Still Fantastic: A decade later, Singapore fans gear up for BigBang’s comeback concerts

SINGAPORE – Some were in school when BigBang first took over their playlists. One was already a working mother.

Twenty years later, these Singapore fans are flying across Asia, paying hundreds of dollars for tickets, and decorating their cars and homes in the K-pop boy band’s honour.

One has a BigBang song title tattooed on her arm and is following the group around the region, while a tutor in her 60s is giving up a branded bag or two to fund her own “Asia-Pacific tour”.

One male fan is always the first in line for merchandise drops, and a Gen Zer who was too young and broke to see her idols in concert before will finally catch them live.

BigBang, widely regarded as the kings of second-generation K-pop, will be staging two sold-out shows at the National Stadium on Oct 17 and 18 as part of their 19-city XX : Cosmos world tour. The tour celebrates their 20th anniversary.

The group, who last performed here in 2016 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium, are returning as a trio comprising leader and main rapper G-Dragon, 38; main vocalist and main dancer Taeyang, 38; and lead vocalist Daesung, 37.

For BigBang fans, knowns as VIPs, the years in between were filled with uncertainty. The members enlisted for military service after 2017. Vocalist Seungri left in 2019 amid the Burning Sun entertainment and sex scandal, and rapper T.O.P departed in 2023.

But now, BigBang are back with a bang. The Straits Times catches up with some of Singapore’s most hardcore VIPs as they count down to the concert weekend.

Following BigBang on a world tour

Priscilla Koh has a tattoo on her arm of the words “Still Life”, the title of BigBang’s 2022 single about bidding farewell to youth.

“In Singapore, you officially leave your youth behind at 35, right? So technically, I’ve just graduated from my youth. That song really helps you reflect on your own life.”

The 36-year-old has been a VIP since 2008. She was in junior college then, watching Family Outing (2008 to 2010), a variety show featuring Daesung.

“I was like, ‘Wow, this guy is really funny’. Then the rest of BigBang also came on the show.”

She caught the band whenever they appeared on television. “I wasn’t into K-pop before that. I thought they were really different from all the other Korean groups.”

Her favourite member is G-Dragon, who writes and produces many of BigBang’s songs. “I respect musicians who are talented and do everything on their own. And he’s a visionary.”

Koh attended their concerts in Singapore in 2012 and 2015, and G-Dragon’s solo shows in 2013 and 2017. “Back then, I didn’t have money to travel, so I could see them only when they came here.”

After 2017, she expected only a brief hiatus while the members did military service. “And then it was, like, eight years of disappearance.”

When G-Dragon announced a solo tour in 2024, she and a group of VIPs decided to attend as many shows as they could. At the tour’s final concert in Seoul, she got emotional when Taeyang and Daesung joined him on stage.

For the XX : Cosmos world tour, she is skipping only the US and European legs, plus Jakarta, Osaka, Nagoya and Fukuoka. “For the rest, I am going. I’m a professional fangirl at this point,” says Koh with a laugh.

She met her travel companions through mutual contacts and pop-up events in Singapore, and 10 to 20 of them meet in each city. Because tickets are hard to purchase in pairs, they often sit apart. “When you sit alone, that’s when you meet new friends.”

Her intensity has surprised those close to her. “My husband was, like, ‘Who are you?’. When we met, there was no idol to chase. My friends also asked, ‘What happened to you?’”

The four-room HDB flat she shares with her 34-year-old spouse, who works in the finance industry, and their dog is filled with posters and merchandise, and her Mini Cooper is decorated with motifs associated with G-Dragon.

“People say, ‘Aiyah, they don’t know you. They won’t remember you’. But that’s not the point. We find joy in supporting them, being at the concert and being part of a larger community.”

Koh already caught BigBang in Goyang, South Korea, in August, but says Singapore will be different. On both concert days, she and her friends are organising a meet-up at the National Stadium to exchange homemade gifts.

“We’ve been waiting a long time. The point is seeing them back in Singapore together, knowing they have a lot of fans here. Hopefully, that will bring them back more often.”

BigBang’s hardcore male fan

By Danny Wee’s estimate, nine in 10 BigBang fans are women. “You don’t often see male fans.”

The 32-year-old belongs to that rarefied group, and he has introduced many friends and colleagues to the band’s music. Singles Lies (2007) and Haru Haru (2008) got him hooked, and he listened to them on repeat on his MP3 player.

He never learnt Korean, but after hundreds of listens, he can sing along to almost all the songs.

Haru Haru is still his favourite. Watching BigBang perform it at US music festival Coachella in April 2026, their first stage together in eight years, made him tear up.

