Filipino fans experienced a quintuple treat as K-pop acts NCT Dream, WayV, Golden Child, Xdinary Heroes and Alice came together to perform at the “I Pop U 2022 Manila ”concert.
Presented by DNM Entertainment, the music festival held on October 21, saw the Smart Araneta Coliseum crowd’s unwavering support for the Kpop idols from start to finish.
NCT Dream’s Jeno, Jaemin, Renjun, Chenle, and Jisung marked their second visit to the country this year with their return to the Philippine stage, bringing out the beat with tracks “Beatbox” and “Hot Sauce”.
“Every time we come here, the cheers and passion of the Pinoy Czennies are increasing year by year. That’s why it’s giving us energy to perform better,” main vocalist Chenle addressed their fans who lit up the venue with their lime green lightsticks.
The NCT sub-unit also had fans singing along with them during their “Dive Into You”, “Hello and Future” performances, before ending the show with “Glitch Mode”.
“Though it’s so tiring and our schedule is hectic, we’ll come back for sure for the Filipino Czennies,” stated Jaemin.
NCT’s Chinese sub-unit WayV mostly charmed fans in mini games such as Filipino food quiz and random dance battle while facing consequences when they lost.
Hendery, Kun, Yangyang, Xiaojun, performed a bit of their 2021 single “Kick Back” and threw out roses to fans while singing “Love Talk”.
Xiaojun and Kun also serenaded the crowd with a heartfelt rendition of their pop-ballad single “Back To You”.
The group, minus Ten and Winwin, hopes to come back and perform in front of their Pinoy fans as a whole.
SM Entertainment previously announced that the two would miss the show due to health reasons. Lucas, meanwhile, is still on hiatus.
For Golden Child, it was “worth the wait” meeting Filo Goldenness in person for the first time since they debuted in 2017.
“It took five years for us to come to the Philippines. Listening to your cheers, it seems like it’s all worth it, the wait,” said Seungmin.
Members Donghyun, Jaehyun, Jangjun, Jibeom, Joochan, Seungmin, Tag, and Y, showcased energetic performances of “Burn It”, “Ra Pam Pam”, and “Breathe”.
They also took videos of themselves on some lucky fans’ phones while performing their English language track “Bottom of the Ocean”.
The 10-member group–sans Daeyeol who is currently fulfilling mandatory military service, and Bomin who’s recovering from a facial injury, also performed “Replay,” and two B-side tracks from their sixth mini album “Aura”.
Xdinary Heroes, the six-piece rock band under JYP Entertainment, described their debut at the local concert scene as a memorable experience after receiving lots of loud cheers from the Big Dome crowd.
“I would never forget this moment. It’s a dream come true to meet you here tonight,” said Xdinary Heroes’ drummer and leader Gunil.
Gunil, alongside Jungsu, Gaon, O.de, Jun Han, and Jooyeon, got the audience hooked with their addictive songs such as “Test Me”, “Pirates”, and “Strawberry Cake”.
Concertgoers got more hyped when the rookie group started playing their cover of labelmate Day6’s “Zombie” and capped off their set with debut single “Happy Death Day”.
It was also Alice’s second time to grace the Philippine stage this year after the Begin Again concert last May alongside NCT Dream.
The girl group, formerly called Elris, opened the night with their 2018 sweet, summery track “Summer Dream” and gave fans a spoiler of their upcoming “Dance On” which is due for release on October 27.
Members Do-A, Chaejeong, EJ, Yeonje, Karin, Sohee, and Yukyung also performed 2020 songs “This Is Me” and “Jackpot”.
