RESCENE's 2026 Stage Year: KCON Japan, LA and a Halftime Show

RESCENE’s 2026 has mostly been told as a chart story — the reverse run (역주행) that took a two-year-old ‘LOVE ATTACK’ back up the streaming charts and, by late July, to the top of music-show scoreboards. But the same months can be read as a stage itinerary. It starts with three festival days at KCON JAPAN 2026 from 8 to 10 May, runs through a six-trophy music-show streak in July and August, steps onto a football pitch between the halves of Manchester City vs Atlético Madrid, crosses the Pacific for KCON LA and arrives on 27 August at the K-World Dream Awards at KINTEX. This is that itinerary, dated and sourced.

May 2026: three days at KCON JAPAN

KCON JAPAN 2026 ran from 8 to 10 May at Makuhari Messe in Chiba, and RESCENE worked all three days of it. On the first day the group opened their X STAGE showcase with a cover of Wanna One’s “Energetic”, then moved through ‘Bloom’, the Japanese version of ‘Pinball’ and ‘Runaway’. RESCENE said afterwards that starting with a cover stage had made them nervous, that once they were on stage the time went by so fast it left them wanting more, and that they had enjoyed it.

The showcase was only part of the schedule. On 8 and 9 May the members joined the dance stage, including its random play dance corner, and visited fan booths around the convention after their performances; on 9 May they walked the red carpet and performed ‘Runaway’ and ‘LOVE ATTACK’ at the pre-show; on the final day they took part in the K-COLLECTION event. ET News wrote that the group’s cheerful energy warmed the venue.

The record of the trip is unusually complete: KCON’s official channel published the full X STAGE showcase on 14 May, the pre-show is on KCON’s Mnet Plus platform, and on 30 May RESCENE’s own channel added a behind-the-scenes video from Makuhari.

July into August: six trophies in five weeks

The first trophy of RESCENE’s career arrived in the middle of the itinerary. On 14 July, about two years after debut, the KARA remake released on 8 July won SBS Life’s The Show, and the members thanked their fandom REMINE on air. On 25 July the same single took MBC’s Show! Music Core, the group’s first win on a terrestrial network; Top Star News reported that as of 26 July the ‘Pretty Girl’ special video had passed 20 million YouTube views.

Then the older song joined in. On the 26 July broadcast of SBS’s Inkigayo, ‘LOVE ATTACK’ — the title track of RESCENE’s first mini album SCENEDROME, released in August 2024 — took first place with a combined 5,486 points, with I.O.I’s “Suddenly” and aespa’s “LEMONADE” also nominated. The run continued after promotions ended: ‘Pretty Girl’ won Music Core again on 8 August without the group appearing on the broadcast, and a third Music Core win followed on 15 August. When ‘LOVE ATTACK’ collected a second Inkigayo trophy on the 16 August broadcast, an OSEN report carried by the Korea Daily tallied six music-show wins across the two songs — four for ‘Pretty Girl’, two for ‘LOVE ATTACK’.

9 August: halftime at Seoul World Cup Stadium

The most unusual booking of the year came from football. On 15 July Coupang Play confirmed RESCENE as the halftime act for the 2026 Coupang Play Series meeting between Manchester City and Atlético Madrid, set for 8 p.m. on Sunday 9 August at Seoul World Cup Stadium. The announcement called the group a ‘reverse-run legend’ and pointed to a connection that predates the boom: RESCENE had been performing and taking ceremonial kicks at K League grounds well before a stadium invited them to sing between halves. On 31 July the setlist followed — ‘LOVE ATTACK’, ‘Pretty Girl’ and ‘Pinball’, the double title track of the group’s first mini album — with RESCENE saying they had prepared a special set for the series.

The show capped a packed week: on 6 August the group performed at the Island Day ceremony at the Yeosu World Expo venue as the day’s ambassadors, and a 7 August Top Star News preview announced all five members as the sole guests of episode 410 of MBC’s The Omniscient Interfering View, due to air on 8 August — the same day ‘Pretty Girl’ collected a Music Core trophy in their absence.

