

It's 1996 and four pre-tweens are breakdancing and lip-syncing to hip-hop songs on a South Korean daytime television show. They can't be any older than eight or nine, but they perform with the gusto and professionalism of seasoned entertainers. One is wearing a beanie and baggy jeans like a Wu-Tang Clan Mini-Me. His name is Kwon Ji-yong and he is now known as G-Dragon. A decade after this performance he will go on to become the leader of one of the world's biggest K-pop (Korean pop) bands, Big Bang. But not before he is put through one of the country's famously strict bootcamp-style training programs for idol musicians.

This month, Australians can see the results of this rigorous system, and the idiosyncratic twist G-Dragon and his four bandmates put on the idol genre, as the group tour the country for the first time. Their two gigs at Allphones Arena are set to be the biggest K-pop concerts to hit the city since 2011's star-studded K-pop Music Fest sang and danced to a half-empty ANZ Stadium. Demand for the quintet was so high that the first date sold out in 24 hours, resulting in the almost immediate addition of a second show (the band's Melbourne show at Rod Laver Arena has also sold out).

K-pop band: Big Bang

"To be honest, we were a bit surprised, even though we know that Big Bang are arguably the biggest K-Pop boy band in the world," says Jamaica dela Cruz, the host of TV and radio show SBS PopAsia, when asked about the response to the tour. "It's not so much that we doubted Big Bang's popularity, it's more that we were thinking Australia has a comparatively smaller market, and that international fans are more likely to [go and see them] in other countries than Australia."

Although K-pop still remains a niche genre outside of Asia, the team behind Big Bang's 2015 Made Tour is extravagant enough to put many American pop stars to shame. The crew includes a six-piece band headed by musical director Gil Smith II, who has worked on projects for rapper Lil' Wayne and K-pop YouTube sensation Psy; visual director Ed Burke, who was behind Beyonce's award-winning 7/11 music video and her HBO documentary Life Is But a Dream; and creative director and production designer Leroy Bennett, who has worked with everybody from Lady Gaga to Paul McCartney.