In Manila once more, SEVENTEEN found their match in the CARATs here. Known as a powerhouse of boundless energy, they were met with even more thunderous cheering and singing – from inside and outside the cavernous Mall of Asia Arena. It was as if they constantly had to keep up with each other. 

“We cannot compare with Manila’s energy,” rapper-songwriter Vernon told the thousands-strong crowd in the first 3-hour set of their 2-day (8 & 9 October) Be the Sun world tour stop in the Philippines. Surely, this was all pent-up? It had been almost 3 years since the pandemic started to upend everything we had ever known, after all. 

It was only shortly before we were plunged into one of the world’s longest lockdowns that Jeonghan, Joshua, Jun, Hoshi, Wonwoo, Woozi, The8, Mingyu, DK, Seungkwan, Vernon, and Dino stopped by for the Ode to You tour sans general leader S.Coups (who was on a much-needed hiatus at the time). “The hotel is the same, the restaurant is also the same, the amusement [park] is also the same,” performance team stalwart Jun quipped, adding: “Most importantly, our love is the same, so that's the best [part].”

Leading up to the concert, CARATs worked hard to make a festive occasion out of it all – proverbially and literally painting the town Rose Quartz and Serenity. There were fan-made freebies, costumes, and hilarious signs aplenty. Amid these bizarre times, SEVENTEEN still managed to give us some of their finest (critically adored) work yet – from Heng;garæ to Face the Sun/Sector 17, and finally, the community could come together to celebrate all of that and each other’s company. “Coming here and experiencing it again, I was really surprised tonight,” remarked vocalist and resident K-Pop pundit Seungkwan.

CARATs filled the venue with their singing in unison, way before the members took to the stage. People from various fandoms – CARAT included – often suggest that in the Philippines, we don’t really do fan chants as much as we sing. Joshua from the vocal team backed it up: “We're really touched that you guys know the lyrics to our songs.” 

It had been a long time coming, and they wasted no time in pumping up the octane with a string of rock and electro-infused numbers: “HOT,” “March,” “HIT,” “Rock with You,” and Joshua and Vernon’s duet “2 MINUS 1.” Save for “HIT,” off 2019’s An Ode, it was the first time we saw these tracks performed up close and personal as can be.

After the first act were the unit stages that highlighted the members’ specialties and gems from SEVENTEEN’s deep catalogue. The performance unit undulated to the ethereal house beats of “MOONWALKER” and “Wave,” then came some more change of pace as the vocal team serenaded CARATs with ballads “Come to Me” and “Imperfect Love.” 

Then there was the pure adrenaline of the hip-hop unit’s “GAM3 BO1” and “Back It Up.”

Around the halfway mark, SEVENTEEN showed more of their playful side, from “Mansae,” “Left & Right,” to the iconic “VERY (AJU) NICE,” before switching it up again with breathtaking renditions of “Shadow” and “Crush.” With no sign of winding down, they closed the penultimate part of their show with their latest comeback, “_WORLD.”

Ever the performance kings, SEVENTEEN parted with CARATs through encore performances of “Darl+ing,” “Our Dawn Is Hotter Than Day,” and of course, their rambunctious signature numbers “Snap Shoot” (with special appearances from Dino’s abeoji and halmeoni) and “Never-ending ‘AJU NICE’” to top it all off.

True to being SEVENTEEN and CARATs, the night also had no shortage of comedy and spontaneity. The stages were peppered with a lot of gags and references that avid fans would spot right away. SEVENTEEN even treated Filipino CARATs to the occasional song or cover not in the setlist: “Campfire,” The8’s “Side by Side,” Woozi’s “Ruby,” Jun’s “Limbo,” Seungkwan’s own take on Harry Styles’s “As It Was,” and even Vernon’s cheeky little cover of NewJeans’s “Attention.”

In one of the last VCRs to be shown, SEVENTEEN declared: “We who are united will light the darkest paths and share the moments with everyone.” A SEVENTEEN concert is truly a high point in the diamond life, but our current circumstances magnify the healing power of togetherness and solidarity through a live experience – which SEVENTEEN does so well. 

Music writer Hanif Abdurraqib’s words on another artist somehow echo here: “It isn’t hard to sell people on optimism, but it’s hard to keep them sold on it, especially in a cynical year.” Until quite recently, online shows have tided both SEVENTEEN and CARATs over, but there’s a certain joy in gathering as many fans as possible in the same space – with palpable screams, roars, horanghaes, et cetera – all of which can never be fully replicated. 

There’s a good chance too that the wait wouldn’t be as drawn out as this time. Towards the end of the evening, all of SEVENTEEN’s members teased – with almost no flattery detected – an imminent return to our shores. In S.Coups’s words: “We’ll come back really fast, you know. If I say it like this, you know that there’s something, right?”