Three top K-Pop acts in one show: K-Verse delivered a concert that saw Taeyeon, The Boyz, and aespa take the stage in one night.

With an aim to promote the spirit of togetherness in support of each fandom while maintaining each other’s identity as a fan and with a promise to create a space where fans are the number one priority in knowing who they want to see and what they’d like to experience, K-Verse: The Ultimate Pop Universe brought together Girls’ Generation’s Taeyeon, The Boyz, and aespa for a one-night-only concert at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on April 11, 2023.

Presented by MakeitLive, Content Sandbox, FangirlAsia, A Planet Entertainment, and Sinchunoung, the concert marked a special event for each fandom with it being aespa’s first event in the Philippines, and Taeyeon and The Boyz’s comeback event in almost five years. Regardless of their fandom, Filipino SONEs, TheBs, and MYs welcomed all artists with resounding cheers and support.

Next Level Stages with aespa

aespa opened K-Verse with their debut digital single, “Black Mamba,” which was first released in 2020 and later included as one of the tracks of their 2022 second extended play, Girls. The crowd was clearly thrilled to welcome Karina, Giselle, Winter, and Ningning to the Philippine concert stage as they cheered loudly. Following “Black Mamba,” the girl group performed “Illusion,” a pre-release track from Girls.

As the girls made their formal introductions, the audience erupted in enthusiastic cheers. They also kindly responded to inquiries regarding their time spent in the Philippines. They continued with performances of “Life’s Too Short”, their first song fully recorded in English, and “Lingo”.

Karina, who celebrated her birthday on April 11, received a beautiful present from her Philippine MYs in the form of a banner project and a birthday song. “You guys are my gift. I’m very thankful that you guys have given me a moment that is such a precious present and gift for me. Thank you so much,” Karina said. On Twitter, the K-Pop artist also shared a photo of the cake that her fans prepared for her on her special day. A special surprise was also given to Philippine MYs as the girls gave a sneak peek of their upcoming comeback, MY WORLD, which is set for release on May 8.

“First of all being here in the Philippines with all the members makes me really happy. And like the Philippine weather, you are so passionate. I really had a wonderful time here in the Philippines,” Ningning said, expressing also her love for the food in the country. Giselle echoed Ningning’s love for Filipino food and relayed her gratitude to the fans for coming to see them at K-Verse. “I was excited to come to the Philippines for the first time. We really enjoyed the food as Ningning said. Thank you, thank you so much for coming here tonight, being with us, and cheering us on. We hope we can come back soon, hopefully for our concert,” she said.

Like Giselle, Winter expressed her desire to return to the country and hold another performance. “It’s such a shame that we have a short time here in the Philippines. When we come back for a performance, you guys are gonna come with us, right? We thank you all for spending your precious time with us. We will make sure that aespa will come back,” she said.

aespa closed their set with their 2021 hit song, “Next Level”, which received the Digital Song Bonsang Award at the 2022 Golden Disc Awards and which gave the girl group the Best Dance Performance Award for a Female Group at the 2021 Mnet Asian Music Awards.

A Thrilling Ride with The Boyz at K-Verse

The Boyz took the stage next, making their return to the Philippine concert stage in almost five years. The boy group, composed of Sangyeon, Jacob, Younghoon, Hyunjae, Juyeon, Kevin, New, Q, Ju Haknyeon, Sunwoo, and Eric, first came to the country in 2018 as part of the star-studded MBC Show Champion in Manila lineup.

Kicking off their comeback stage in the Philippines, the boy group performed “Roar” from their newest album, Be Awake. They then proceeded to greet The Bs with their trademark greeting and say hello to them individually. Sangyeon, Jacob, Younghoon, Hyunjae, Juyeon, Kevin, New, Q, Ju Haknyeon, Sunwoo, and Eric went back to performance mode and took the stage with back-to-back performances of “Maverick” and “The Stealer” from their Maverick and Chase albums, respectively.

Sunwoo received an advance birthday greeting from Philippine The Bs. The rapper showed his appreciation to the fans by bowing and saying thank you. He called the sweet gesture of fans a big present for him, highly appreciative of the birthday song. Sunwoo turned 23 years old on April 12.

After fired-up performances, The Boyz made a sweet return to the stage with a fun-filled performance of “Salty”, a track from their 2020 album, Reveal. They then came closer to fans, went around the stage, and interacted with fans in “Dancing Till We Drop”.

The boy group also made a declaration to return to the Philippines for a solo concert. “Philippines, make some noise if you want The Boyz back here,” Eric said, earning loud screams from the crowd.

They definitely turned everyone at the venue The Bs with an exhilarating stage of “Thrill Ride” from the Thrill-ing album—closing their incredible set.

Beshie Taeyeon Returns to Manila

The final performer of K-Verse, King Taeyeon made her highly-awaited return to the local concert scene on April 11. The leader of Girls’ Generation got The Big Dome cheering in delight as she emerged on stage with her opening song, “I”. Life was truly a beauty as she followed it up with “Toddler”. The concert marked the first time that the singer performed “Toddler” live for her Philippine SONEs.

Greeting fans, Taeyeon admitted that it truly has been a while since she came to the country for a concert. But despite the long wait, her beshies are more than happy to welcome her back with their loudest cheers and banners.

Taeyeon acknowledged the passionate energy of Philippine SONEs. “Your reaction is so hot that it seems I really need to come back for a solo concert,” she said, a statement that garnered loud agreement from the crowd. She also shared that she is in the midst of preparing for a concert. “So if you guys wait for a little bit, I’ll make sure to come back and greet you all once again,” she added.

Taeyeon continued her performances with “Set Myself on Fire”, “Four Seasons”, and “What Do I Call You”. She then took a moment to once again express her gratitude for the cheers and reiterated her promise to come back.

Also for the first time, Taeyeon showed the Philippine crowd a live performance of “INVU” from her third studio album of the same name released in 2022.

A truly star-studded affair that brought together three of the best K-Pop acts, K-Verse made the dreams of MYs, The Bs, and SONEs come true with an ultimate show that saw aespa debut on the local concert stage and welcome The Boyz and Taeyeon back to Manila.

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K-Verse: The Ultimate Pop Universe was presented by MakeitLive, Content Sandbox, FangirlAsia, A Planet Entertainment, and Sinchunoung. Special thanks to MakeItLive for the invitation.