Big acts to light up local concert stage

MANILA, Philippines — A bunch of returning foreign acts, including hitmakers from the ‘90s and powerhouse K-pop groups, as well as top local performers will grace the concert scene in the Philippines in the coming months.

Original Pilipino Music (OPM) pop band Side A will usher the month of June with their repeat performance of Then and Now The Repeat production on June 1 at the Newport Performing Arts Theater followed by Vice Ganda’s Your Memejesty, Queen VG on June 2 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

On June 3, local acts Adie, The Juans, Mrld, and SunKissed Lola will headline the Press Play Sessions at the Skydome, SM City North Edsa while American musician BoyWithUke will perform live at The Filinvest Tent in Alabang on the same date. 2NE1’s Minzy will stage her Glee tour at the New Frontier Theater the next day.

Rakrakan Festival will return this year on June 10 to 11 at the Clark Global Pampanga.  Presented by Neuwave Events & Productions, another former 2NE1 member Park Bom will mount her solo fan concert titled You & I on June 10 at the New Frontier Theater. After that, K-pop acts EXO’s Baekhyun, Jeon Somi, and B.I. will topbill the Cornerstone Entertainment and OctoArts Entertainment’s KPOP Overpass event on June 11 at The Big Dome.  On June 17, three separate music gigs will happen in various venues — South Korean artist Woodz at the New Frontier Theater, K-pop girl group Ive at the Smart Araneta Coliseum and Fra Lippo Lippi Per Sorensen at Sta. Rosa Sports Complex in Laguna.

Sam Smith

On the other hand, NCT DoJaeJung trio, composed of Doyoung, Jaehyun, and Jungwoo will bring their Scented Symphony: Perfume Fan Concert on June 24 at the SM Mall of Asia (MOA) Arena.

Come June 24 and 25, two major music events will take place in different venues, the 11-time Grammy-winning artist Bruno Mars at Philippine Arena in Bulacan, presented by Live Nation Philippines, and SB19’s Pagtatag! World Tour at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

For the Fil-American singer-songwriter, who holds the record of being the male artist with the most Hot 100 No. 1’s, his June 24 show has already sold out, according to producers. K-pop all-female group Nmixx will wrap up the month’s music scene with their Showcase Tour Nice To Mixx You on June 30 at the New Frontier Theater. Concertgoers may jam with Ely Buendia, Al James, Flow 6 and other homegrown artists at VamosPH’s Howlers Manila 2.0 on July 1 at the Circuit Makati.

Likewise, You Me at Six will bring to Manila the Truth Decay Tour on July 6 at the Skydome, while HYBS in Manila happens on July 14 at The Filinvest Tent, The Colors of Bang Yong-guk on July 14 at the Music Museum and THE BOYZ World Tour: Zeneration on July 15 in a soon-to-be announced venue.

Promoter DMC Philippines announced recently that American alt-rock band Vertical Horizon will return for a gig on July 18 at the Skydome. At the same venue, American rapper Jake Miller will perform on July 19, while Canadian R&B artist Daniel Caesar will come back for the Manila leg of his SUPERPOWERS World Tour on July 19 at the World Trade Center Manila. Also on July 19, R&B singer Rini will bring his Past the Naked Eye 2023 Asia Tour to Manila.

Indian Singapore-raised pop artist DHRUV and the music collective from California, Peach Tree Rascals, will mount their respective shows on July 25 at The Podium Hall and at the Maybank Performing Arts Theater.

Joining the music lineup for July are Sabrina Carpenter for her Emails I Can’t Send Tour on the 25th and Lewis Capaldi’s Broken By Desire To Be Heavenly Sent Asia 2023 Tour (presented by Wilbros Live) on the 27th. Both events at the New Frontier Theater.

After postponing the schedule three times, the Ovation Productions declared that the much-anticipated concert of Canadian-American singer-songwriter Alanis Morissette will finally push through. In celebration of the 28th anniversary of her iconic album Jagged Little Pill, Alanis will hold a two-day show on Aug. 1 and 2 at MOA Arena.

Moreover, expect American music artist Teddy Swims to perform at the Samsung Hall at SM Aura on Aug. 3, Toronto’s all-pop band Valley at the Ayala Malls Manila Bay on Aug. 5 and Mr. Big’ s The Big Finish in Manila at the Skydome on Aug. 9.

Three K-pop groups, Mamamoo+, Kep1er and Lapillus, will come to the country for THE SUPERSTAGE by K-POP IN MANILA happening on Aug. 11 at the MOA Arena followed by Irish band Two Door Cinema Club on Aug., 13, also at the MOA Arena.

K-pop boy group Tomorrow X Together’s (TXT) WORLD TOUR at the Philippine Arena on Aug. 13. and British musician Bruno Major at the Samsung Performing Arts Theater on Aug. 15 are also part of the Philippines’ lively music scene.

On Sept. 9, I Like Me Better crooner Lauv will carry out his The Between Albums tour in Cebu and MOA Arena on Sept. 11.

Twice

The Los Angeles-based Indonesian R&B singer NIKI will again visit the Philippines on Sept. 13 to do a show at the MOA Arena. According to producer LiveMNL, her show is already sold out.

Irish rock band Kodaline will be returning as well on Sept. 14 at The Filinvest Tent, presented by Karpos Live.

K-pop fans are sure ready for ATEEZ The Fellowship: Break The Wall on Sept. 16 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum and Twice’s 5th World Tour Ready To Be on Sept. 30 at the Philippine Arena.

Towards the end of year, be prepared for pop-rock band Against the Current on Oct. 8 at the Skydome, as well as boy band A1 on Oct. 12 in Davao, Oct. 13 in Cebu and Oct. 14 at the New Frontier Theater.

English hitmaker Sam Smith is making a stop at the MOA Arena on Oct. 21 for his Gloria: The Tour run. It is his third time in the country following In The Lonely Hour tour in 2015 and The Thrill of It All in 2018.

And of course, the eagerly-anticipated comeback of Irish pop-rock icons The Corrs on Oct. 21 and 22 at the Araneta Coliseum which was mounted by PULP Live World.  Music enthusiasts may also look forward to Mayday Parade and Silverstein shows slated Oct. 27 at the New Frontier Theater and Oct. 31 at Skydome, respectively. Lastly, hardcore band Saosin will go on rocking the Skydome for two nights on Nov. 3 and 4 after canceling their supposed Southeast Asia tour last March.

More musical performances will be announced soon, so watch out for it. Speculations are rife about Coldplay coming back this year. The British rock band, which first came here in 2017, has already confirmed on its website several Asian cities for its special run of stadium shows in November, as part of the record-breaking Music Of The Spheres World Tour.

Or is it Taylor Swift next? The STAR asked concert producers about the possibility of Swift’s ongoing Eras Tour coming to the Philippines. They said no Asian leg or international dates have been so far announced by the American pop superstar.

As for rumors widely circulating online of a supposed “residency” in the country, separate sources said it was “wishful thinking” and “not true at all.”

For details on pre-selling, ticket availability and prices, plus other updates, check out the producers’ respective social media accounts.