John Legend and Katy Perry’s concerts to be held in Seoul

John Legend and Katy Perry’s concerts to be held in Seoul. February. 27, 2018 07:50. imi@donga.com.
The record and concert market are surprised as the tickets for U.S. pop stars John Legend and Katy Perry are sold faster than expected.

Some 4,000 tickets for John Legend’s concert, which is to be held at the Olympic Hall of the Olympic Park in Songpa, Seoul on March 15, were all sold out in just three minutes on the first day of ticket sales. With continuous inquiries by fans regarding ticket sales, production agency AIM started to review to sell seats with a bad view that are usually left empty in concert halls on Monday.

This also surprised the agency that prepared this concert. John Legend, who released his debut album in 2004, has been a top singer-songwriter for sophisticated rhythm and blues (R&B) and soul. The majority, however, believed that the top star’s golden age was over since the album “Love in the Future” with the song “All of Me” was released in 2013. What brought him back to life was “La La Land,” a musical film, in 2016. Some analyze that although John Legend played a minor role, “La La Land” gained so much popularity as a musical film that John Legend emerged as a “recently discovered outstanding singer” by young generation.

Katy Perry, who will have her first concert in Korea at the Gocheok Sky Dome in Guro, Seoul on April 6, has also seen pretty good ticket sales. Perry is a world-class pop diva who has sold more than 100 million records after gaining her popularity with her third album “Teenage Dream” in 2010. However, she is one of the stars whose popularity in the United States does not match the popularity in Korea. The perspective of the record industry was that Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande made it in Korea but Perry would not seem to work in Korea.

The industry is focusing on the spending pattern of those in their 20s, who are familiar with visual media. People point out that Legend has opened a second golden age with a movie while Perry has been appealing to the young generation by gaining high popularity in video sites including YouTube with dramatic performances like Lady Gaga.