The Connect World Tour

The Connect World Tour, also known as Monsta X World Tour: The Connect, is the second worldwide concert tour by the South Korean boy group Monsta X following their successful and sold out world tour for the previous year Beautiful World Tour. The tour commenced on May 26, exactly two months after the release of the group's sixth EP The Connect: Dejavu, kicking off in Seoul, and visiting twelve more countries including United Kingdom, Netherlands, Spain, Thailand, Hong Kong, Taiwan, United States, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Brazil, and Japan.

Monsta X World Tour: The Connect
World tour by Monsta X
LocationNorth America • South America • Europe • Asia
Associated albumThe Connect: Dejavu
Start dateMay 26, 2018
End dateOctober 10, 2018
Legs4
No. of shows
  • 7 in Asia
  • 3 in Europe
  • 8 in North America
  • 3 in South America
  • 21 in Total
Monsta X concert chronology

Background

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Asia

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On February 22, their second world tour was announced, including eighteen cities, having their first show held in Seoul at Jangchung Arena on May 26 and 27.[1] On April 13, Starship Entertainment revealed that the tickets for the two days Seoul concert had sold out within a minute upon the release on April 12 for three consecutive years.[2]

For the tour, Monsta X collaborated with Swarovski for their customized jackets. The total number of Swarovski crystals used for their jackets amounted to 500,000 for eleven outfits that were created by hand for the group.[3]

Before the concert on June 30 in Bangkok, they visited local TV shows and held a press conference to promote their album and concert. The press conference was held on April 29 at the GCP Hall of the Grande Centre Point Hotel in Sukhumvit 55 and more than 100 reporters from local TV channels, radios, and major newspapers covered the event, including Thai media channels such as Daily News, True Music, Tofupop Radio, and True Inside that had separate interviews with Monsta X. In addition, the TV channels such as Channel 3, Channel 7, and Channel 9, while newspapers such as Daily News, Kom Chad Luek, Kapook, Sanook, and Mthai joined the conference. On the same day, Monsta X also appeared through the program Rueng Lao Chao Nee of Thailand's national television channel, Channel 3.[4]

On August 25 and 26, Monsta X completed their two days encore concert held at SK Olympic Handball Gymnasium in Seoul where they were greeted by over 10,000 fans.[5]

The group was initially scheduled for eighteen cities and twelve countries for the tour but Japan was added for a four-day concert starting from October 5 to October 7 in Chiba and October 10 in Osaka.[6]

Europe

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In May, after Monsta X began their tour in Seoul, they headed to Europe. The group were in London on June 17, in Amsterdam on June 20, and in Madrid on June 23. Their tour in Europe gathered over 15,000 fans who came all over the continent to see the boys.[2]

In Europe, the concert brought the group media attention, including coverage by UK’s daily newspapers The Guardian and Metro.[7]

Americas

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Monsta X held the tour around the United States of America, which started on July 20 at Rosemont Theatre in Chicago then ended on August 3 at Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. During their stay, they had sold out shows and interviews, with local and nationwide TV programs such as BUILD Series, FOX5's Good Day New York, Access Hollywood, and FOX 11's Good Day L.A., popular magazines such as Billboard and Allure, also internet and radio shows such as BuzzFeed, 102.3 KIIS-FM's Jojo on the Radio, 104.3 MYFM’s Valentine in the Morning, Radio Disney, Wild 94.9, Rhythm 105.9, iHeartRadio's ON With Mario Lopez, and Q 106.1's The Zach Sang Show. They ended their North American leg on August 5 in Mexico.[8][9]

The group was able to film for the Viki Original mini music documentary When You Call My Name featuring Gallant during the tour in North America.[10]

After the North American leg, the group went to South America, beginning on August 8 in Argentina, followed by August 10 in Chile, and end it on August 12 in Brazil.[8]

Critical reception

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Caroline Sullivan of The Guardian gave them       and praised Monsta X's performance in London, noting that they are "a group that is skilled in singing, rapping, and dancing among various musical genres".[11]

Sarah Deen of Metro gave them       and described Monsta X's performance as "spectacular", giving their all in performing and very dedicated to their fans, also commending the group's "uniqueness", calling them "chameleons" for being "convincing and unforced when trying out different concepts", owning every one.[12]

Commercial performance

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According to Maeil Business Newspaper, the tour gathered an estimated total of 102,493 attendees (not including Japan), which accumulated an estimated total revenue of 11,270,000,000.[13]

