South Korean Pop-Boy band SEVENTEEN ablaze in Manila for their 2-day, sold-out concert for their 3rd world tour, Be The Sun.

Members S.Coups, Jeonghan, Joshua, Jun, Hoshi, Wonwoo, Woozi, The8, Mingyu, DK, Seungkwan, Vernon, and Dino from their agency PLEDIS and HYBE Ent. first announced at Weverse that they’ll be having a world tour. It was May 17 when the list was announced for North America.

Their world tour started in Seoul with an onsite concert on June 25 to 26, which was also streamed online by the CARATs (what they call Seventeen’s fans) who bought it via Weverse. The teaser line-up was only announced first until the city of Newark for the date September 6, 2022. On June 15th, the list was updated for Asia, where Manila was included as the third part of the list. Jakarta, Bangkok, and Singapore are also included.

–”Sweetest Thing”–

Hours before the concert started, admission inside the stadium had been flooded by CARATs. Fans posting from weeks before this concert happened already showed that they have freebies for their CO-Carats who’ll be meeting them or for those who even followed instructions to win this merchandise. They also had an official Merchandise Booth inside on the ground floor.

The main screen started playing their newest music video, "_WORLD," from the Face the Sun album [also included in the Repackage album: Sector 17] at 7:00 am. After the MV was shown, there was an explosion in the sound effects, and their CARATBONGs, or what CARAT’s lightsticks are called, lit up according to color.

–Performances–

Started with a mysterious box, a black and white background that stands out; a few seconds later, the 13 members’ shadows start showing inside the box as it starts pulling up and a transition of red lights comes out to sway all of the CARATs’ eyes in their seats. They have shown an extravagant opening of their concert, singing one of their newest songs from the Face the Sun album “HOT”, serving their first black and gold outfits and a matching red background on the stage that made CARATs very enthusiastic with this grand entrance. Seventeen’s production team is really unique in using their fiery pyrotechnics only in the first performance. After those, their greetings and introductions were given individually in English and Korean with the help of an interpreter. It was then followed by the songs “ROCK WITH YOU,” “MARCH” from the same album as HOT; “HIT” from their album “AN ODE,”.

Subsequently, Joshua and Vernon, also known as American-Line (because they’re half-blooded), performed their special song titled "2 MINUS 1" from their 9th mini-album, "ATTACCA" which was released before Face the Sun. Their performance really gave off rockstar vibes and at the same time, emotionally heartbreaking lyrics with the CARATs.

–Sub-units–

With the meaning of Seventeen’s name, "13 members + 3 sub-units + 1 group as a whole," performing to CARATs is really touching. But with their concept, these 3 sub-units still have the opportunity to shine in their concert. The 1st sub-unit that showcased their songs was the Performance Team; their new ballad remixes of Moonwalker and Wave also gave swag vibes, even if the music was slower than the original. They also looked expensive in sparkling all-white outfits. Hoshi serves with long, loose sleeves. Jun had a blonde ponytail and mullet; his sleeveless and ab-revealing clothing gave a big flutter to all of CARAT and fellow Chinese member THE8 with his charming blue hair, see-through, cape-like outfit. Their youngest member, Dino, served the looks of silk blue tint and ethereal moves in dancing, and even led the unit for the transition of Wave to the center stage. The female backup dancers were also very much appreciated.

Next is their vocal unit, namely Jeonghan, Joshua, Woozi, DK, and Seungkwan, who sang with their heavenly and pure voices for the songs Come To Me and Imperfect Love. Both of the band’s sub-unit performances are from the albums "You Make My Day" and "ATTACCA." Their concept is a blue and nearly purple shade from their CARATBONGs which lit up the whole stadium. From their microphone colors of pink years ago, it was a sweet surprise for CARATs to turn them white. And the "sweet ending fairy"-like nature of the team’s performance, having their smallest, and the producer of the team, member Woozi, at the center while smiling and waving to everyone, was heartwarming and pretty cute to tease the member.

Last but not least, SEVENTEEN’s Hip-Hop team really got the crowd jumping and banging their lightsticks with their EDM and sick rap beats of "GAM3 BO1" and "Back it Up;" also from ATTACCA, and An Ode. CARATs got really wild and danced along to the song "GAM3 BO1" while the boys were also playing with their mics’ autotune. They also served all-black masculine outfits and displayed tattoos with what they wanted to portray as their strengths that connect to their love for their fandom and in relation to their album, Face the Sun.