G-Dragon sparked his interest in fashion, and Wee now works in luxury retail. “I have the Buccellati ring he sports, and the necklace from Jacob & Co. I wear it every day.”

Now a working adult, he is making up for the years he could not afford merchandise. He sometimes starts queueing for drops at 4am or 5am, and proudly declares he is always “No. 1” in line.

He owns several generations of light sticks, including the 20th-anniversary edition, and needs an extra cabinet for his collection.

His first reaction to the XX : Cosmos world tour announcement in July was one of stress, as he finds it a hassle to fight for tickets and book hotel accommodation.

He has managed to secure tickets for shows in Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam. He also flew to Goyang for the tour’s opening gig in August.

Unable to get a last-minute ticket, he camped outside the venue. “I could hear all the songs. When you’re surrounded by fans and soak in the atmosphere, it’s fun.”

This weekend will be his first time seeing the group perform together live. He hopes Taeyang will take off his shirt, a running joke among VIPs, and that there will be fireworks, like in South Korea.

“Other than that, I just want to enjoy the moment. Even though my teenage years are over, this concert reminds me of them.”

He says he will remain a fan for as long as the group are active. “If a fan can last 20 years, it’s like loving a wife or husband. It’s hard to cut off.”

The fan who can finally afford a ticket

At 12, Dre Tan printed out a photo of her favourite BigBang member, T.O.P. “I told myself, ‘I’m going to meet this guy in future’.”

The future took a while. When the band brought their Alive tour to Singapore in 2012, she could not afford a ticket, so her older brother bought her a BigBang cap to cheer her up.

When they returned in 2015, she was still in school. “I couldn’t go. I was damn sad.”

Now 26, the former pharmacy technician is studying business at a private university, but has kept saving all along. “I manifested that they would come back. That’s why I go all out now, even though I’m studying, with no full-time job.”

When G-Dragon’s 2025 Ubermensch tour skipped Singapore, Tan travelled to Kuala Lumpur to see him.

She also caught his Formula 1 performance in Singapore in October 2025 and attended a fan meeting in Bangkok in February 2026.

For XX : Cosmos, she has already flown to South Korea, and will attend both Singapore nights and the Kuala Lumpur show in January 2027.

Getting the ticket category she wanted for the latter brought her tears of joy, a first for her. “Usually, I don’t go crazy over idols.”

BigBang’s 2012 song Blue still takes her back. “When I was studying for my O levels, Blue was my go-to. When I hear it now, it reminds me they were there to help me.”

They are also the only group she has stuck with all these years. Addressing her idols, she says: “Thank you for giving me one more chance to experience this, before I end my K-pop era and focus on my studies.”

‘I’ll just buy one or two fewer branded bags’

When BigBang announced their world tour, Veron Wu planned one of her own.

“I told my friends, ‘I’m busy on weekends. BigBang world tour, I also world tour, but mine is Asia-Pacific’,” says the tutor in her early 60s.

After catching them in Seoul in August, she will attend both Singapore shows, then the ones in Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Kaohsiung and Sydney, flying out on Saturdays and returning on Sundays.

“My bank account keeps depleting, but I knew I’d be following them. Just buy one or two fewer branded bags.”

Wu’s obsession started 17 years ago with G-Dragon’s 2009 solo single Heartbreaker. “I thought, ‘This guy looks interesting. He’s so bubbly, so attractive’.”

The mother of two adult children grew up on Cantopop stars such as Jacky Cheung, Leslie Cheung and Andy Lau. “Now, no more Chinese or Cantonese songs. I listen only to K-pop.”

She last saw BigBang in Tokyo in December 2017, with a female friend she bought a ticket for because she was not used to travelling alone. “Our seats were so far from the stage, but we were very happy and stood throughout.”

That companion, who did not know much about BigBang, ended up queueing for two hours in the winter cold for merchandise. She is now a fan too, and will be at the Singapore concert with Wu.

Wu has laid out the 20th-anniversary T-shirt she queued two hours for in Seoul, and put fresh batteries in her light sticks. “I always take along extra. You will feel very upset if they run out during the concert.”

A nail studio’s BigBang designs

All six nail artists at Chio Studio in shopping centre Havelock 2 are VIPs – and they are walking the talk.

So much so that Stacey Law, 34, who opened the nail salon eight years ago, is offering designs tied to XX : Cosmos. Requests for K-pop-inspired nails have been growing, especially when boy bands such as Exo and Seventeen performed here in 2026.

Law grew up with BigBang’s songs and variety shows, so it did not take much to convince her to do that. “This comeback feels like a rare occasion.”

Working from the band’s light stick, posters and albums, she and her staff came up with dozens of designs.

