SM ENTERTAINMENT's live concert "SMTOWN LIVE 2025 in TOKYO" was held at Tokyo Dome on August 9 (Sat) and 10 (Sun), featuring 65 artists from 16 groups.
The two-day event attracted 95,000 spectators.

This is the 15th year that "SMTOWN LIVE" has been held in Japan.
Of the 36 performances in total, 23 have been held at Tokyo Dome, making it a big event.
This time, KANGTA / DONGJING SHINKI / SUPER JUNIOR / ZHOUMI (SUPER JUNIOR-M) / HYOYEON (Small Family History) / KEY & MINHO (SHINee) / SUHO & CHANYEOL & KAI (EXO) / Red Velvet (IRENE & SEULGI & JOY) / NCT 127 / NCT DREAM / WayV / aespa / RIIZE / NCT WISH / Hearts2Hearts / XngHan&Xoul, a total of 16 groups and 65 performers performed a total of 51 songs for 4.5 hours each day.
At the end of the performance on the first day, January 9, a surprise announcement was made that "SMTOWN LIVE 2025-26 in FUKUOKA" would be held at Mizuho PayPay Dome Fukuoka on January 31 (Sat) and February 1 (Sun) next year.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the establishment of SM ENTERTAINMENT, and Tohoshinki made an appearance from the opening.
After performing "Rising Sun," an early hit that marked his breakthrough as an artist, he was followed by a cover of SHINee's "Lucifer" and EXO's "Growl" by his debut project team SMTR25, and then he performed his own songs and rare collaborations that transcended group boundaries. In addition to rare collaborations, the entire program featured hit songs from SM Entertainment's 30 years of K-pop history, performed by a variety of artists.

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Covers vary.
Gee" (originally by Girls' Generation), covered by new girl group Hearts2Hearts, and EXO's "Fighting Spirit, Git It Up!" (originally by H.O.T.) stayed true to the original song.
EXO even paid homage to the period in their costumes.
Red Velvet's "Run Devil Run" (original song: Girls' Generation) underwent a mature transformation with a jazz arrangement, while Dong Bang Shin Ki expressed their new side as artists with the delicate song and dance of "Psycho" (original song: Red Velvet).

There are also plenty of collaborations that transcend group boundaries, which is unique to "SMTOWN LIVE".
H.O.T's "Full of Happiness" represents the first generation of K-pop, with original member KANGTA collaborating with younger members of the fourth and fifth generations, including XIAOJUN and HENDRY of WayV, WONBIN and ANTON of RIIZE, and SION and YUSHI of NCT WISH. Other collaborations include SEULGI (Red Velvet) x SUNGCHAN (RIIZE) performing a duet on "Bad Boy, Sad Girl".

In addition to the gorgeous "DESSERT" by HYOYEON x YANGYANG (WayV) x GISELLE (aespa), CHANGMIN (DONGHANG SHINKI) x KYUHYUN (SUPER JUNIOR) x SHOTARO (RIIZE) will descend again.
The "Ai♡Scream!" (original song: AiScReam), which has been a big buzz on social networking sites this year, is a song called "What do you like? (AI SCREAM!) (original song: AiScReam), which was a big buzz on social media this year. (original song: AiScReam), which was a big hit on SNS this year.

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New girl group Hearts2Hearts and artist brand XngHan&Xoul by SeungHan are participating for the first time.
Ji Woo, the leader of Hearts2Hearts, all in their teens, said, "When I was a trainee, I saw aespa senior perform at Tokyo Dome and I vowed to be on this stage," and performed their debut song "The Chase" and other songs on their dream stage.
XngHan&Xoul just debuted on July 31, and this was their first stage in Japan.
Seung-han said, "I'm really happy to be standing on the same stage with my seniors. We will have our first SHOWCASE in Japan in October! We are going to have our first SHOWCASE in Japan in October!

NCT WISH, whose debut stage was last year's "SMTOWN LIVE," appeared on the first day in a prince-like white outfit.
After wrapping the dome in cuteness and freshness with their debut song "WISH (Japanese Ver.)" and other songs, they excited the fans by announcing that additional shows for their hall tour starting in November will be held in January 2026 at Kobe World Memorial Hall in Hyogo and Yoyogi Daiichi Gymnasium in Tokyo as arena venues. The event was a great success. A preview video of the new song "Surf," which will be released on August 12, was also shown on this occasion.

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RIIZE, who performed sharply and attractively only during their Japan arena tour, performed mainly songs from their latest album, including the catchy "Boom Boom Bass," "Bag Bad Back," and "Fly Up," which Shoutarou said was "characterized by the action of carrying a bag on their backs. They performed mainly songs from their latest album, such as "Bag Bad Back" and "Fly Up," and said, "We will do our best until the Yoyogi Daiichi Gymnasium in September! Someday, we'll be at Tokyo Dome! We'll be at the Tokyo Dome someday!

aespa wowed the audience with their new song "Dirty Work" and the super gisel time of "Whiplash," while "Supernova" shook the dome with the loud voices of fans from all groups chanting their calls.
Also during the talk, Gisele said, "We are going to make a comeback in Korea on September 5! I'll spoil it for you all," and performed different choreography for the two days. "It's a bigger hint than you think," she said, raising expectations for the new song "Rich Man," and mentioned the arena tour in Japan to be held in the fall.

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WayV sang "Give Me That (Korean Ver.)" with a smile on their faces, and Kun asked the audience, "Which do you like better, cute WayV or sexy WayV? Kung then asked the audience, "Do you like the cute WayV or the sexy WayV?" and sang the sexy "Love Talk".
Xiao Jun, whose birthday was August 8, told his fans on the first day, August 9, "I was fresh and happy to celebrate my birthday in Japan.

