BTS — the biggest K-pop group on the planet, comprising vocalists Jung Kook, Jin, Suga, RM, J-Hope, Jimin, and V — returned to the Bay Area for the first time in nearly eight years, drawing thousands of fans for three sold-out shows this weekend at Stanford Stadium.

Fans, who call themselves the BTS Army, lined up for hours, shrieking in anticipation and handing out memorabilia they call “freebies,” including handmade bracelets, keychains, and postcards.

Jez Medina, 37, of Richmond, said she’s been a fan since seeing the seven-member boy band when they sang at the Oakland Coliseum in 2018, and went on to see their shows in Los Angeles and Las Vegas.

“One thing about Army is that they’re very artistic, very creative,” she said. “Anything that the boys do … little catchphrases that become inside jokes, or mementos that we take from them, those become freebies.”

Sophia Wong, 10, who drove down from Sacramento with her mom, was passing out keychains and pins she helped make before the show.

Tanita Perry, 25, and Taylor Coleman, 24, who commuted from Tracy and Stockton, respectively, showed up with handmade bracelets for other fans.

Others donned custom T-shirts emblazoned with names of their favorite band members or paper fans with BTS members’ faces.

Fans had plenty of time to prepare for the BTS comeback. Even before the group disbanded for military service, the pandemic forced them to cancel shows in the U.S.

Tin Tin L., a 29-year-old who flew to the Bay Are from Boston for Saturday’s concert, convinced her mom, cousins, and aunts — some of whom bought tickets to pandemic-canceled BTS shows five years ago — to come down from Vancouver, Washington, to see the group perform at Stanford on Saturday.

The BTS concerts have drawn more than 50,000 fans to Stanford each night, with the final performance at the venue on Sunday before the Arirang World Tour’s next stop in Las Vegas.