The Alive Galaxy Tour (referred to as the Alive Tour) was the first worldwide

concert tour A concert tour (or simply tour) is a series of concerts by an artist or group of artists in different cities, countries or locations. Often concert tours are named to differentiate different tours by the same artist and to associate a specific to ...

and sixth overall by South Korean boy band

Big Bang The Big Bang event is a physical theory that describes how the universe expanded from an initial state of high density and temperature. Various cosmological models of the Big Bang explain the evolution of the observable universe from the ...

. It promotes the group's fifth Korean-language EP, ''

Alive Alive may refer to: *Life Books, comics and periodicals * ''Alive'' (novel), a 2015 novel by Scott Sigler * '' Alive: The Final Evolution'', a 2003 shonen manga by Tadashi Kawashima and Adachitoka * '' Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors'', ...

'' (as well as their fourth Japanese-language studio album of the same name), across four continents: Asia, North America, South America and Europe. The group hired choreographer and creative director

Laurieann Gibson Laurieann Gibson (born July 14, 1969) is a Canadian choreographer, director, television personality, singer, actress, and dancer. She has choreographed dance numbers for musical artists such as Michael Jackson, Alicia Keys, Lady Gaga, and Beyo ...

to direct the show. The tour was officially sponsored by

Samsung GALAXY Samsung Galaxy (, stylised as SΛMSUNG Galaxy since 2015 (except Japan where it omits the Samsung branding), previously stylised as Samsung GALAXY; abbreviated as SG) is a series of computing and mobile computing devices that are designed, ...

. In total, an estimated 800,000 fans worldwide attended the tour.

Background and development

In support of their fifth extended Korean-language EP, ''Alive'' and their fourth Japanese-language studio album of the same name, released February 29 and March 28, 2012, respectively, Big Bang's record label

YG Entertainment YG Entertainment Inc. () is a South Korean multinational entertainment agency established in 1996 by Yang Hyun-suk. The company operates as a record label, talent agency, music production company, event management and concert production compa ...

announced that the group intended to hold a world tour in partnership with tour promoter

Live Nation Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. is an American global entertainment company and monopoly that was founded in 2010 following the merger of Live Nation and Ticketmaster. The company promotes, operates, and manages ticket sales for live entertainme ...

, visiting Asia, North America, South America and Europe. Live Nation president Alan Ridgeway stated, "We are very happy that we are working with YG Entertainment and Big Bang to show ur workto worldwide K-pop fans." A representative for YG Entertainment followed this with, "We are working hard to hold the best concert with the best production team to equal the anticipation of the world fans who are waiting for the first concert they will get to meet Big Bang. Choreographer and creative director

, famed for her work with

Lady Gaga Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta ( ; born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her image reinventions and musical versatility. Gaga began performing as a teenag ...

, was hired as the tour's director and choreographer. US-based visual contents company Possible Productions was hired to create the Alive tour's custom backdrops. The team described the concept as a "bleak futuristic world hat could only besaved by Big Bang." Lighting and staging, as well as overall production, was designed by Leroy Bennet. Staging and lighting alone was estimated at US$1.3 million. Korean electronics brand

Samsung The Samsung Group (or simply Samsung) ( ko, 삼성 ) is a South Korean multinational manufacturing conglomerate headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul, South Korea. It comprises numerous affiliated businesses, most of them united under the ...

was contracted as the tour's official sponsor, who provided electronics for the members and touring staff on the dates. This marks the first time the group has conducted a worldwide concert tour.

Commercial performance

Tickets for the group's world tour, which kicked off in Seoul in March 2012, sold out faster than Live Nation had anticipated. In Singapore, all tickets were sold out shortly after its on sale and a second show was immediately announced to cope with the huge ticket demand from fans. Later in Malaysia, they attracted more than 3,500 fans to queue up at the box office to fight for their tickets. In Taiwan, all 22,000 tickets of their 2 shows were sold out within just a few hours. Owing to strong demand from fans in the United States, two additional concert dates in both Los Angeles and New Jersey, November 2 and November 8, were added. There were initially doubts if

T.O.P Choi Seung-hyun (; born November 4, 1987), better known by his stage name T.O.P, is a South Korean rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer and actor. He performed as an underground rapper before joining the record label YG Entertainment an ...

could perform due to an injury, but it was reported that he would continue to perform. In Japan, Big Bang became the first Korean artist to perform three Dome concerts, at the

Tokyo Dome is an indoor stadium in Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan. It was designed as a baseball stadium following its predecessor, Korakuen Stadium. Construction on the stadium began on May 16, 1985, and it opened on March 17, 1988. It was built on the site of th ...

Kyocera Dome The (official name: ) is a baseball stadium located in Osaka, Osaka, Japan. Opened in 1997, the stadium was the home field of the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes. In 2005, the stadium became one of the homes of the Orix Buffaloes, a result of the merg ...

, and

Fukuoka Dome The is a baseball field, located in Chūō-ku, Fukuoka, Japan. Built in 1993, the stadium was originally named and has the capacity of 38,585 seats. With a diameter of 216 meters, the Fukuoka PayPay Dome is the world's largest geodesic dome. T ...

. Ticket prices for their concert in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

were reported to cost as much as $1,680 HKD (more than 200 US Dollars) The concert was held in

Lima Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of t ...

, Peru on November 14, 2012.

