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Philippine ReVeluvs gloriously illuminated Red Velvet with their ardor and love in the girl group’s first Philippine concert!

On May 7, there was an unmatched level of enthusiasm inside the SM Mall of Asia Arena. The reason why, however, is clear because that evening’s celebration was a first for Red Velvet, the Philippine ReVeluv, and the Philippine concert scene. The path leading up to this moment had been long, but everything from that evening made it worthwhile.

Red Velvet performed a solo concert on May 7 for the first time ever on a Philippine concert stage. The South Korean girl group, made up of Irene, Seulgi, Wendy, Joy, and Yeri, hasn’t performed a solo concert in the country since their debut despite doing a few performances here. Since it was revealed that the Philippines would be included in the Red Velvet 4th Concert R TO V, there has been a palpable sense of excitement that the long-awaited dream has finally come true. But the reality was not as dreamlike as it seemed, as SM Entertainment revealed days before the event that Joy would be missing the concert due to health reasons.

In spite of this, Red Velvet and Philippine ReVeluv nonetheless put on an exceptional concert. R TO V in Manila proceeded to fill our days and give us a bad case of post-concert depression with stunning stage production, elite vocals and dance, reverberating energy, remarkable fan projects, and more.

The Philippines greeted Irene, Seulgi, Wendy, and Yeri with a full house. Tickets to the show were sold out on the first day of sales. Before the lights went out, the arena was filled with jubilant cheers and chats, and every sound coming from the speakers created elation that caused lightsticks to be raised in the air.

A breathtaking and wonderful opening number started as the lights went down. Then, the ever-dazzling girls of Red Velvet appeared on stage in pink ballerina outfits and sang “Feel My Rhythm,” “BAMBOLEO,” and “LP” in front of lovely and colorful backdrops. These performances were accentuated by the exquisite moves they made with their dancers.

The members continued by extending their signature greetings to their Filipino fans. It was indeed happiness, and the reality of the event finally settling in. Everyone was ready to partake in order to build memories for one another — including a trip down memory lane with “Ice Cream Cake” and “Oh Boy.” The girls approached the audience through the extended stage wearing outfits that represented their individual colors, giving out generous waves and smiles to fans on all levels of the arena. They performed “On A Ride” and “Eyes Locked, Hands Locked” and it was touching to watch how they tried to connect with and include everyone.

The affection was reciprocated, too, as Philippine ReVeluvs launched a number of fan projects to provide the members with lasting memories to cherish. Along with their unwavering enthusiasm, ReVeluvs made enormous banners that said “I will always be by your side,” “I want to be forever, in this dream-like night,” and “Enchanting feeling, I’ll never forget everything.”

They performed “Queendom,” “Bing Bing,” their most recent hit, “Birthday,” and the song that has been the soundtrack to every summer since 2017: “Red Flavor” during the third set of performances, which was marked by a change in the outfits to red and denim. The girls reappeared after a brief intermission dressed in all-black ensembles for the fourth set of performances, which comprised “Pose,” “Beg For Me,” and “ZOOM.”

Though Joy was not present at the concert, her presence was felt through screen appearances throughout her parts in the songs, which drew applause from the audience. During “Bing Bing,” ReVeluvs also showed their love for Joy by lighting the arena in her color, green.

The members recognized the many fan efforts during the concert. The sight of the enormous banners, according to Seulgi, brought tears to her eyes. The members were also moved to learn that the green ocean was dedicated to Joy; Seulgi expressed her goosebumps, Irene praised the fans’ sweet gesture, Yeri expressed her gratitude, and Wendy gave a thumbs up. Along with the crowd, they joined the “Park Sooyoung” cheer and promised to tell Joy about it. Irene expressed how grateful she is for the concert-related gifts that the fans have made for them. She expressed how moved she was by the actions.

Red Velvet continued their set with outstanding renditions of “BYE BYE”, “In & Out”, “I Just”, and “Peek-A-Boo”. The applause became louder as Irene, Seulgi, Wendy, and Yeri proceeded to “Bad Boy,” undoubtedly one of the most eagerly anticipated performances of the evening. They began “Bad Boy” with their own distinctive dances, which raised the anticipation even more. Without giving ReVeluvs time to recover from the previous stage, the girls performed another crowd favorite, “Psycho.”

Philippine ReVeluvs seized over the arena with an exchange of cheers between the left (Re-deu) and right (Velvet) sides of the crowd as Red Velvet gets ready for the encore stage. The cheers were never-ending, with no signs of exhaustion. Even the girl group was taken aback by the crowd’s boundless enthusiasm, even after the show had been going on for hours. And in a typical Philippine concert crowd fashion, the cheers, which Irene claims are louder than the World Cup, grew stronger during the encore stages, which began with “Celebrate.”

