TWICE concerts draw huge crowds in Kaohsiung

Kaohsiung, Nov. 23 (CNA) K-pop group TWICE drew massive crowds in Kaohsiung over the weekend as Taiwanese member Chou Tzu-yu (周子瑜) returned home to perform for the first time, attracting thousands of fans to the Kaohsiung National Stadium.

Greeting her fans in Chinese, Chou said Saturday night she was thrilled to finally bring her TWICE bandmates to Kaohsiung.

"I'm so happy to be here with them. I'm sure everyone has been looking forward to this for a long time. I've been looking forward to it for a very long time too. Shall we enjoy this night together?" the 26-year-old said.

The band performed an extensive set of songs, ranging from their latest track "THIS IS FOR" and the 10th-anniversary single "ME+YOU" to fan-favorite hits like "Strategy," "What Is Love?," "FANCY," "Feel Special," "ONE SPARK," and "Magical."

Fans began lining up early Saturday to buy official merchandise, and by the afternoon, more than 10,000 people had gathered outside the venue to listen to the group's rehearsal, cheering loudly as the music carried across the stadium grounds.

Large numbers of foreign fans were also seen in the area, packing nearby MRT stations, where many posed for photos with oversized posters of Chou.

The concerts pushed Kaohsiung Metro's ridership to 350,000 on Saturday, the highest single-day figure this year and the ninth-highest in the system's history. Light rail usage also reached 54,000 trips, according to metro officials.

They said the surge was driven not only by TWICE's concerts but also by other major weekend events, including performances by Wu Bai (伍佰) and Sun Shu-may (孫淑媚), as well as city-organized festivals.

Former President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) wrote on Threads that her feed had been filled with TWICE-related posts and shared a "blue hair" photo with Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) to match the group's fan color.

Tsai said Chou's long-awaited first concert in Taiwan had made many proud to support a Taiwanese artist performing on home soil.