K-pop aficionados trooped the Mall of Asia Arena on June 9 as five acts came together for the K-pop World Music Festival. Organized by DnM Entertainment and All Access Production, the festival was a rare opportunity to see several stars under one roof. Sohee, Kim Dong Han, ELRIS, NCT 127, and Red Velvet, turned the Arena into a picturesque sea of pastel coral, lime green, and red as fandoms came lightstick-ready to support their faves.

There was a lack of videos that are usually screened in Kpop events to hype up the crowd before performances begin, but the energy and camaraderie of the crowd made up for it.

A Kim Dong Han fan single-handedly broke the ice by shouting the idol’s name in a coarse voice. Pockets of cheering followed after – birthday greetings for NCT 127 members, fanboys uproariously declaring love for Red Velvet’s Joy, and the entire venue turning into Reveluv kingdom as the second floor led the fanchants. Just like that, the event kicked off on a positive note.

Kim Sohee was first on the stage. An idol who manages a career both as a soloist and a member of Elris, she first caught attention as one-third of Kpop Superstar 6 runner-up KWINS.
Dressed in a tight-fitted red dress, soloist Sohee was sophisticated and mature, an image which she shed as she later returned with ELRIS. She performed her collab song with Bol4 “Hurry Up”, and a cover of Gain’s “Bloom”.

Kim Dong Han, who has been to the country as part of JBJ, returned solo. The Produce 101 alum was most engaging with the audience, reaching every part of the stage to say hello and asking everyone to fill in lines of “Record Me”. A rookie soloist, Donghan made an impression with high energy performances of “Sunset”, “Focus” and “Ain’t no Time”, coupled with a winsome personality.

The audience was transported to summer wonderland with ELRIS’ youthful performances.
One member short with leader Bella suffering from an injury, they still performed “Summer Dream”, “Heart Bank” and “Pow Pow” seamlessly. The girls, dressed in pastel, were a breath of fresh air with their saccharine voices and gentle smiles. Leader Bella joined on-stage between songs and promised she’ll definitely be injury-free the next time they come by.

NCT 127 came in strong with a combo of dance anthems “Fire Truck” and “Cherry Bomb”. The group proved to be consummate professionals, showing no trace of having arrived in Manila just a few hours before as they sang “Regular”, “Simon Says” and “Superhuman” with fervor. In Philippine concerts where screams count as currency, there was no shortage for NCT 127, leading the group to declare the night’s turnout as the “most energetic in the world”.

Red Velvet was the definite highlight of the night. The ladies from SM entertainment turned the event into a solo concert for as long as their five-track setlist allowed. Irene mentioned she hopes to stage a solo concert in the country, and her request was met with overwhelming chants of “solo con” from the crowd. The group offered a solid set that started with “Red Flavor” and ended with “RBB”. Throughout, the audience was not merely doing fan chants, but were singing their hearts out along to entire songs.

It should be pointed out that the audio could use improvement. While the artists were definitely singing live, their voices were overpowered by the playback, evident in the way the audio levels would be soft and fuzzy during the in-between talks. In a performance-heavy genre like Kpop, live performances are prized commodities and are welcome any day.

The Kpop wave that stormed into mainstream consciousness in the aughts shows no signs of slowing down and the list of artists visiting the country grows each year. With just five songs each, the concert felt bitin for some spectators, to no one’s fault. Every artist mentioned looking forward to returning to the country another time. It’s now a wait and see who actually returns perhaps for a solo concert and finish what was started.

Write up by Marijo Endriga
Photos by Gellie Jam and Vince Bern

Special thanks to DnM Entertainment and All Access Productions