The Mall of Asia Arena bloomed beautifully in the colors of rose quartz and serenity as SEVENTEEN and their Filipino Carats met again to light up the Philippine concert stage!

South Korean boy group SEVENTEEN proved its relentless influence and power with back-to-back sold-out SEVENTEEN World Tour – BE THE SUN in Manila last October 8 and 9 at the Mall of Asia Arena.

The concerts signified the return of S.Coups, Jeonghan, Joshua, Jun, Hoshi, Wonwoo, Woozi, The8, Mingyu, DK, Seungkwan, Vernon, and Dino to the Philippine concert stage after more than two years since their last solo concert in the country. And for leader S.Coups, the BE THE SUN in Manila shows were more special as they marked his reunion with his Filipino fans after more than four years after missing out on the last concert due to health reasons.

With lightsticks on hand and cheers roaring loud and proud for their favorite boys, Carats welcomed them back to the local concert stage with superb enthusiasm as SEVENTEEN kicked off the highly anticipated two-day concerts last October 8 with a parade of sizzling hot and energetic performances of their hits “HOT”, “March”, and “HIT”.

SEVENTEEN right here

“Say the Name, SEVENTEEN! Hello, we are SEVENTEEN!” —and after more than two years, the boy group, led by S.Coups, greeted their Filipino fans with their signature greeting and expressed their joy in coming back to the country after a long time. The members cutely tried their best to deliver their messages in Filipino, saying “na-miss namin kayo“, “mahal namin kayo“, and more.

Joshua also added, “It’s been a long time since the last time we came here. We’re finally back and we are really, really excited. We’re back with our tour, Be the Sun. We really wanted to show you guys a good performance today and just like the title states, “be the sun”, we want to be your light. So let’s have fun tonight, guys!”

Like in their previous concert tours, the members prepared a chant and a gesture for the world tour — “SEVENTEEN Carat, be the sun!” And with that cue, the boys wasted no time in captivating their audience by performing “Rock with You”.

Amplifying Be The Sun in Manila concerts with Unit Performances

The members of SEVENTEEN firmly displayed their immense talents and abilities with spectacular performances, never allowing the enthusiasm in the room to die down. Kicking off the unit performances, Joshua and Vernon commanded the stage with their duet of “2-1”.

The performance team impressed with the confident and attractive stages of “Moonwalker” and “Wave”, while the vocal team serenaded the crowd with their soothing voices in “Come to Me” and “Imperfect Love”. “Manila, we missed you, guys so much. You guys can sing along to the song, right?” Joshua said. And with a resounding yes and the prettiest ocean of Carat bongs, Filipino Carats beautifully serenaded SEVENTEEN with “Imperfect Love”. The hip-hop team then dominated the concert stage with a blistering stage performance of “Gam3 Bo1” and “Back It Up” to close out the unit performances.

Returning to the stage as a complete team, SEVENTEEN performed a relay of their greatest hits, “Mansae” featuring Vernon’s rendition of Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies”, a fun stage of “Left & Right” from their 2020 extended play Heng:garæ, and the ever-iconic “Aju Nice” that got everyone jumping up and down.

Coming into SEVENTEEN’s World

After the playful stages, S.Coups, Jeonghan, Joshua, Jun, Hoshi, Wonwoo, Woozi, The8, Mingyu, DK, Seungkwan, Vernon, and Dino unleashed their charismatic sides once more, delivering spectacular performances of “Shadow” and “Crush”, from their albums Face the Sun and Attacca, respectively.

With never-ending surprises and treats for their Carats, the boys donned impromptu mini-performances mid-ment. Woozi sang a snippet of his solo song “Ruby”, while Seungkwan sang a bit of Harry Styles’ “As It Was”. Wonwoo and Dino hyped the crowd with “Gam3 Bo1” and “Clap”, respectively. The8 also sampled his solo song “Side by Side”, while Hoshi made sure to deliver his tiger agenda with a freestyle “Tiger” song. (Note: Hoshi achieved his horanghae agenda early in the concert as he made Carats do tiger paws with him :D).

The members also repeatedly commended the energy and passion of Filipino Carats. Hoshi expressed his admiration for the unwavering energy of their fans, saying “I like the energy of Manila so much!”. DK echoed this, describing the energy as “crazy” as booming and tireless cheers enveloped the arena from the start until the very end.

With DK’s “SEVENTEEN Carat! Be the Sun”, the boy group made everyone dance and sing along to “_World”, the title track of their latest album, Sector 17.

SEVENTEEN’s Darl+ing Manila

Waiting for the encore performances also got fun with funny and adorable banners and photos for and of the members that the fans prepared. And everything got more fun as the members emerged from all over the stage for their encore performances, starting with the sweet “Darl+ing”. With hands up in the air, Filipino Carats gamely sang along —never beating the “Because Manila Carats can sing along to any song, right?” allegations.

The sweetest went overloaded with the members’ declarations of “my darling manila”, “Carats are our darling”, and more. The boys also made sure that their Filipino Carats know they are appreciated and loved.

“Because of your energy, I was able to do well. Every time we come here, we get good energy from you. I want to come here as soon as possible again,” Jeonghan said. Other members also reiterated the boy group’s desire to come back to the Philippines for another concert soon. “We will be back as soon as possible. Hopefully, in a stadium,” Joshua said.

S.Coups added, “We will come back really fast.” Meanwhile, Hoshi also said, “Should I come to Manila again? Should we go to a stadium next?”. The8 and DK echoed the other members’ words and asked Carats to be healthy and happy. Woozi chimed in, relaying his message in Filipino, “Magkita tayo ulit. Babalik kami ulit. Mahal ko kayo.”

Always an Aju Nice show with SEVENTEEN

And with all smiles and cheerful energy, SEVENTEEN had fun on stage and with their Carats while singing and dancing to “Our Dawn is Hotter than Day” and “Snap Shoot”. Very special guests in the person of Dino’s father and grandmother made a special appearance during “Snap Shoot”, making the night extra special and giving fans one of the best concert memories. The ever-jolly and super-enthusiastic mother-and-son tandem gave their all in dancing to “Snap Shoot”, earning loud cheers from both SEVENTEEN and Carats.

But a SEVENTEEN concert will never be complete without the ever-iconic and legendary “Aju Nice”. Seemingly tireless from the more than two-hour concert, the boys and Filipino Carats sang loudly and jumped high, capping off the night with an Aju-Nice party like no other.

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The SEVENTEEN WORLD TOUR – BE THE SUN IN MANILA is presented by Live Nation Philippines.

Special thanks to Live Nation Philippines for the invitation to the event.

This concert recap is for the first day of Be The Sun in Manila.

Words by Danica Lacson