Orange County Fans of BTS Celebrate the Group’s Return
- Christine Terrisse
- 8 hours ago
- 8 min read
From all corners of O.C. and beyond fans – aka the ARMY – are eagerly awaiting the K-pop juggernaut’s fifth album, which drops today.
More than four years after announcing an extended break from group activities to pursue solo projects and mandatory military service, BTS remains one of the biggest acts in the world. The septet’s fifth studio album, “Arirang,” releases Friday, March 20 at 1 p.m. KST (Korea Standard Time). On the West Coast of the U.S., the album was released at 9 p.m. Thursday.
“Arirang” has 14 tracks, with writing credits from all members, alongside hitmakers like Ryan Tedder, Diplo, Mike WiLL Made-It and longtime in-house producer Pdogg. The first single off the new album will be “Swim,” which is about “moving through life's challenges and moving amidst life's currents.”
BTS’s album artwork is known for its elegant, meaningful design, and “Arirang” is no exception. Both the album's iconography and name tie closely to the group’s heritage. Three red circles against a white background allude to elements of the “taegeuki,” from the Korean flag.
The title of the album “Arirang” (which means “my beloved one”) refers to a folk song familiar and dear to all Koreans that has many different variations. The song has held special significance to Koreans during times of hardship and separation, as during the Japanese occupation between 1910 and 1945 and during the division of the Korean peninsula during the Korean War in the 1950s.
BTS has long incorporated Korean heritage into its work and once performed a medley of the beloved song back in 2016 at KCON France.
The group’s first performance in three years takes place in an unprecedented location: Seoul’s historic Gwanghwamun Square, where it will be streamed live on March 21 on Netflix at 4 a.m. PST.
“Pre-saves” for the album have already surpassed 4 million on Spotify, and dates on the accompanying world tour sold out in minutes, while April concerts in Seoul and Tokyo are being shown in cinemas worldwide. But for local Orange County BTS enthusiasts, part of the worldwide fandom known as ARMY, anticipating the group’s return takes on personal meaning and invites the opportunity to connect with other fans, family and the community.
PHOTO 1: Mother and daughter BTS fans, Nina (left) and Isabel Gaglio, at The Source in Buena Park. PHOTO 2: Nina and Isabel Gaglio pose in front of BTS member Jin’s Laneige skincare ad. PHOTO 3: A close-up of Isabel Gaglio’s walker decorated in BTS stickers. Photos by Christine Terrisse, Culture OC
A mom and daughter’s place to bond
Feb. 26, The Source, Buena Park – Nina Gaglio moved back home to Westminster to help care for her 95-year-old mother, Isabel who can no longer drive. Always close, the mother-daughter duo used to travel more back in the days before the elder Gaglio retired from teaching at the all-boys Catholic school, St. Catherine’s Academy in Anaheim.
From a musical family, Nina enjoyed the reggae and rock scene while her mother used to love attending opera with friends at Segerstrom Center for the Arts. Nina discovered BTS back in the group’s debut year, 2013, and as a tap dancer, she especially connected with BTS’s intricate dance moves.
Gaglio eventually shared her love of BTS with her mom, and the two started attending their first concerts and events together. On a friend’s suggestion, Gaglio created TikTok and Instagram accounts for her mother with the TikTok account now surpassing 14,000 followers.
“Her first concert was ‘Permission to Dance’ at SoFi,” Gaglio says over lunch. “She has her walker, and I made a sign: ‘Great Grandma, BTS ARMY loves BTS.’
“We got out of the car, two cars down, ‘Oh, can I have a photo?’ Sure, no big deal, the other car down: ‘Can I have a picture?’ Sure … everyone was asking for her photo.”
The two are looking forward to the group’s comeback and plan to attend upcoming concerts in Las Vegas and SoFi Stadium. Gaglio plans to make “freebies” (small gifts fans exchange, usually handmade or custom-ordered.)
Often, the pair can be found at The Source in Buena Park, a shopping mall that has become a local hub of K-pop fandom activities. Sometimes they will eat at the outdoor patio at Pelicana, and watch dance showcases that take place in the adjacent courtyard. After our conversation, the two travel upstairs to Seoul Stop, a shop that offers Korean-made goods, and purchase a hanbok-inspired outfit for their puppy who is often in tow.
A working mom finds comfort in music and connection
March 4, Kaju Soft Tofu, Garden Grove – Orange resident Magda Stocks was born in Peru. Immigrating to the U.S. when she was 6 or 7, Stocks grew up in Anaheim. Now at 47, and a married mom of two, she works as a Spanish-language court interpreter and talks about BTS's return on a lunch break at Kaju Soft Tofu.
Stocks, who was introduced to aspects of Korean culture through the group, enjoys the steaming bowls of tofu soup at this popular lunch spot. They help her feel connected to BTS in the middle of a busy workday.
When she was younger, Stocks was into hard rock; her favorite band was Metallica. She was first introduced to BTS by her younger cousins. And while her cousins have since moved on from the fandom, she formed a small multicultural group of friends over Facebook, all local to Orange County, who get together to share their love of the band.
“I was a new mom,” Stocks says of the group’s impact on her life. “I was going through major postpartum depression … I don't know if you've heard Jin’s ‘Epiphany’?” She says of the oldest member’s ode to self-love, “I was, like, very down on myself. I had a lot of negative thoughts and negative feelings, and I just felt like crap, honestly, like I'm not enough of a good mom for this baby. And when I heard that song, when he sang it in the concert, I bawled. This is the song that really just, to me, after liking so many bands and seeing so many concerts, I've never cried at a concert when I saw them.”
