Fans say premium experience fell short of expectations, pointing to longer interactions at group’s subsequent Chile concert
Brazilian Aespa fans are demanding refunds and threatening legal action over an unsatisfactory VIP package offered at the K-pop group’s recent Sao Paulo concert, saying the postshow send-off was significantly shorter than that held at Aespa’s concert in Chile just two days later.
Info Aespa Brasil, a Brazilian fan page dedicated to the girl group, said Saturday that it was organizing affected VIP ticket purchasers to gather information and assess possible action through Procon, Brazil’s consumer protection agency, threatening potential legal measures against concert promoter Live Nation Brazil and SM Entertainment on Tuesday over the handling of VIP benefits at Aespa’s Sept. 4 concert in Sao Paulo.
At the center of the dispute is the VIP package offered for the concert, which cost 2,689 Brazilian reais ($527). According to Ticketmaster Brazil, the price consisted of a concert ticket worth 990 reais along with VIP benefits, which included a postshow send-off with Aespa, priority entry to the venue, exclusive merchandise, an official photo card set, a VIP lanyard and priority access to merchandise sales.
Fans began raising complaints shortly after the concert, saying the send-off offered far less interaction than they had expected for the price.
Videos circulating online showed Karina, Winter, Giselle and Ningning walking past fans gathered along a passageway while greeting them, with some attendees describing the interaction as lasting only a few seconds. Some VIP purchasers claimed to not receive all the exclusive merchandise included in the package.
The backlash intensified after Aespa performed in Chile two days later.
Footage from the Sept. 6 concert showed the bandmates stopping in front of fans during the send-off to pose for photos, sign autographs and spend more time interacting with them than in Sao Paulo.
Info Aespa Brasil shared videos comparing the two events while calling on Live Nation Brazil and SM Entertainment to refund affected fans.
“With the videos in hand, we are going after our money back,” the fan page wrote. “We’re not asking for special treatment. We’re asking for what we paid to receive.”
The circumstances surrounding the Sao Paulo concert, however, differed from those of the subsequent Chile show, according to fans.
The concert in Brazil took place amid heavy rain and cold weather, with the storm continuing through much of the performance. Billboard Brasil reported Saturday that the weather affected the flow of the production, including delays between sections as stage and set changes took longer than planned. It added that adverse conditions may have contributed to the comparatively brief send-off, though no official explanation has been given for the length of the event.
Aespa’s Sao Paulo concert was part of the group’s ongoing “Synk: Complaexity” world tour and drew 21,652 fans, according to Brazilian media reports. The turnout was about 2.7 times the roughly 8,000 who attended the group’s first solo concert in Brazil in 2023 and was reportedly the second-largest audience for a K-pop girl group concert held in the country, behind only Twice.
lee.jungjoo@heraldcorp.com
