'Music is a universal language': The Rose rises above K-pop at Manila concert

MANILA, Philippines — K-pop concerts usually feature sing-and-dance acts by the most popular girl and boy groups, while fan meets will have either of these depending on the featured star. 

Indie rock band The Rose has more of the singing and little to no dancing, but their most recent Manila show is an eargasmic concert that could easily be considered among the best Korean concerts held in the country. 

Perhaps it is understandable that The Rose is relatively underrated considering that Korean indie rock is not as popular as the more mainstream K-pop, but for those who love their concerts to be a showcase of raw vocal power and musicality, the band's recent concert would be a perfect choice for those wanting to see pure talent and showmanship. 

"When we had our first official show, it was a very small venue, not like this. [There were] 15 to 20 people there, more than half of them are friends and, after seven years, we are here in front of you... Sharing our gifts, our energy," said the group's guitarist and vocalist Kim Woo-sung at their concert last Friday in the Araneta Coliseum. 

Presented by Ovation Productions, the group returned to the country to stage its "Dawn to Dusk" tour, a year after visiting the country last year for its "Heal Together" world tour. 

"We really believe that's the beauty of music. We think that music is the universal language. We also believe that music is healing. Music moves peoples' hearts and music finds people and we're all here because of music," he added. 

He's not wrong at all. The Rose performed more or less 20 of their songs in almost two hours of show at the Big Dome. They only took a few minutes break and they were back to sing their hearts out to their fans, the Black Roses, and most probably the casuals, who undoubtedly, checked them out after listening to them for the first time. 

Talented quartet

Another refreshing sight to see and hear is that all four members can actually sing. Woo-sung seemed to have difficulty that night, and so some of the band members took over the singing, apart from their other vocalist, Park Do-joon, who also plays the keyboard/piano. 

Drummer Lee Ha-joon and bassist Lee Jae-hyeong also showed that like their band mates, they also have vocals that could give the competition a run for their money. 

One of their ballads, "I.L.Y" sets them all up — and their fans — for a somber instropection on love and what it usually aches to sing about. 

Their slow or ballad songs give the casual fans a glimpse of how good they are individually. Again, Ha-joon took over the singing from Woo-sung as he sang his part in "Sour," aptly titled since it talks about regret over a love lost. 

Of course, The Rose included their other songs, including upbeat ones, such as "Beauty and the Beast, "Back To Me," "Alive" and their earliest hit "Sorry." 

As they ended their most recent concert with "Wonder," it should not be a wonder why they can hold up a venue like the Araneta or they've mounted another concert in just a year since their last. 

The next time that The Rose visits, K-pop and Filipino fans who love good music can count on the foursome to give them just that. 

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