CORTIS brave heavy rain at Rock in Japan 2026 as the festival's only K-pop act
CORTIS played 30 minutes at ROCK IN JAPAN FESTIVAL 2026 on August 20—their first Japanese outdoor festival stage.
First Japanese outdoor festival, in the rain
CORTIS—Martin, James, Juhun, Sunghyun, and Gunho—took the stage at ROCK IN JAPAN FESTIVAL 2026 on August 20 at Soga Sports Park in Chiba, Japan. They were the only K-pop act invited to this year's edition of the festival, which is marking its 27th year and ranks among Japan's four major rock music festivals.
The group performed a solo set on the festival's third day. Thirty minutes of rain didn't stop them. Before the crowd, the members called out in Japanese: "Let's not be defeated by the rain and enjoy!"
It was CORTIS's first time performing on a Japanese outdoor music festival stage.
The setlist
The six-song set pulled from across their catalog: REDRED (global hit), TNT (mini 2nd album), ACAI (mini 2nd album), GO! (mini 1st album intro track), What You Want (debut song, band arrangement), and FaSHioN (mini 1st album, band arrangement).
What You Want and FaSHioN were reworked into band arrangement versions adapted for the festival format.
What's next
CORTIS are nominated in three categories at the 2026 MTV Video Music Awards on August 27: Best Group, Best New Artist, and Best K-Pop. On October 9, they are scheduled to perform at the Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix.
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