Irene, Seulgi, Wendy, and Yeri all expressed their appreciation for the vigor, claps, and events the fans planned for them throughout the concert. Wendy remarked, “You guys are amazing, seriously. Thank you very much for all the love and support you guys showed us today, and she’s not here with us today, but even for Joy.” She added, “Because of all the energy and the love you sent us today, I really want to come back as soon as we can, with the five of us, including Joy.”

Seulgi expressed gratitude for the support the fans had given them throughout their visit to the nation, including the various fan projects carried out outside the venue. “I really saw how much you love us. I was very happy. We will go home with a lot of good memories of you,” she remarked.

Irene praised ReVeluv’s unrelenting enthusiasm and shared Seulgi’s sentiments, saying she is glad to have Philippine ReVeluvs with them. “I think more than anywhere else, your energy is the strongest,” Irene continued. Yeri expressed appreciation and vowed to return to the Philippines, saying “We have to really, really see you soon guys.”

Aside from the massive banners and the green ocean, Philippine ReVeluv came up with individual banners with the statement, “This feeling we want to last forever, this night is like a dream,” as well as the color ocean project.

But the night was far from over, as Red Velvet performed “My Dear” and “Russian Roulette” on the encore stages, which got the crowd pumped. Wendy said, “Your cheering and your voices are amazing,” adding that wherever they went, they can still hear Philippine ReVeluv’s voices. She continued, “I feel like I can hear your voice tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, and even for like a week. I think I will remember your voices.”

The crowd then started to dance and sing along to Red Velvet as “Zimzalabim” started to play, which caused the arena to shake even more. It was a sight to behold, a wonderful concert moment that set hearts racing and left Red Velvet and Philippine ReVeluvs with heartwarming feelings and lasting memories.

The girl group closed the concert with “You Better Know” and a sincere bow to everyone for an incredible show.

Days may have passed, but the extraordinary emotions from the Red Velvet 4th Concert R TO V in Manila remain. Even though the concert has been over for several days, the enthusiasm from that evening has lingered. With real vocals, real visuals, and real versatility, Red Velvet delivered on their promises, supported by a spectacular stage production and enlivened by the excitement and affection of their Philippine ReVeluvs.

It had been quite the journey to get here, but everything about that night made it meaningful. It was a feeling that will undoubtedly endure forever. Although the night may have seemed like a dream, it was a wonderful reality that will be cherished eternally.

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The Red Velvet 4th Concert R TO V in Manila was presented by PULP Live World and Happee Hour. Special thanks to PULP Live World for the invitation to the event.

It’s been a long, long time coming but pH-1 was here and finally made it to our shores to bring the hip-hop scene this country needs!

pH-1 or fondly known to fans as Harry, held his Philippine concert for the Asian leg of ABOUT DAMN TIME World Tour. Presented by Karpos Live, the Korean-American rapper debuted on the Manila stage in the Filinvest Tent, Alabang last May 3, 2023, tagging along DJ Spray to light up and hype up the stage for the tour.

Fans gathered up for their favorite homebody, even holding fan support in the venue and dressed to impress for one of the hottest k-hip hop artists in the scene. Hump day couldn’t stop the passionate support the fans have because they know what they’re going to miss if they wouldn’t go.

For those who missed it, we got you as here’s a rundown of what went down in the ABOUT DAMN TIME concert.

BUT FOR NOW, LEAVE US ALONE

Catching everyone’s attention, DJ Spray landed on stage first to set up a little bit before the man of the hour hopped on. Right on the 8 o’clock dot, pH-1 started his set list with “MEET N GREET”, originally sung with Kid Milli to hype up the crowd, immediately letting the Manila fans know what they were in for the night.

“What’s up Manila, your energy is crazy!” the rapper said before teaching the crowd his known chant for the tour. “When I say, ‘I’M HERE’ you say ‘ABOUT DAMN TIME’, you ready?” And of course, the crowd is always ready, cheering as “MALIBU” from pH-1’s debut full album HALO was played.

“I’ve been to other countries and they might be more in numbers but your energy is higher, Manila!” Another win for our country! Not Manila doing it like nobody else?! Filipinos never beat the “Filipinos are one of the best concert crowds in the world” allegations.

With this, he continued his set list with “PACKITUP!” from the EP “X” and “ZOMBIES”, “TIPSY” and “YUPPIE TING” that featured Blase, all plucked from his latest released album, BUT FOR NOW LEAVE ME ALONE.

One notable and funny encounter was during “TIPSY”, when someone from the crowd threw a blue undergarment on stage, which Harry held until the song ended. “Blue is now my favorite color!” the rapper joked as he was flattered and amused by the gesture. Someone must have been tipsy in the crowd to do that bold move! Fans who know pH-1 know that his favorite color was orange, (noted that some fans wore orange to emphasize that) but I guess it takes that move for your favorite hip-hop artist to change his mind!

