[UPDATED on January 14, 6:07pm: Adding response and combined statement from Sports Hub, Live Nation & ONE Production] 

South Korean boyband BTS (Bangtan Boys) is coming to Singapore for a one-night only concert here next Saturday, Jan. 19.

Naturally, tickets were sold out mere hours after they went on sale, with fans queuing overnight for standing pen tickets.

And, as with many of these concerts, the BTS Love Yourself Singapore show was plagued by scalpers, who resold tickets (priced from S$118 to S$348) at prices as high as S$12,888.

This has even prompted the police to issue an advisory warning fans to beware of scammers.

Instructions for standing pen entry

Most recently, fans of the seven-member K-pop group, called ARMY (아미), which stands for Adorable Representative M.C for Youth, took to Facebook and Twitter to express their unhappiness at the way concert organiser ONE Production has planned entry procedures.

These were posted in two event guides on the company's Facebook page — one for seated ticket holders, and the other for those who purchased tickets for the standing pen.

Here are some of the entry instructions for standing pen ticket holders:

• Concert-goers with standing pen entry have to queue at two separate locations.
• They are supposed to "self-regulate" by queuing up according to their queue numbers, which were automatically generated by the system when they bought the tickets.
• They will enter the standing pens according to their queue numbers "in ascending order".
• To prevent overnight queueing, the queue starts at 12:30pm.
• Cutoff time for the queue is at 2:30pm.
• After 2:30pm, queue numbers of people not yet in the queue will no longer be valid.
• They will be required to enter the venue only when doors open at 5:30pm, along with other ticket holders.

Information on queueing locations and timings was fleshed out in a table, which some Twitter users mocked for its blatantly-recognisable Microsoft Powerpoint-style.

And here are their grievances:

1. Timing for standing pen queues is too early

Some fans complained about the entry queue's start time, which they deem to be too early.

As the actual concert starts at 7pm, fans in queue to the standing pen have to wait at least four and a half hours even if they enter the queue just before 2:30pm, after which queue numbers on their tickets would be invalidated.

Screenshot via Twitter

However, it is worth noting that the concert organiser had not restricted fans from bringing their own food and drinks into the holding area, which means fans are allowed to eat while queuing outside as long as they don't bring their food into the concert hall itself.

(Editor's note: The guide was subsequently updated to say that "outside food and drinks will not be allowed into the Singapore Indoor Stadium and 100PLUS Promenade queue holding areas, and that food and drinks can be purchased in both places.)

Also, as the standing pens will only be open from 4pm, some fans wondered what they could do to occupy their time for the few hours they had to wait from 12:30pm.

Not to mention the fear of not being able to leave the standing pen area to eat or release their bladder before the actual event starts at 7pm.

In addition, some worried that in having to queue to enter the concert hall from so early, they would not have enough time to buy concert-related merchandise, for instance, or if they happened to be selected to attend the band's sound check session, to rejoin the queue in time afterward should timings clash.

They also complained that the size of the fan banners and posters allowed — only up to A4 — is too small.

2. Having to "self-regulate" the standing pen queue

Some also expressed concern about being able to adequately "self-regulate" the queue in the holding area — which in essence, involves arranging themselves in order of the queue numbers printed on their tickets.

However, in an exchange with a concert-goer, Live Nation clarified that ushers will be present to help ensure fans do arrange themselves in the correct number sequence:

Okay at least i feel abit better 😂 but still alittle early hais #BTSLoveYourselfSG #BTSinSG pic.twitter.com/dU7bVdrG36

— jadchim ⁷ (@Dreamyyyi) January 12, 2019

These problems are compounded, angry fans argue, by the fact that there is less than one week to go before the concert, which has prompted angry fans to call the concert organiser out for its alleged lack of advanced planning.

Mothership has reached out to ONE Production for their comments on the matter.

The following is a joint statement from Singapore Sports Hub, One Production, and Live Nation shared with Mothership on Jan. 14: 

Not the first time

This is not the first time K-pop fans have complained about the event management of band concerts.

According to The Straits Times, concert-goers have accused security staff of aggressive behaviour at the South Korean boyband Wanna One's Singapore concert last year in July.

Some complained that security staff had dragged them away by pulling their hair when they were caught taking photos or videos during the boyband's performance.

Prior to the start of that concert, ONE Production had warned concert-goers that no photos or videos of the performance are allowed to be taken.

The same instruction has been given for the BTS concert — also a point of unhappiness for fans — but hey, we're still placing our bets on seeing plenty of tweets and Instagram stories coming up on the hashtag next Saturday evening.

Top image via ONE Production/FB