The color of the night was flaming red, as ferocious as the performances of the South Korean boy band SEVENTEEN, combined with an eye-catching visual spectacle that held the crowd captive throughout the three-hour duration of the show.
Clad in all-black ensembles, with smoke effects and animated snakes flicking their tongues as video backdrops, the group members opened their setlist with Fear during their concert at the Philippine Sports Stadium in Bulacan, presented by Applewood Philippines. The STAR was there to witness the first night of their two-day music event last Jan. 18 and 19.
Adorned by vibrant blue and green lighting on stage and a gust of smoke, SEVENTEEN rendered a gutsy act of Fearless as their next song.
They showed who’s the real “maestro” in MAESTRO with their titillating dance maneuvers, while Vernon sexily swayed his hips and Woozi belted it out on his red mic.
The lights went out for a quick interlude but the Filipino fans, collectively known as CARATs, ignited the venue with the CaratBong, the official lightstick of SEVENTEEN, that they were holding.
Filo CARATs started queuing early in the afternoon and roamed around to check out various booths situated outside the stadium. The concertgoers as well as the press got to particularly enjoy a variety of activities at the booth of official drink partner, Mogu Mogu — from interactive booths featuring life-sized standees of SEVENTEEN members to exclusive giveaways of limited-edition Mogu Mogu merchandise. Aside from interactive games, CARATs were spotted having fun at the zone and winning prizes from the claw machine.
Sans Jun and Jeonghan, S.Coups, Joshua, Hoshi, Wonwoo, Woozi, DK, Mingyu, The8, Seungkwan, Vernon and Dino introduced themselves and lauded the audience’s intense energy every time they would come here. Last weekend’s gig was their first concert in the Philippines for 2025 dubbed “Right Here World Tour in Bulacan.”
Filo CARATs greeted Seungkwan a happy birthday much to his delight, and thanked the fans in return.
“It’s been (a while) since we’ve seen each other. The energy that you guys are showing us today is the reason why we wanted to come back. Let’s have fun tonight, guys. We missed you. Mahal ko kayo,” enthused Joshua.
The stage illuminated again in blazing red, as smoke and burning ash effects flashed on the wide screen, and together they launched their next track, Ash.
During a short break, a text on the screen read, “We are still together.” Someone from the crowd was heard saying, “Grabe, we are still together after 10 years.” SEVENTEEN debuted in 2015 and is still churning out one hit after another over the years with CARAT’s ardent support, of course.
Each sub-unit also had the opportunity to showcase their diverse talent and skills. The hip hop unit, composed of S.Coups, Wonwoo, Mingyu and Vernon, showed off their rapping skills in Water and Monster, while the performance unit, comprised of Hoshi, The8 and Dino, delivered powerful acts in Rain and Lilili Yabbay. The vocal unit — Joshua, Woozi, DK and Seungkwan — flaunted their singing flair in Candy and Cheers to youth. A myriad of blue confetti burst across the sky.
SEVENTEEN was in a playful mood when they mounted Oh My!. Vernon pretended to be asleep and Wonwoo woke him up. As if they were in a jungle, an animal mascot showed up on stage and the boys cheerfully interacted with them.
The words, “A lot has changed, but our feelings for CARATs remain the same. We love you CARATs,” appeared on a video screen. SEVENTEEN then took a picture with the crowd and sang Snap Shoot.
Green confetti rained down into the sea of people. SEVENTEEN members walked toward the center of the stage to get closer to the audience and put on some tricks to entertain the Filo CARATs.
Dino did a freestyle dance, Vernon bopped to the tune of APT., S. Coups carried out sexy moves, and The8 urged the crowd to raise their CaratBong, once, twice and thrice.
“Whenever I come to Bulacan, it always feels like home,” Joshua told the concertgoers, an intro to their succeeding song, Home.
After changing costumes, they returned to the stage to perform their music collaboration with DJ Khaled, LOVE, MONEY, FAME.
After which, they complimented the Filo CARATs for their “good singing” and requested them to sing along with them with the ditties that were not part of the setlist. The fans easily complied, waved their CaratBong and formed a tsunami of lights.
A high-octane show for March followed, a fascinating fireworks display blasted in the open air venue for Super and a videoke session, with the fans chorusing Darl+ing, Rock with you and Back It Up.
Now dressed up in black and white attire, the members went back to stage to play their remaining songs and even sat on a raised platform while delivering their respective messages of gratitude to fans who filled up the stadium that night.
“Thank you for your welcoming energy,” said Mingyu through a translator. “We missed you. We’re happy to see you again. For sure, we will be coming back para magkita tayo. And of course, we will come back with a good album and good songs.”
“We really, really had good memories in the Philippines,” expressed Woozi. “We were really touched by the passionate energy you are giving us. Thank you so much. ‘Til we meet again.”
“I wasn’t able to join last year. I was kinda sad while performing,” mused S.Coups.
The crowd responded with the phrase, “Walang uuwi,” in unison.
SEVENTEEN culminated their finale by taking another group photo with the Filo CARATs, splashing water to the crowd to beat the heat and ending the night with a flying confetti.
A SEVENTEEN concert wouldn’t be complete without chanting the Very Nice tune, which the group did with Filo CARATs and capped the night off with a few verses of Eyes on you, Fighting and other tracks.