“The energy in here is unbelievable.” the talented artist said. “I’ve been around the world for the past three, four months. I’ve been away from home but I’m very happy to be visiting these countries that I never get to visit, including Manila!” The artist mentioned that he found it enjoyable to try the local cuisine and get to explore each city he plays but he also mentioned he misses his dog, Holly, his comfortable couch, and home.

Smoothly transitioning to “Homebody”, one of ph-1’s most listened songs on Spotify, the rapper slowed the night a bit with the crowd singing parts of the song with him. Harry served nothing but his raw talent through the songs, singing back to back to back with “MR. BAD”, with the crowd who literally just know exactly what to chant and sing, ” Cupid “, and “JULIETTE!”

After these sweet energetic songs, Harry decided to really slow things down and sang “DVD”, literally sitting down in front of the crowd with a stool, signaling a more intimate part of the evening with the fans. Twinning with their idol, the fans conducted a well-thought-out fan project by giving pH-1 an orange ocean while “DVD” is performed, with background visuals showing an accented orange hue-colored living room set up. Everyone liked ph-1 more with “Like Me” and “Nerdy Love”, highlighting a softer version of Harry’s discography.

After this, he chatted with the fans and shared how jealous he was of the Filipino schoolmates he used to have when he was younger because they are all talented, from singing to dancing. (We won again!) The crowd teased him and asked him to give them a “sample” of dancing and he teased the fans a little with a small dance move.

A lot of back and forth and fanservice happened in between the concert similar to this. Like how Harry just desperately wanted to take a picture with the crowd but the camera stopped working all of a sudden. (“This has never happened before, so you guys are special!” he said.) Or how he took a Polaroid camera from a fan and took a crowd picture with and finally and successfully took a picture with the crowd for memory keeping.

Getting more songs from the EP “X”, pH-1 performed “OKAY”, recorded with Simon Dominic and MUSHVENOM, “MORAGO” with Blase and Coogie, and “TELEFONO” with HAON, Woodie Godchild, Jay Park, and Sik-K respectively. And it wouldn’t be a wild hip-hop show if there wasn’t water spraying on the crowd, so before that fun part started, the artist asked consent first before spraying water onto the fans. We love a king who recognizes consent!

Following this setlist is probably the more exciting and jump-inciting part of the evening as pH-1 did not stop performing powerful hits after hits, from “Olaf” to “Achoo” and “Orange” (the two latter songs are from Show Me the Money where he competed) and the ever powerful “THE PURGE”, one of the songs that were released from the album RED TAPE from H1GHER music, that featured artists that are undoubtedly the biggest forces in K-Hip Hop.

He also played more with the crowd with “Good Day” again from Show Me the Money, “VVS” recorded originally with BIG Naughty, TRADE L, Woodie Gochild, and Jay Park, and “iffy”, again with the familiar crowd pH-1 is used to collaborate, Sik-k, Jay Park and Groovy Room before teasing the crowd and leaving the stage before a short encore.

Encore: HALO, Goodbye, pH-1

“Every good day starts with a good yawn,” the lyrics of the song “OSCAR” said, a song about depending on the singer and about being there for the person they dedicate it to seems like a good way to say goodbye to the Manila fans as Harry surely takes inspiration and pays attention to the efforts of his supporters.

To prove this, he acknowledged a fan who specifically designed a clothing piece for Harry’s ABOUT DAMN TIME tour.

On her Instagram was a lengthy caption with a story on how the garment reached pH-1, and a heartfelt message to the artist, thanking him for keeping her inspired. GG, a fashion designer based in the Philippines and Korea designed a multi-wear tech + street outfit that would surely fit well with Harry himself. It was unfortunate that the artist cannot wear the outfit but the shoutout itself is something the designer fan truly appreciates and calls it a “core memory.”

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A post shared by gg™ | gian gonzalez (@giauhn)

pH-1 took his final bow, with DJ Spray taking the leave as well and giving a thumbs up to the crowd, closing the night with approval that we really are the best crowd there is, no matter how big or small the crowd is, no matter what genre.

Harry sealed the night with a piece of advice and addressed everyone in the room in association with the shout-out to the designer.

“Just remember that you are always so talented — You’re gifted with great talents, so all you need is just good energy, good motivation, and inspiration to do it. Keep it up.”

pH-1

Writer’s note: Bro, I’m taking this advice.

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The pH-1 World Tour ABOUT DAMN TIME in Manila was presented by Karpos Multimedia, Karpos Live, KOHAI, and H1GHR Music Records. Special thanks to Karpos Multimedia for the invitation.

Words and Photos by Arielle Elep