SEVENTEEN Makes Concert History During 'Be The Sun' in Bulacan
Not even three months after their two consecutive sold-out concerts at the SM Mall of Asia Arena, South Korean boy band SEVENTEEN returned to the Philippines last December 17 for an encore concert for their Be The Sun world tour. The encore concert was held at the Philippine Arena in Bulacan, with a crowd estimate of 40,000-50,000 fans in attendance, filling the biggest indoor arena in the world.
All members of SEVENTEEN—S.Coups, Jeonghan, Joshua, Jun, Hoshi, Wonwoo, Woozi, DK, Mingyu, The8, Seungkwan, Vernon, and Dino—performed a total of 24 songs for Be The Sun in Bulacan, opening with a performance of "Hot," "HIT," and "March."
This was followed by the members’ first round of ments, which in K-pop lingo means when idols interact with the crowd in between performances.
“It’s actually our first time coming to Bulacan. You guys filled up such a big arena!” Joshua exclaimed.
Mingyu said, “Na-miss ko kayo. Mahal ko kayo,” which, of course, made the entire arena drown in screams.
To keep the energy up, SEVENTEEN performed "Rock with You," followed by Joshua and Vernon’s "2 Minus 1."
The performance, vocal, and hip-hop units went on to perform their subunit songs. Hoshi, Jun, The 8, and Dino of the performance unit danced to "Moonwalker" and "Wave"; the vocal team which includes Woozi, Jeonghan, Joshua, DK, and Seungkwan performed "Come To Me" and "Imperfect Love"; then the hip-hop team S.Coups, Wonwoo, Mingyu, and Vernon performed "GAM3 BO1" and "Back It Up!"
The big difference from SEVENTEEN's previous Be The Sun concert setlists is another subunit performance—this time, with the leaders of each subunit, which includes S.Coups from the hip-hop unit, Hoshi from the performance unit, and Woozi from the vocal unit. The SVT Leaders performed their 2022 single "Cheers" and were visibly surprised by the energy of the crowd, especially during S.Coups’ rap and Hoshi’s “eongdonie pang pang.”
During the third set of songs, SEVENTEEN performed title tracks from previous albums, namely "Mansae," "Left & Right," and "AJU Nice!" Followed by "Shadow," "Crush,: and another round of ments wherein the members, to the delight of Carats (SEVENTEEN fans), sang snippets of "Clap," "Don't Wanna Cry," "Boom Boom," "Don Quixote," "Adore U," and "Change Up"—mostly led by Dino, dubbed as “Philippine Star,” and the energetic Hoshi. It was then followed by a fun performance of "_WORLD."
When it was time for the ending ments, each member got to share their gratitude toward Carats and their intent to return to the Philippines for their next tour. But when it was Joshua’s turn for his ending ments, the crowd surprised him with an advanced Happy Birthday song. Caught off guard, he said, "You guys made another unforgettable moment for me."
Meanwhile, Seungkwan reminisced how the fandom grew from the first time they held a concert in the Philippines to what it is now. “I remember the last time when we had a concert here in the Philippines. During that time, I think it was less than 1,000 capacity. But right now, you guys are more than 40,000 people here. We really [want to] thank you a lot, even though you guys came from far away."
For their encore performances, SEVENTEEN performed "Darl+ing," "Campfire," "Our Dawn Is Hotter Than Day," "Snap Shoot," and, of course, ending the almost three-hour concert with a never-ending "AJU Nice!" which got the crowd jumping.
Good thing though that the Philippine Arena is earthquake-resistant because the fans were really giving their 100 percent for all rounds of "AJU Nice!"
SEVENTEEN shared their plans to return to the Philippines for an even bigger and better concert, but until then, Carats can nurse their PCD (post-concert depression) with fancams and Vernon’s upcoming debut as the third soloist of the group with his solo mixtape Black Eye, to be released on December 23, 2022.
Seventeen’s “Be The Sun” world tour in Bulacan was presented by Pledis Entertainment and Live Nation Philippines.
