It’s a sad day for ARMY as Big Hit Music has announced the cancellation of BTS’ “Map of the Soul Tour,” the group’s supposed fourth worldwide concert tour. While it’s heartbreaking that we won’t be able to watch the live performances of tracks on “Map of the Soul: 7” (one of BTS’ most significant albums to date) in person, the decision is ultimately for the best and one that other artists should do, too.
“Our company has worked hard to resume preparations for the BTS Map of the Soul Tour, knowing that all fans have been waiting eagerly and long for the tour. However, due to changing circumstances beyond our control, it has become difficult to resume performances at the same scale and timeline as previously planned. Therefore we must announce the cancellation of the BTS Map of the Soul Tour,” wrote Big Hit in the announcement posted today, Aug. 20, on fan platform Weverse.
Prior to the news, a number of fans were still holding out hope even though the concert’s North American leg and schedules in Europe and Japan were postponed for more than a year. The company apologized and informed attendees of ticket refunds.
Fans trended the hashtag #ARMYWillWaitForBTS to console BTS’ members who have openly talked about how difficult the postponement has been for them. Knowing how much BTS wanted to resume touring, it’s hard not to compare them to artists who still hold big shows and take part in potential superspreader music festivals. In this pan de coco? With a surge in cases of the Delta and Lambda (please no more Greek alphabets) COVID-19 variants?
We’re hoping that more artists consider postponing or, at the very least, have stricter capacity limits for their live shows. While we acknowledge that in-person events can provide more income for more people, the organizers and musical acts must also be made accountable for the safety of attendees even if the decision to go is a personal choice.
Photo courtesy of BTS’ Twitter page
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