Setlist

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Tour dates

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List of concerts, showing date, city, country, venue and attendance
Date City Country Venue Attendance
Asia
May 26, 2018 Seoul South Korea Jangchung Arena 7,000[14]
May 27, 2018
Europe
June 17, 2018 London United Kingdom Eventim Apollo 15,000[2]
June 20, 2018 Amsterdam Netherlands AFAS Live
June 23, 2018 Madrid Spain Palacio Vistalegre
Asia
June 30, 2018 Bangkok Thailand Thunder Dome Undisclosed
July 10, 2018 Hong Kong KITEC Star Hall
July 14, 2018 Taipei Taiwan Taipei Tennis Center
North America
July 20, 2018 Chicago United States Rosemont Theatre Undisclosed
July 22, 2018 Newark New Jersey Performing Arts Center
July 25, 2018 Atlanta Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre
July 27, 2018 Dallas Verizon Theater
July 29, 2018 Houston Smart Financial Centre
August 1, 2018 San Francisco Warfield Theatre
August 3, 2018 Los Angeles Microsoft Theater
August 5, 2018 Monterrey Mexico Auditorio Pabellón M [es]
South America
August 8, 2018 Buenos Aires Argentina Estadio Obras Undisclosed
August 10, 2018 Santiago Chile Polideportivo Estadio Nacional
August 12, 2018 Sao Paulo Brazil Espaço Das Américas
Asia
August 25, 2018 Seoul South Korea SK Olympic Handball Gymnasium 10,000[5]
August 26, 2018
October 5, 2018 Chiba Japan Makuhari Event Hall 30,000[6]
October 6, 2018
October 7, 2018
October 10, 2018 Osaka Osaka-jō Hall

Boxscore

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Venue City Tickets sold / Available Gross revenue
Eventim Apollo London, England 4,348 / 4,465 $486,814[15]

References

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  1. ^ Kim, Yeong-rok (May 24, 2018). "서울·런던·상파울루"…몬스타엑스, 18개 도시 'THE CONNECT' 월드투어 출격. Sports Chosun (in Korean). Retrieved May 17, 2021.
  2. ^ a b c Jeon, Hyo-jin (July 3, 2018). 몬스타엑스, 8월 서울 앙코르 콘서트 개최. Sports Dong-A (in Korean). Retrieved July 3, 2018 – via Naver.
  3. ^ Kang, Go-eun (June 12, 2018). 몬스타엑스, '더 커넥트' 월드투어 개최…'의상까지 훈훈'. news1 (in Korean). Retrieved June 12, 2018 – via Naver.
  4. ^ Jo, Yeon-kyung (July 3, 2018). "MONSTA X ends their concert in Thailand successfully". V Live. JTBC Plus. Retrieved July 3, 2018.
  5. ^ a b Jeon, Hyo-jin (August 27, 2018). 몬스타엑스, 서울 앙코르 콘서트 성황…글로벌 성장세 확인. Sports Dong-A (in Korean). Retrieved August 27, 2018 – via Naver.
  6. ^ a b Kwon, Hye-min (October 14, 2018). 몬스타엑스(MONSTA X), 월드투어 日 아레나 공연 성료…본격적인 국내 컴백 돌입!. Top Star News (in Korean). Retrieved October 14, 2018.
  7. ^ Ahn, Jin-yong (June 26, 2018). 몬스타엑스, 영국·네덜란드·스페인…유럽 접수. Munhwa Ilbo (in Korean). Retrieved June 26, 2018 – via Naver.
  8. ^ a b Jeon, Je-on (August 6, 2018). 몬스타엑스, 월드투어 美공연 성료…#전석매진 #떼창 #기립 박수. Xports News (in Korean). Retrieved August 6, 2018 – via Naver.
  9. ^ Ji, Seung-hoon (August 13, 2018). 美 언론, 몬스타엑스 집중 조명 "양질의 모습 보여줘". YTN (in Korean). Retrieved August 13, 2018 – via Naver.
  10. ^ Benjamin, Jeff (October 26, 2018). "Monsta X and Gallant Bring Their Worlds Together in 'When You Call My Name' Mini-Doc: Exclusive". Billboard. SoompiTV. Retrieved October 26, 2018.
  11. ^ Sullivan, Caroline (June 18, 2018). "Monsta X review – K-pop princes deliver an uplifting night of east-west harmony". The Guardian. Retrieved March 16, 2021.
  12. ^ Deen, Sarah (June 18, 2018). "Monsta X in London review: The BTS comparisons are there – but Monsta X is its own glorious beast". Metro. Retrieved March 16, 2021.
  13. ^ Park, Chang-young (October 12, 2018). [키워드 K팝] '투어돌' 몬스타엑스 키운 스타쉽, 날아오를까 [[Keyword K-pop] Will Starship, who nurtured 'tour idol' Monsta X, fly away?]. Maeil Economy (in Korean). Retrieved January 7, 2023 – via Naver.
  14. ^ Ahn, Jin-yong (May 30, 2018). 모든 걸 보여준 몬스타엑스, 서울 콘서트로 월드투어 스타트. Munhwa Ilbo (in Korean). Retrieved May 30, 2018 – via Naver.
  15. ^ "Billboard Boxscore :: Current Scores". Billboard. April 17, 2018. Archived from the original on August 22, 2018.
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