Cortis turns Jung Kook's phone plea into a tour-night chant
As fancam filming divides K-pop crowds, Jung Kook and Cortis urge fans to put phones down at major 2026 concert venues.
"Please look at me, not the phone screen." This remark made by Jung Kook [BTS] to fans during a concert is being discussed again at recent K-pop venues. While artists on stage want the audience to look at the performance rather than a screen, many fans attempt to capture the moment through smartphone videos.
Newcomer boy group CORTIS has placed this message at the forefront of their tour. Starting with an Incheon performance in July, CORTIS is currently conducting a global tour connecting New York, Los Angeles, and Seoul, with the tour name being 'Put Your Phone Down.'
CORTIS Tour Name is 'Put Your Phone Down'
The members of CORTIS shouted "Put your phone down!" several times on stage. It was a request for fans to breathe together with the performance by watching the actual stage instead of the liquid crystal screens.
However, the scene did not change immediately. Thousands of smartphones were pointed toward the stage, and reactions were divided among the fans.
22-year-old Park Ji-yeon: "A moment that will never come again"
22-year-old Park Ji-yeon said in a BBC interview, "Since it is a moment that will never come again, I couldn't put my phone down," adding, "Because memories fade the moment you leave the venue, if I take a video, I can cherish that moment for a long time." She focused so intensely on filming that she even went as far as borrowing a high-end smartphone to capture the moment.
Conversely, 25-year-old Kim Ga-eun shared, "Focusing on the stage rather than the screen allowed me to enjoy the performance more vividly," and noted, "It was truly impressive to see the audience in the standing area all dancing and singing together."
Similar requests have continued at overseas venues. Billie Eilish requested fans to put their phones down during her performance, while Phoebe Bridgers and Alicia Keys introduced a method of storing phones in locking pouches. Brett Anderson, the vocalist of the British rock band Suede, became a hot topic for personally taking a fan's phone after descending into the audience during a performance.
Fancam Videos and the 1 Million Won Ticket Price Debate
In K-pop, fancams capturing the facial expressions and choreography of specific members have functioned as content that attracts new fans by spreading online. This is the background of how concert filming has moved beyond personal records to become distributed content within the K-pop ecosystem.
Cost issues have also become a point of debate. Some fans reacted by saying, "I spent over 1 million won just to see two days of performances, so it felt uncomfortable to keep hearing to put my phone down." It is a collision between the desire of fans who purchased expensive tickets to record the performance as video and the requests of the artists in the same space.
BTS North American Opening 840,000 People · CORTIS Lollapalooza 50,000 People
BTS, under BIGHIT MUSIC, is continuing the 'BTS World Tour Arirang' through North America. The North American leg of this tour, which began at Goyang Stadium in April 2026, is confirmed by the audience numbers at large venues.
Approximately 157,000 people gathered for the two performances held at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, USA, on August 1 and 2, 2026. The total audience for the North American opening, which passed through Tampa, El Paso, Stanford, Las Vegas, and Mexico City, is approximately 840,000. The Guardian reported that the economic effect of the New Jersey performance will match or exceed major events of the 2026 North American FIFA World Cup.
CORTIS was introduced as the only K-pop boy group to be named on the Billboard '21 Under 21' list. They drew approximately 50,000 people at the Chicago Lollapalooza Music Festival and also sold out their North American tour performances.
