Twice’s World Tour hits peak performance in New York

Twice’s third consecutive night at UBS Arena in Belmont Park underscored the group’s evolution from a regional K-pop sensation into a global touring powerhouse capable of commanding arena-scale audiences across multiple continents. As part of their THIS IS FOR World Tour, supporting their fourth studio album released in July 2025, the New York dates exemplified both the logistical ambition of the tour and the artistic maturity the group has cultivated over a decade-long career. Presented by JYP Entertainment in collaboration with Live Nation, the tour spans Asia and Oceania before moving to North America, Europe, and the United Kingdom, with more than 70 shows scheduled through early June 2026, marking one of the most comprehensive international campaigns in Twice’s history and a significant milestone in the group’s tenth anniversary celebrations.

© Twice's Instagram account

The North American leg, which began in Vancouver in early January and moved through Seattle, Los Angeles, Dallas, Washington D.C., Chicago, Atlanta, and other major cities, demonstrated the group’s capacity to fill arenas consistently across varied markets, but the three-show run at UBS Arena carried additional symbolic and commercial weight; originally scheduled for two nights, the engagement expanded to a third date due to what promoters described as phenomenal demand, highlighting New York as a critical hub for the group and signaling sustained audience appetite sufficient to justify repeated large-scale production within a single week, a clear barometer of Twice’s penetration into the competitive East Coast market and of their ability to attract both longstanding and newer fans in a city where international acts are rigorously evaluated against domestic headliners and global touring benchmarks.

At the center of the New York performances was a 360-degree, in-the-round stage configuration, a first for Twice in an arena context, designed to dissolve a singular “front” and allow every audience segment to engage equally with the performance; this staging choice, which required precise choreography and meticulous technical coordination, not only enhanced the visual and immersive qualities of the show but also emphasized the group’s cohesion and spatial awareness, ensuring that every angle of the arena experienced the same level of performance intensity and energy, a choice that underscores the tour’s focus on creating a uniformly compelling live experience rather than relying solely on frontal spectacle or traditional stage hierarchies.

The concert opened with “FOUR”, a brief visual and instrumental introduction that set the thematic tone, immediately followed by the tour’s title track, “This Is For”, which functioned as both statement of intent and thematic anchor, establishing a controlled yet energetic opening that balanced musical precision with audience engagement. Subsequent songs including “Strategy,” “Set Me Free”, and “I Can’t Stop Me” maintained this momentum, combining choreographed synchronization with expansive lighting design that favored wide washes and clean geometrical patterns, emphasizing the collective presence of the group rather than isolating individual members. This opening segment, while visually and sonically cohesive, also strategically laid the groundwork for a more emotionally varied midsection, allowing the concert to traverse energy levels and emotional registers without losing narrative focus.

Transitioning into the middle portion of the set, the pacing shifted toward introspection and nuance, with songs such as “Moonlight Sunrise”, “I Got You”, and a high-energy rendition of “Cry For Me” introducing slower tempos, subtle lighting shifts, and layered projections that created a sense of intimacy within the arena-scale environment; these sequences, carefully mapped in coordination with production and visual teams, allowed the group to explore vulnerability and emotional depth while maintaining overall show momentum. Dahyun’s absence, due to a temporary health-related hiatus, was addressed through subtle adjustments to formations and line distribution, demonstrating both the adaptability of the remaining eight members and the strategic flexibility inherent in the group’s live production, which has been honed over years of touring and rehearsal discipline.

© Twice's Instagram account

Midway through the show, the solo segments provided individual members the opportunity to present distinct musical and visual identities while reinforcing the tour’s overarching narrative of growth and cohesion. Each performance (from Tzuyu’s “DIVE IN” to Mina’s “STONE COLD”, Nayeon’s “MEEEEEE”, Jeongyeon’s “FIX A DRINK”, Chaeyoung’s “SHOOT”, Jihyo’s “ATM”, Sana’s “DECAFFEINATED”, and Momo’s “MOVE LIKE THAT”) was brief yet impactful, showcasing stylistic diversity without interrupting the flow of the ensemble performance. The inclusion of a TWICE-specific version of “TAKEDOWN,” adapted from the soundtrack of K-Pop Demon Hunters, followed these solos and acted as a bridge back to full-group energy, highlighting the group’s versatility and responsiveness to fan interest in cross-media material, and further demonstrating the careful balance between individual expression and collective identity that has become a defining characteristic of Twice’s live approach.

The concert concluded with a sequence of fan-favorite tracks including “Fancy”, “What Is Love?” and “Yes or Yes,” which reinforced communal engagement, encouraged audience participation, and leveraged the energy accumulated throughout the set to deliver a climactic, celebratory finale. Critics covering the run, including BroadwayWorld, described the atmosphere as glamorous and powerful, noting sustained enthusiasm and vocal participation from the crowd, while visual content shared across social platforms confirmed the intensity of fan interaction and engagement, with coordinated chants, synchronized movements, and widespread displays of excitement reflecting the connection between the group and its audience.

The strategic significance of the third UBS Arena date extends beyond the immediate metrics of ticket sales and crowd size. In the context of the broader North American tour, it represents a tangible measure of the group’s ability to command repeated performances in a high-demand, high-stakes market, reinforcing the viability of their expansion into territories historically dominated by Western acts. From an industry perspective, the tour’s configuration (including the 360-degree stage, rigorous pacing, and individualized solo segments) signals that TWICE has developed not only the artistic maturity necessary for sustained global touring but also the operational sophistication to execute complex production models across multiple cities and continents, a hallmark of enduring international artists.

© Twice's Instagram account

Taken together, the performances at UBS Arena illustrate several key trajectories for Twice as both a touring act and a cultural entity. First, the group demonstrates that longevity in the K-pop arena is achievable through strategic artistic evolution and disciplined live presentation. Second, the success of multiple consecutive arena dates in a city like New York underscores the expansion of K-pop’s influence into mainstream live music markets globally, moving beyond niche fandoms to occupy a comparable space with established Western performers in terms of production scale, audience engagement, and market significance. Finally, the careful curation of setlists, pacing, and individual showcases positions Twice not simply as entertainers executing a standard pop formula, but as an act capable of synthesizing technical, emotional, and commercial considerations into a cohesive global touring model, reflecting both the maturity of the group and the sophistication of the management infrastructure supporting them.

As the tour continues toward Europe and the United Kingdom, culminating in closing nights at The O2 in London in early June, the New York run serves as both benchmark and narrative centerpiece, illustrating the group’s ability to sustain multi-night arena performances, maintain high production standards, and engage audiences across diverse cultural contexts. The February 21 show, in particular, functioned as a definitive affirmation of Twice’s stature: a group whose combination of discipline, creativity, and fan engagement now allows them to operate at a level historically reserved for long-established international acts, reinforcing their place as one of the most influential K-pop groups on the global stage, and signaling the continued expansion of Korean pop music into arenas and markets once considered peripheral to its core commercial geography.