The Orange County Register ''The Orange County Register'' is a paid daily newspaper published in California. The ''Register'', published in Orange County, California, is owned by the private equity firm Alden Global Capital via its Digital Fiest/Media News subsidiaries. ...

reported that ticket prices ranged from $50 to $300 for the group's Honda Center dates in Los Angeles. In the UK all the tickets for the Wembley Arena show sold out within two hours of tickets going on sale, resulting in a second date being added shortly after. They also managed to set a London concert record for the largest crowd gathered to see a Korean act in the United Kingdom. The tour listed on ''

Pollstar ''Pollstar'' is a trade publication for the concert and live music industry. The publication was purchased by Oak View Group, a venue consultancy founded by Tim Leiweke and Irving Azoff, in July 2017. History and profile Founded in 1981 in Fre ...

s year-end list, on the Top 200 North American Tours, Big Bang become the first Korean artist to have made the list, as they ranked at number 155 and earned $5 million from four shows.

Critical reception

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' journalist Jon Caramanica wrote that Big Bang performed more than two dozen songs wearing almost as many outfits, and in unusual setups such as "taking the stage on gilded

Segways The Segway is a two-wheeled, self-balancing personal transporter invented by Dean Kamen and brought to market in 2001 as the Segway HT, subsequently as the Segway PT, and manufactured by Segway Inc. ''HT'' is an initialism for "human transpo ...

and lowrider bicycles" during their "short but loud American tour". ''

Billboard K-Town ''Billboard'' K-Town is an online magazine column presented weekly, on various days, by ''Billboard'' on its ''Billboard.com'' site. The column, launched on January 29, 2013, reports on K-pop music; artists, concerts, chart information and new ...

'' columnist Jeff Benjamin reported that concertgoers were treated to breakdancing and

Taeyang Dong Young-bae (; born May 18, 1988), better known by his stage names Taeyang (meaning "sun" in Korean) and SOL (when performing in Japan), is a South Korean singer, songwriter and dancer. After appearing in Jinusean's music video "A-yo", Taey ...

's gymnastics for a few on-stage flips during Big Bang's concert at the

Prudential Center Prudential Center is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the central business district of Newark, New Jersey. Opened in 2007, it is the home of the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League (NHL) and the men's basketball program of Seton Hal ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, and described the band's concerts in America as "a success for all". BIGBANG LIMA

Joseph Lapin from the Californian newspaper ''

OC Weekly ''OC Weekly'' was a free alternative weekly paper distributed in Orange County and Long Beach, California. OC Weekly was founded in September 1995 by Will Swaim, who acted as editor and publisher until 2007. The paper was distributed at coffee ...

'' attended Big Bang's concert in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

and reported that the atmosphere during the show was "almost palpable". Lapin concluded, "It was nostalgic, a throwback to old-school hip-hop but with a commercial twist and a foreign reinterpretation...these boys, well, they'll be back, and they know they're going to be superstars". ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

s music journalist Caroline Sullivan praised Big Bang for holding a "fabulous spectacle" at the

Wembley Arena Wembley Arena (originally the Empire Pool, now known as OVO Arena Wembley for sponsorship reasons) is an indoor arena next to Wembley Stadium in Wembley, London, England, used for music, comedy, family entertainment and sport. The 12,500-sea ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. She compared Big Bang with other Western music bands, and noted that Big Bang's edges "are crisper, the sound louder, the dancing sharper". ''

Radio Programas del Perú Radio Programas del Perú (RPP) is a radio and television broadcasting company in Peru within the Grupo RPP formed in Lima in 1963 by Manuel Delgado Parker and Emilio Checa. RPP has the largest radio coverage in Peru, covering 97 percent of the c ...

'' ranked the tour as the best K-pop concert in

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

for 2012, beating out earlier concerts performed by

JYJ JYJ (formerly known as Junsu/Jejung/Yuchun in Japan) is a South Korean boy band formed in 2010 by Kim Junsu, Kim Jae-joong, and Park Yoo-chun, the three former members of TVXQ. Their group name is taken from the initial letters of each member's n ...

U-Kiss U-KISS ( ko, 유키스; ja, ユーキス) is a South Korean boy band formed in 2008. Their name is an acronym, standing for Ubiquitous Korean International Idol Super Star. The group's current lineup is composed of Soohyun, Hoon, Kiseop and ...

and a

Music Bank (TV series) ''Music Bank'' (; RR: ''Myujikbaengkeu'') is a South Korean music program which airs every Friday at 17:00 KST on KBS2. As of 2015, the show is also broadcast in more than a hundred countries through KBS World. Episodes are filmed at the KBS New ...

concert at

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

Set list

Tour dates

Box office data

Awards

Personnel

* Primary artist: Big Bang * Show director: Laurieann Gibson * Stage design, lighting design: Leroy Bennett * Sound: Ken Van Druten * Visual plans, projections: Possible Productions * Music director, keyboard: Gil Smith II * Guitar: Justin Lyons * Programmer: Adrian Porter * Keys: Dante "Inferno" Jackson * Bass: Omar Dominick * Drums: Bennie "BrIIghtReD" Rodgers II * Dancers: HiTech Dancers and Crazy Girls, featured break dancers * Management: YG Entertainment * Tour organizer: Live Nation Korea * Tour manager: Shirley Hong * Sponsorship: Samsung

TV broadcast

References

External links

''Alive Tour'' Seoul concert video at MTV Iggy
(official, legal broadcast) {{Big Bang 2012 concert tours 2013 concert tours Big Bang (South Korean band) concert tours Concert tours of North America Concert tours of the United States Concert tours of the United Kingdom Concert tours of South America Concert tours of Asia Concert tours of Japan