–”OT13”–

After all of the sub-unit solo performances, they were back to OT13 or all 13 members dancing, with a seeming change of set-up on the stage and a colorful wall of vandals. The teams, who were having a skit about thinking they were in the wrong address, just appeared as S. Coups told them they were just in the wrong position on the stage. CARATs and the boys being confused about "Where’s Vernon?" crack up the audience, and Vernon surprisingly sings the new girl group New Jeans’ song Attention with the chic raise of arms part in the choreography leading that solo stage to start their song "MANSAE."

Vernon’s skits are one of the parts of the concert the fans are waiting for because each city will have different songs sung by him, even if it’s only half a verse like Eminem’s "Lose Yourself" which Mingyu also jammed, Avril Lavigne’s "Sk8ter Boi," and Rihanna’s "Work." Beyonce’s Single Ladies was also mimicked on the first day here in Manila, and Attention which was mentioned, was for day 2.

It was then followed by the bop "Left and Right," and secondly, "AJU NICE" which translates to "very nice." Then a quick change of outfits slaying in a Silver-Black theme performed "Shadow," with some members wearing see-throughs followed by Crush and more. They also spoke common Tagalog phrases like "Mahal ko kayo, CARAT!" and member DK's "Pogi ba ako?" got trending all over social media. Manila Carats are really incomparable.

And before the concert ends, after the phenomenon, or "endless" "VERY NICE" and "SNAPSHOOT" was hyped up, there were also fans who were called up to do spontaneous steps of these songs’ breakdance as well as how SEVENTEEN’s playful side is shown. There was also splashing of water and confetti-bombing from the boys, and importantly, the fan service of asking for the bodyguards to get the pointed fan’s device and record the member's message, or even simply a fancam of them acting cute or egyo. Their concert ended with a bow and the last "SAY THE NAME, SEVENTEEN" slogan.

–Past PH experience–

Seventeen visited the Philippines several times before this year. Mingyu and Joshua went to Cebu just because they were bored. Kidding aside, they were also amazed by how fast they booked a plane here in our country and even a hotel; one detail they gave was that they loved the beach and went parasailing. Seventeen also had their photoshoot here at Stilts Calatagan Beach in Batangas for a "Teen Age" merchandise photobook. It looked like they also wanted a Maldives vibe.

Joshua also visited here with his mom a week before they originally planned to set foot here. Carats was spotted at BGC and trended on Twitter for a long time. He shared that he originally booked a flight to Danang, Vietnam because of visa problems. However, he rushed the flight to Manila instead, as he didn't want to miss going on a trip abroad with his mom. They also faced a couple of unfortunate events here and even had a taxi fare scam that had an impact on the LTFRB's actions.

–Merry Surprise–

PLEDIS also announced on October 14 that SEVENTEEN would be back for an additional show on December 17, 2022, at the Araneta Coliseum, specifically listed for "Bulacan." The capacity is doubled compared to the previous concert in Philippine Arena, from 20,000 to 36,000.

–”Shining Diamonds”–

A couple of friends that I know also shared some insights about SEVENTEEN’s concert. One was really planning to watch the concert but ended up thinking about the fans who knew SEVENTEEN longer than her to have a chance to also secure their tickets since she’s still a "Baby Carat"’ or new in the fandom; just around 2021 or earlier. One who got to watch the concert from the VIP left section shared with me that she had a surreal "adrenaline rush," an indescribable feeling to get to see the boys that close for her first time attending a Seventeen concert. She's also planning to secure a ticket for Seventeen's additional December show.

As the writer of this article, I am also a CARAT. I started being a fan of SVT when I was still in the 5th grade. I didn’t get to see their third concert here in the Philippines, but I had the chance to watch at least five full online concerts. Supporting a KPOP group, or any artist even, isn’t only about memorizing their names; praising their looks and their talents are the reasons you qualify, or even being a fan is all that it takes. It gave me happiness and hope for this pandemic from all of the good vibes they give us; simply from the messages they say in their posts, live streams, their own composed lyrics, and in interviews. We love the boys so much because as Joshua stated in their New Rings ceremony this year, "Even when we fell into lonely, bottomless traps; it was CARATs who got us to keep going and never let go to achieve our one dream because of the pandemic, which brought us confusion and cancellation of plans." SEVENTEEN and CARATs are really a family because of what we all receive and give; we were truly able to sprint forward because you were there by our side, Seventeen.

Written By : Denise Vienne Casabal