K-pop boy group Boyfriend has become the first K-pop band to perform independently in Puerto Rico after successfully holding its first solo concert in the South American country last week, said the group’s management agency on Monday.

On March 8, the six-member boy group staged its solo concert titled “Boyfriend, fan meeting en Puerto Rico” for 1,700 local fans who gathered at the Centro De Bellas Artes Luis A Ferre in San Juan, Puerto Rico. For more than two hours, fans enthusiastically sang along to Boyfriend’s hit singles and shouted out the members’ names.

Although Boyfriend’s recent concert marked the first performance by a K-pop act in Puerto Rico, most tickets were sold immediately after sales had opened, said Starship Entertainment. Moreover, the group was ardently greeted by over 500 local fans at the San Juan Airport, despite their delayed arrival, surprising industry officials with the group’s higher-than-expected popularity in South America.

Boyfriend is scheduled to make concert stops in the United States, where they will hold their first showcase concerts in Chicago on March 11 and Dallas on March 13.

By Sohn Ji-young (jiyoung.sohn@heraldcorp.com)