the text or phone call they received . . . "Hi, can we rent out your pickleball courts tonight? . . . Yes, it's indeed a very unusual request, but we prefer privacy and your courts look very nice. . . . How much? Yes, I think we can afford it, we're about to make $ 60 MM this weekend from our business! We're in the music and dance industry . . . Our name? oh yes, for privacy reasons, please refer to us by a secret code known only to you and us; let's just use the three letters, B-T-S" :--)

RE: May 16, 17, and 19 concerts at Stanford Stadium - BostonCard - 05-22-2026

I have a feeling that conversation began with “My clients…”

BC