NCT DREAM performed "BTTF," the double title track from their latest album, "CHILLER," and "Moonlight," their second single in Japan, which featured ad-libbed parts by Ronjun and Haechan, On the second day, the members showed a relaxed and fun stage, joking around with each other.

And in May, NCT 127, who performed at Tokyo Dome 2Days as the final show of their world tour, captivated the audience with their bandana performance in "Walk" amidst overwhelmingly loud cheers.
After the cool performance, they introduced themselves with gags to make the audience laugh, and Doyoung said, "Haechan's solo album will be released in September, and YUTA's new album will be released in October. Please be on the lookout for them! Haechan then made a kissing gesture, which was met with surprise from the audience and the members. The members looked surprised. YUTA and Do Yeon will hold solo concerts in the fall. They also performed "Fact Check" and "2 Baddies" to unite the audience.

MARK x HAECHAN, who also serves as NCT 127 and NCT DREAM, captivated the audience with their performance of "+82 Pressinʼ," a song from Mark's solo album, creating a sense of twinship.

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Red Velvet was represented by Irene, Seulgi, and Joy.
In addition to collaborations and covers, they performed the classic "Bad Boy" and "Red Flavor," a song synonymous with summer. Aylin and Seulgi said, "In September, the two of us will be performing a concert at the Tokyo Garden Theater!" and Joy, who will release her first solo album on August 18, expressed her confidence, saying, "Please listen to this album as it contains a lot of my love.

From SHINee, Minho and Key performed their solo songs.
Key gave an advance first performance of his new song "HUNTER," which will be released on August 11.
Key, who appeared with impactful red hair, reminisced, "I dyed my hair red at home yesterday, and the day before SHINee's first Tokyo Dome, I dyed it red myself at my dormitory.
Congratulations to SM on their 30th anniversary! and "I will do my best so that both SHINee and I can greet you here (at Tokyo Dome) again! I'll do my best to greet you here (at Tokyo Dome) again!

EXO also had Suho, Chanyeol, and Kai perform their solo songs.
Suho appeared with his band and sang "1 to 3," and then Chanyeol took over the band and sang the emotional song "Think about it," which was written in Japanese by Chanyeol himself, while playing the guitar.
Kai charmed fans with his supple dance and singing of "Wait On Me," which is different in color from the two.
During the talk, leader Suho said, "One month until (member) Sehun's discharge. Please wait a little longer. EXO will be back! He made his fans happy by declaring, "EXO is coming back!

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HYO filled the venue with a cheerful mood with the pop dance tune "Retro Romance," and then said, "It's been a long time, and I'm very happy to see you all in this 30th anniversary year. Thanks to all of you who have always been waiting for me, I am able to perform on stage. I am currently DJing and performing solo, but I will continue to show you my various appearances and stage performances in the future. Please look forward to seeing more of me.

The audience was surprised and delighted when Heechul appeared on stage during the second half of the song "Sorry, Sorry," a historic K-pop classic.
Heechul responded to the loud cheers by exclaiming at the end of the song, "SUPER JUNIOR! at the end of the song.
And just when you thought they impressed you with their coolness as adult artists with "Black Suit," in which Heechul also joined in the dance, and "Express Mode," an activity song for their 20th anniversary, they started with a hilarious grab: "SUPER JUNIOR 20 years old, SM 30 years old, (member) Shindon 40 years old. In the talk session, he showed the gap between the performance and the normal operation, which fell into a huge chaos.

He also sang a ballad "至少還有Ni (Korean Ver.)" by SUPER JUNIOR-M.

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KANGTA, who is also SM's eldest son, performed his solo song "My Life" as well as a nostalgic song from H.O.T. in collaboration with the aforementioned younger members, and said, "SM is celebrating its 30th anniversary, and the future is a new beginning. SM is celebrating its 30th anniversary, and the future is a new beginning. I promise to continue to expand the category through good music and deliver great music and performances.

The group's oldest member, Tohoshinki, opened the show with "Rising Sun" and closed it with "Spell - MIROTIC," a turning point that led to their big break in Korea and expansion into Asia, as well as a classic song that represents "SM-ness. It was a turning point that led to their big breakthrough in Korea and their expansion into Asia. The group also celebrated the 20th anniversary of their debut in Japan. I'm planning to release my first album," said Yoo. I'm planning to release my first album," said Yunho.

As symbolized by the song selection by Tohoshinki and the "SM 30th Tribute Performance" by the 20 members of SMTR25 at the end of the show, this "SMTOWN LIVE" was a look back at the 30-year history of SM ENTERTAINMENT.
It is not too much to say that the history of SM = the history of K-pop.
They showed us a live performance that allowed us to look back on 30 years of such hits.
Unfortunately, BoA, who celebrated the 25th anniversary of her debut this year, was unable to attend due to injury, but before the show started on the 9th, the music video of BoA's new Japanese original song "Good for U," which became the cornerstone of SM artists' entry into Japan, was shown exclusively.

取材・文/坂本ゆかり

<Performance Summary

SMTOWN LIVE 2025 in TOKYO

Dates and Venues
August 9, 2025 (Sat) Tokyo Dome, Doors open at 15:00 / Concert begins at 17:00
August 10, 2025 (Sun) Tokyo Dome Doors open 13:00 / Concert begins 15:00

Artists
KANGTA / Dongdang Shin Ki / SUPER JUNIOR / ZHOUMI (SUPER JUNIOR-M) / HYOYEON (Small Family History) / KEY & MINHO (SHINee) / SUHO & CHANYEOL & KAI (EXO) / Red Velvet (IRENE & SEULGI & JOY) / NCT 127 / NCT DREAM / WayV / aespa / RIIZE / NCT WISH / Hearts2Hearts / XngHan&Xoul / SMTR25