For many musical acts, holding your debut concert is a huge milestone worth celebrating. However, K-Pop group CORTIS’ (코르티스) first concert had fans leaving the venue in disappointment and even demanding refunds.
Over the weekend, the K-Pop sensations held their first solo concert, “2026 CORTIS TOUR: PUT YOUR PHONE DOWN”, at Inspire Arena in Incheon. The two-day show marked CORTIS’ first solo concert since debuting in 2025. Fans had also looked forward to the event, hoping to hear more material from the group. Unfortunately, after the first day ended, many COER (CORTIS fans) took to social media to express their disappointment over the show.
Many lamented that the concert failed to meet expectations, with most of the criticism aimed at the setlist. According to reports, the boy group only performed 12 songs, which is the entirety of their current discography. Concertgoers also noted that some tracks were performed multiple times throughout the concert. Fans argued that the group could’ve performed covers or previewed upcoming releases to expand the setlist, given their limited discography.
Unfortunately, the short setlist also meant that the concert had a short runtime. Fans estimated that the show lasted only 1 hour and 40 minutes and that there was no encore during the first night. Additionally, the group didn’t have any outfit changes as there was no intermission. As costume changes are a prominent part of K-Pop concerts, many felt that CORTIS’ show also lacked visual appeal since there was no variety in their outfits.
Thankfully, CORTIS responded to the feedback and immediately made changes to the second show. Fans who attended the 19th July performance noted that the group performed a seven-song encore and extended their talking segments. While the boyband still didn’t add any new songs to the setlist or intermissions, the runtime for the second show was longer, being closer to two hours.
However, fans are still unhappy with how the shows went. Those who attended the first show are also demanding refunds. The backlash also sparked debate about whether the group was prepared to hold a full-length concert. Most fans also said that BigHit Music is to blame for the lacklustre show, with some arguing that the company pushed for the tour too early into CORTIS’ career.
CORTIS will continue the tour in August, performing in Canada, the United States, South Korea and Japan. Fans are now hoping that the group and their team will improve on the show and its setlist before the next performance. What are your thoughts on this? Do you think the backlash was reasonable?
Sources: Allkpop, Koreaboo, Twitter
