 |
| A poster for SMTOWN LIVE 2022: SMCU EXPRESS, set to be held in August in Japan / Courtesy of SM Entertainment |
By Lee Gyu-lee
K-pop powerhouse SM Entertainment will be resuming the offline concert tour, SMTOWN LIVE, for the first time in about three years since 2019, starting in Japan.
The agency, which houses big K-pop stars like BoA, EXO, and aespa, announced Tuesday that it will be holding "SMTOWN LIVE 2022: SMCU EXPRESS" from Aug. 27 to 28 at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo.
The two-day concert will host performances from the agency's various K-pop groups, including TVXQ, Super Junior, Red Velvet, NCT and aespa. Taeyeon and Hyoyeon of Girls' Generation will perform a duet, while Onew, Key and Minho of SHINee and Suho, Chen and Kai of EXO will also perform as a team without the rest of the group members.
The agency's concert tour brand, SMTOWN LIVE, has held a number of concerts in different cities around the world, such as New York, Los Angeles, Shanghai, Bangkok and Paris, since 2008.
SMCU Express is the brand's concept that falls under the agency's SM Cultural Universe ― a fictional world that brings its K-pop artists under one umbrella ― for its global fans to enjoy performances of the artists.
On Jan. 1 this year, the agency held SMTOWN LIVE's online concert, which was streamed to 179 countries and recorded about 51 million views.
