Acclaimed Korean girl group Red Velvet finally came to the Philippines as a complete quintet, bringing their first-ever fan-concert tour “Happiness: My Dear, ReVe1uv” to the Mall of Asia Arena on Sept. 14.
The fancon is in celebration of their 10th anniversary and in support of their latest EP “Cosmic.” Red Velvet had already visited their Filipino ReVeluvs five times previously, with the most recent one being a New Year’s Eve celebration at BGC. However, this is the first time that they joined their PH Luvies as OT5.
Wearing vibrant, crimson-colored cheerleader outfits reminiscent of their very first KBS Music Bank appearance, Red Velvet opened the 3-hour show with their debut single “Happiness,” although only Irene, Seulgi, Wendy, and Joy were initially onstage. RV’s maknae Yeri, who joined the group months after its debut, emerged in the spotlight with a solo dance before joining the rest of the girls. Altogether, they danced to bubblegum pop hit “Ice Cream Cake” from their debut EP.
Loud cheers from Pinoy Luvies erupted as each of the lovely Red Velvet members introduced themselves. The girls happily taught their fans simple dance steps to “Parade,” before performing the bouncy song, followed by “Sunny Afternoon” and “Sunflower.”
Red-haired Joy, who missed the R to V Tour in Manila last year due to health reasons, gave it her all during her solo dance showcase. During the evening, Luvies sang the happy birthday song for Joy, who just turned 28 on Sept. 3.
The girls – now in their pastel-colored dresses – showed their vocal prowess with heartfelt renditions of “Underwater” and “So Good,” during which Wendy proved that she is undoubtedly one of Kpop’s vocal queens.
Throughout the show, Red Velvet kept on commending how loud and energetic the Pinoy Luvies were. In return for the love they were receiving, RV was super game with fulfilling requests from fans – they even sang some lines from EXO’s reggae pop song “Ko Ko Bop.” Cheers from the audience grew stronger as Joy praised fans, saying “Ang galing!” while reading through their messages; Yeri made a short poem starting with the syllables from “Manila;” and the entire group said “Mahal ko kayo!” in chorus.
After performing “Bubble,” they went to a quick costume change into an all-black ensemble, before proceeding to mysteriously chilling dance song “Knock Knock (Who’s There?).”
Following Seulgi’s dance solo, the crowd went berserk as the ladies performed “The Perfect Red Velvet” hit single “Bad Boy.” With the audience still on a high, they appealed for Irene and Seulgi to do an encore of their dance solos – to which the girls happily obliged.
The MOA Arena was shaken when Red Velvet performed Song of the Year nominee “Psycho,” one of the group’s most awarded releases. Haunting and sultry “Psycho” is considered a perfect blend of RV’s dual sonic concepts, in which “Red” pertains to their upbeat pop songs, while “Velvet” refers to their more mature and sophisticated R&B side. “Psycho” was the group’s first track to gain triple-crown status on all three of Korea’s major TV music shows: Music Bank, Show! Music Core and Inkigayo.
The thunderous energy in the arena continued as Red Velvet sang their vibrant and empowering dance-pop hits “Feel My Rhythm” and “Queendom.” Leader Irene thanked ReVeluvs for their unmatched energy before going back to the main stage for their heavenly showcase of their latest single, “Cosmic.” Luvies had always applauded “Cosmic” for its catchy lyrics, phenomenal melody, stunning visuals, and elegant bridge, and had dubbed it as song of the summer.
After their electric performance of “Cosmic,” Red Velvet went backstage, while various sections of the arena started lighting up in in pink, yellow, blue, green, and purple – representing each of the girls – and ReVeluvs from all sides of the venue chanted “re-deu” and “bel-bet” to call back the girls on stage.
As Red Velvet reappeared onstage to serenade the audience with “My Dear” and “Sweet Dreams,” Luvies launched paper planes toward the stage. RV later picked up some of these color-coded planes, which contained lyrics to their songs, and sang a few lines acapella.
Toward the end of the show, Red Velvet took a photo with ReVeluvs while doing the now-iconic Pinoy “eyy” hand gesture. Each of the ladies gave their final speeches, with Wendy thanking Luvies for the love and support and promising that all five of them will return to Manila. Irene jokingly shushed the audience before she expressed how curious she was with the rumbling cheers in the arena while they were still backstage. RV’s demure leader even had a comedic moment onstage as she panicked while Yeri drove away a fly and the rest of the girls laughed at the hysteria.
Yeri and Joy said they were enjoying the tour despite the busy schedule due to their fans’ roaring cheers and positive energy. Lead vocalist and main dancer Seulgi thanked the “mahusay” Pinoy Luvies for being the “best” and recited the opening line from “Happiness”: “Sometimes you gotta be bold. Just rock the world,” to which fans responded “BOOYAH!”
Irene asked the audience to get on their feet before they blasted out fruity summer anthem “Red Flavor.” Returning to the stage for another time, Red Velvet turned the arena into a dance floor with dance-pop “You Better Know.” Confetti with dedications from Filipino Luvies poured down the stage and the girls read some of them: “When I think of forever, I think of Red Velvet.” Wendy exclaimed: “So sweet, GOSH! So many events guys – so many surprises!”
For their penultimate song of the night, Red Velvet let the crowd go wild with an ecstatic double performance of funky EDM-influenced electropop hit “Zimzalabim.” Filipino ReVeluvs screamed “walang uuwi” and “isa pa,” and the generous ladies bantered with “gusto niyo?” before hyping the audience one last time with an extra energetic “Hit That Drum.” The ladies thanked their Pinoy Luvies for the final time and said: “salamat po,” “mahal ko kayo,” and “kitakits uli!”
Red Velvet’s “Happiness: My Dear, ReVe1uv” was the perfect celebration for the fierce yet sweet girl group’s decade-long career in the Kpop industry and ReVeluvs in the Philippines were lucky to take part in this remarkable milestone through this fun and dynamic fancon. For ReVeluvs who experienced overwhelming happiness during the show, it’s RV’s Cosmic world and we’re just living in it!
2024 Red Velvet FANCON TOUR
<HAPPINESS : My Dear, ReVe1uv> in Manila
is presented by Wilbros Live.
Words by Mark Louie Bonayon
Photos by Seth Valenzuela
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