Words and photos by Danica Lacson

South Korean band DAY6 returned to the Philippine concert stage last November 23 at the SMART Araneta Coliseum, equipped with their signature stage performances, new music, and tons of inspiration for their fans — their beautiful reason.

The Manila leg of DAY6 WORLD TOUR <GRAVITY> marked the return of Sungjin, Jae, Young K, Wonpil, and Dowoon to the Philippines after more than a year since making their debut on the local concert stage with their first world tour, YOUTH. The excitement was definitely high as evident from the sold-out tickets and top trending topics ever since PULP Live World announced it will be bringing the band to the country this 2019.

And indeed, the hype was well-deserved as DAY6 staged a spectacular display of their musical talents and adorable charms that made the Saturday night of My Days from all over the Philippines (and probably, the world) the best time of their lives. It was beautiful. It was perfect. And it was heartwarming — filled with sincerity from the boys and their fans who patiently waited to see them back.

DAY6 opened the night with a sweet serving of “Best Part”, “Sing Me”, “I Wish”, “Somehow”, “Time Of Our Life”, and a promise that the night of November 23 is about to become the best night for everyone at The Big Dome, with the boys encouraging fans to forget everything even just for a while and enjoy themselves.

Following their introduction and short ment, DAY6 and My Days collaborated for a short jam session — and in Jae’s words, “Oh my goodness, that was perfect!” But the night is only starting as the boys have more in store including a “So Cool” performance that was capped off by Dowoon’s drum solo and Young K’s bass solo.

My Days were definitely the best concert crowd as their energy never seemed to die down that night, rocking hard with their favorite band for “Out Of My Mind” and “Feeling Good”. Screams turned louder when the boys got closer to their fans and moved toward the extended stage where they performed “How To Love”, “For Me”, and “Wanna Go Back”. Sungjin also don an impressive guitar solo, while Dowoon treated the audience with a short vocal performance.

 

And the treats never stopped for My Days with DAY6 making Christmas early for them with a special mash-up gift of “Shape Of You” x “Like That Sun”, “Days Gone By” x “Treasure”, and “Get Lucky” x “Blood”. But the party has just started because DJ Wonpil has more to give in his solo stage of a remix of “Freely”, “Congratulations”, “Sing Me”, and “Blood”.

Reaching the second half of the concert, DAY6 performed “Colors” followed by a hard-hitting performance of “I Need Somebody”. Getting the crowd up their feet and jumping to the music, Sungjin, Jae, Young K, Wonpil, and Dowoon rocked hard with “I Wait”.

“We have been waiting so long to be with you here, guys,” Jae said during a short ment. Wonpil also expressed his admiration for the energy My Days displayed saying, “I think we will be able to go back with all this energy from you.”

DAY6 then debuted their newest single “Sweet Chaos” on the Philippine concert stage. After a performance of “Headache”, Jae capped off the solo performances with a guitar solo, before they shot My Days with more outstanding performances of “Warning” and “Shoot Me”.

A cute VCR played which showcased the boys having fun while playing games and going on an outing together. Towards the end, a special message from DAY6 unfolded where they relayed their gratitude to their fans — “Thank you for being with us, My Day.”

Reciprocating the love and appreciation of the band, My Days created a beautiful ocean of lights during “Cover”. After hitting us hard in the feels with “You Were Beautiful”, DAY6 teamed up with their fans for “Congratulations”, the band’s debut single.

Emotions continued to run high with the special fan projects — a touching video and a banner support — My Days prepared for DAY6. “I don’t think I will be able to forget Manila,” said Wonpil during the concert’s final ment. He expressed his appreciation for the effort fans put in making the fan projects. “Thank you for reminding us why we make music,” he added, ending with a promise to see their fans in the Philippines again.

Trying his best to relay his message in English, Dowoon said he was touched by the fan project. “Today’s stage is a present to us. You, one by one, are very important people,” he said. He also told fans to eat well and that they will always love them. “We will come back! Thank you, Philippines,” he said.

In his ment, Young K admitted go through uncertainty during the production of their latest album The Book Of Us: Entropy.

“After a certain point, it was really hard to find for the reason why we sing on the stage because we are doing the same thing over and over again. I was not doing it for my parents. I was not doing it for the company. It was not a competition anymore. I was looking for the reason why and there you go. You guys gave us the answer. Thank you very much. You guys said we are the reason, but trust me, you guys are our motivation. You guys are our inspiration. You guys are our reason to be on this stage. Thank you very much.”

Sungjin, who also went the extra mile to deliver his message in English, said My Days were awesome. “ You guys do whatever you wanna do. Study hard. Word hard. We will come back — so grown up. Thank you so much. See you soon!”

Jae, who became emotional during his ment, relayed his appreciation and gratitude to My Days for being with them. “Life is so hard sometimes. I’m really appreciative of the fact that we have you guys and you guys have us. And that, we could be each other’s reason,” he said. He also jokingly told fans not to put it out on Twitter (We are sorry, Jae. We love you!), before ending his message with “Thank you from the bottom of my heart, for being my reason to continue to be my best.”

And while Jae’s tears have yet to dry up, DAY6 took a group photo with My Days to remember the precious moment before wrapping up the concert with “Dance Dance, “Freely”, and DAY6’s heartfelt bows to fans who, as Young K said, are the reason why they never give up.

Although it was saddening to see the night end with the boys bowing and waving to fans and Sungjin giving out guitar picks, the Manila leg of DAY6 WORLD TOUR <GRAVITY> was definitely an unforgettable concert filled with impressive music, fun moments, and heartwarming memories. It was inspirational and touching to witness the boys’ vulnerability and more so, their strength and the influence of idols and fans to each other that goes beyond beats and melody but transcends to life lessons and being each other’s motivation to go on.

It was beautiful. It was perfect. It was a moment that keeps your feet on the ground and pulls you back to stand up again — like gravity.

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DAY6 WORLD TOUR <GRAVITY> is presented by JYP Entertainment, Asiana Airlines, and PULP Live World. Special thanks to PULP Live World for the invitation to the event.