Stocks believes BTS’s messaging is positive and important. This time around, she’s especially excited to take her little girl to the upcoming tour.
As a robot named “Dubu” comes to clear the table, it announces its arrival with a little jingle. Our server Richard says that the robot can play K-pop songs, but most of the staff don’t want to hear it. “It can play BTS,” he says, switching it to play one of the band’s biggest hits, “Dynamite," while adding that his girlfriend is a big fan. They too, he says, plan to attend an upcoming concert together.
At a BTS Arirang "yard sale" event in Los Alamitos. PHOTO 1: Trish Hyunh in front of her merch table. PHOTO 2: A seller’s table. PHOTO 3: The photo card craft table. PHOTO 4: Leilani Rondez and her mom, Bea Francine St. Augustin. Photos courtesy of Rebecca Rowe
Merch and Mingling
March 7, Lakewood – Jessi Akers from Los Alamitos runs an ARMY community group, where she organized an “Arirang”-themed “yard sale” ahead of BTS’s comeback. The idea was that ARMY could sell merchandise to each other. Hosted on Saturday March 7 at a residential clubhouse, it turned out to be more like a mini-convention with sellers hosting well-organized tables, a raffle, food and drinks, and a crafting table.
Thirty-year-old Trish Huynh from Anaheim has her own online shop and came here to sell some of her things. An ARMY since 2016, she discovered BTS during a hard time in college. “I'm so excited,” she gushes about their comeback. “I can't wait. Yeah, it's like, even this past year, I'm still listening to their music on repeat. I don’t stand any other group besides BTS.”
Leilani Rondez, 16, and her mother Bea Francine St. Agustin, 36, from Anaheim Hills, greet guests at their nearby booth. Although these days, she is more into the K-pop group Stray Kids, Rondez still loves BTS. “I definitely always will,” the teen emphasizes. “Because they were my first group. And I think getting my mom into it really grew our relationship, because we always had different music types. But then if we both go to BTS and be like, it's always on in the car; we go to events together. We go to concerts. We like to make jokes.”
What’s a cupsleeve?
March 8, Fullerton – Chelsea Harrison is a music blogger who covers K-pop. She lives in San Diego but commutes frequently to L.A. and O.C. With her friend Katie Doan, she runs the Instagram handle @pookiebearevents, where the two organize ARMY fan activities. On Sunday, March 8, at bobaTEAque in Fullerton, they hosted a cup sleeve called “Agust D-verse.” Agust D is the solo alter ego of SUGA, one of BTS’s main rappers.
A cup sleeve event is usually held at a coffee, tea or boba shop. Fans gather to celebrate an artist’s birthday or an album release. Often, hosts like Harrison design special keepsakes, including customized sleeves for their drink cups. “Agust D-verse” served a dual purpose: celebrating SUGA’s March birthday and educating local ARMY about the group’s comeback.
“We wanted to do something different,” Harrison says over a Zoom call the day after. “Instead of just celebrating the album release, we wanted to get ARMY prepared. We had different activities people could participate in to help them get familiar with the Billboard rules or serve as a refresher if they've been ARMY for a while. We had a chart rules quiz …. What goes into getting a song or an album on that chart, what affects chart rankings, things like that. So some of the questions on the quiz were, ‘Which Billboard chart reflects the top album sales in the U.S.?’”
Listening together
March 11, Orange – Owen Ela has owned Resident Vinyl in Old Towne Orange for the past four years. Ela is a lifelong resident of Orange; his shop shares space with Contra Coffee, a cafe often bustling with college students, many who find vinyl and cassettes a refreshing departure from streaming.
Years ago, Ela was the marketing manager for performance venue The Observatory in Santa Ana, and before that, he worked in retail marketing for Epitaph Records. However, his longtime dream was to open up a record shop and since its opening, Resident Vinyl has hosted numerous in-store events. Ela wasn’t too familiar with BTS, but the organization Record Store Day pitched him to participate in an official record release party for the album’s March 20 reveal.
Because he knows BTS fans want to be first to a lot of things, Ela wanted to do a midnight album release event on March 19, since on Pacific Standard Time, the album will release the night before. However, he kept it on March 20 to align with the other participating stores nationwide.
Beginning at 6 p.m. on Friday, March 20, attendees will gather in-store to listen to the album in its entirety and receive a free wristband, stickers and a poster with the purchase of an album, while supplies last.
While it's not the first such event Resident Vinyl has hosted, this one is all booked up. Ela has a waitlist of about 80. “A few hours after we announced it,” he says, “We had to cut off the RSVP.” Only similar events for Harry Styles and Hayley Williams had comparable turnouts, he says. The BTS team sent him a large box of materials with strict instructions not to open or share before the event.
“We're all kind of excited,” Ela says, perched on a bench outside of his store. His niece, who studies in Korea, is a fan and as a Filipino American, he is aware of the importance of Asian representation. “I mean, we, you know, granted, this isn't really our wheelhouse, but we know how important this is, how big this is, what type of artist BTS is. You know how big they are and how relevant they are to just the entire culture.”
For fans in Orange County and across the world, BTS’s return as a group goes beyond any one event. It’s a time to reflect on how the band has helped people forge deeper cross-cultural connections, friendships and community.
To quote the group’s leader RM in his 2018 speech to the United Nations General Assembly: “No matter who you are, where you’re from, your skin color, your gender identity — just ‘speak yourself.’”