On the night, Kuki News’ photo report showed the five members performing ‘LOVE ATTACK’ and ‘Pinball’ across the pitch to an enthusiastic crowd. TV Report added a footnote from the stands: comedian Lee Seon-min, who had helped Woni practise driving on the August 2025 web show 나의 연수 아저씨 (My Driving-Lesson Uncle), posted a clip of himself cheering the stage.

14 to 16 August: KCON LA 2026

KCON LA 2026 ran from 14 to 16 August at Crypto.com Arena and the Los Angeles Convention Center, and RESCENE worked both halves of it. Billboard, reporting from the festival, wrote that the quintet played two Toyota Music Den showcases and a session at the Dance Stage by Sanrio across the weekend, on top of the M Countdown main stage on Day 3, with a group of fans calling themselves ‘TEAM RESCENE’ watching from the barrier.

The Toyota Music Den Stage was making its KCON LA debut in 2026 — a festival-grounds stage built around close-range showcases and artist interactions, with ILLIT, from20 & HELLO GLOOM and KEYVITUP also on its Saturday programming. Billboard gives no date for either RESCENE showcase; the published Saturday schedule put one of them at 12:00, and also listed the group among that evening’s M Countdown supporting acts, a day earlier than the post-event reports place the arena stage.

That arena stage is the best-documented of the weekend. OSEN and Joongang Economy News date it 16 August, local time, and Billboard puts it on Day 3 of a festival that opened on Friday 14 August. Both Korean outlets describe RESCENE opening with a summer re-arrangement of ‘LOVE ATTACK’ and following with ‘Pretty Girl’; OSEN reported the members leading chants with the Los Angeles crowd mid-performance and the audience answering in cheers, and Joongang Economy News called the stage the close of the group’s KCON LA schedule. Billboard added that KCON opened the set with a montage tracing the group from its March 2024 debut through the small events and opportunities that came before the number ones. Back in Korea, the 16 August Inkigayo broadcast handed ‘LOVE ATTACK’ its second trophy — the Los Angeles stage and the Seoul scoreboard carrying the same date on opposite sides of the date line. KCON’s official channel published a one-minute clip of the group at the festival on 17 August.

27 August: the K-World Dream Awards at KINTEX

The itinerary has one more date. On 27 August RESCENE perform at the 2026 K-World Dream Awards at KINTEX in Goyang — the last stop of the stage year, and the only one still ahead.

Three details sit beside what the ceremony has already announced, and all three come from U-NEXT, which holds the Japanese stream. Its press room lists 27 performers, RESCENE among them. It carries the ceremony live and exclusively in Japan from a 6:30 p.m. start. And a later archive stream follows with Japanese subtitles — fitting reach for a group whose 2026 stage year opened at Makuhari Messe on 8 May.

Key takeaways

• RESCENE worked all three days of KCON JAPAN 2026 (8 to 10 May, Makuhari Messe): an X STAGE showcase, dance-stage corners, a pre-show and the K-COLLECTION event.
• Between 14 July and 16 August the group collected six music-show trophies — four with ‘Pretty Girl’ (The Show once, Show! Music Core three times) and two with ‘LOVE ATTACK’ (Inkigayo twice).
• On 15 July Coupang Play confirmed RESCENE as the halftime act for Manchester City vs Atlético Madrid on 9 August at Seoul World Cup Stadium, with an announced setlist of ‘LOVE ATTACK’, ‘Pretty Girl’ and ‘Pinball’.
• Press photos from the 9 August match show the group performing ‘LOVE ATTACK’ and ‘Pinball’ across the pitch.
• Billboard reported RESCENE playing two Toyota Music Den showcases and a Dance Stage by Sanrio session across the KCON LA 2026 weekend, on top of the M Countdown main stage on Day 3, which OSEN and Joongang Economy News date 16 August, local time.
• The 2026 K-World Dream Awards, with RESCENE among the 27 performers U-NEXT lists, take place on 27 August at KINTEX in Goyang and stream live in Japan on U-NEXT from a 6:30 p.m. start.