Since the collection launched in September, most orders have been for customised press-on nails, which cost $39.90 to $49.90.

The studio measures customers’ nails down to the millimetre, and customers attach the press-ons themselves at home. Buyers also receive free BigBang stickers, temporary tattoos or keychains.

Many orders come from new customers.

“Some told us they had never had their nails done, but wanted to do something special for the concert. One said she would frame the press-ons after the concert.”

Even some men have come in asking specifically for G-Dragon designs. Most of her customers are millennials, whom she says have spending power.

The ultimate BigBang takeover: Where to catch fan events and pop-ups in Singapore

Collabs among fan clubs

Local fan clubs are mounting their own ground-up efforts to show BigBang some love when they swing into town.

Sgvips, a fan page started on Twitter (now X) in 2013, is running a donation drive to buy wrist lights for concertgoers. Led by two fan site masters and a team of volunteers, the group plans to light up different sections of the National Stadium in coordinated red, blue and yellow.

The account exists mainly for fans to share news and their love for BigBang, said its co-founder, who wanted to be known only as Sarah, who is in her 40s. “We also try to make sure fans get accurate, official information and can check details with us,” she added.

Another fan page, sg_bigbang, has teamed up with sgdragonvip, risewithtaeyang and sgdaesung to form a volunteer committee of eight to 10 people. Until Oct 18, a fan-sponsored advertisement for BigBang will play on an LED screen at Suntec City.

The committee is also running a three-day fan cafe at Second Floor Lab Gelato from Oct 16 to 18, where fans can immerse themselves in a BigBang-themed atmosphere, connect with fellow VIPs and receive fan gifts prepared by sg_bigbang and fellow fan group Always-GD.

Official merchandise booth

Fans can book a time slot at superrareshop.com/appointment to visit the pop-up store and score their official merch before the shows. Singapore-exclusive apparel includes T-shirts, zip-up hoodies and eco bags. Also on sale are the official 20th-anniversary light sticks, mini light-stick keyrings, and other accessories and collectibles. Individual items range from $7 to $215.

When: Until Oct 25, 10am to 10pm daily, with timings extended to 11pm on Oct 17 and 18
Where: Kallang Wave Mall, 1 Stadium Place
Info: str.sg/Nd3y

Light show

As part of a special BigBang Spectra – Light & Water Show, experience an outdoor spectacle at Marina Bay Sands’ Event Plaza as dancing fountain jets, colourful visual projections, dazzling lasers and lava effects move in sync with some of the group’s most iconic anthems, including Bang Bang Bang (2016) and Fantastic Baby (2012).

In addition, watch the three hotel towers and ArtScience Museum facade light up in BigBang’s signature yellow, and catch BigBang’s iconic lotus crown logo projected beneath the Sands SkyPark.

When: Oct 16 to 18, 8pm, 9pm and 10pm; architectural light-up at 7pm
Where: Event Plaza, Marina Bay Sands, 10 Bayfront Avenue
Info: str.sg/DQiJ

Charity pop-up

Founded by G-Dragon, the JusPeace Foundation is hosting an exclusive three-day charity pop-up featuring limited-edition official JusPeace charity bracelets, with prices ranging from $85 a piece to $308 for a set of four. All proceeds directly support mental health initiatives, youth rehabilitation and emerging artist programmes.

When: Oct 16 to 18, 11am to 7pm
Where: Leisure Park Kallang Atrium, 5 Stadium Walk
Info: str.sg/jvXB

Late-night party

Party with G-Dragon’s 2025 Ubermensch world tour official touring DJ KINGMCK. The first 100 BigBang concert ticket-holders enjoy free entry to this exclusive late-night set by the celebrated South Korean at Singapore’s highest rooftop bar and nightclub.

When: Oct 17, 11pm to 3am
Where: Nova, Level 63, 1 Raffles Place
Info: str.sg/9x97

Fashion drop

After a successful run in London, multi-brand retailer Dover Street Market is bringing its exclusive BigBang x Dover Street Market collection and a special installation to Singapore. The drop will include a “Singapore city exclusive shirt” and water bottle.

It is also expected to carry pieces sold at the London store, including two hooded sweatshirts, two zip-up hoodies, a T-shirt, tote bag, pouch and keychain.

Prices for the Singapore collection have not been announced, but items in London ranged from £19 (S$32) to £167.

When: From Oct 16, 11am to 8pm daily
Where: Dover Street Market, 18 Dempsey Road
Info: str.sg/6Ym4

Correction note: In an earlier version of the story, we said that BigBang performed at US music festival Coachella in 2025. This has been corrected. We are sorry for the error.