Post-hardcore staple Saosin comes back in Manila to celebrate the 20th year of their self-titled album at Skydome, Quezon City on Thursday, May 7, 2026. The concert follows their show in Cebu, and the last stretch of their tour. A tribute concert powered by PULP Live World.

The band played a total of 18 songs with a mixture of classics and a new release.
This also follows a wave of mid-2000s emo classics that played in the country for a week that also includes A Skylit Drive, Dashboard Confessional, Faber Drive, and Red Jumpsuit Apparatus.

The show started with an eerie sound mixed with techno beats signaling the song “I can tell.” And as soon as the band enters, claps from the emo kids now titos and titas surround the room. Which transitions smoothly to the song “Translating the name.”
Guitarist Beau Burchell then called out the attention of attendees saying “Look at you beautiful people… we are excited to share this record with you tonight. As they play the first track of the album “It’s far better to learn.” And it wouldn’t be the same if it was not paired with the next track–“Sleepers.”

By the time they played “It’s So Simple,” there were only minimal movements seen in the audience. While some are documenting with their phones, others just stand by. Looking, maybe feeling the moment when a band that they were listening to from puberty meets them face to face. A constant reminder that amid heartbreaks, life challenges, and even dark and timid days, everyone in that small dome survived a certain turning point in their lives.

And that maybe, it resonated well with the staple songs the band played. Maybe it was not just a phase. That they still continue to fight current battles like back pains and maintenance meds. Or that maybe, that titos and titas are in their ultra Katinko era.
“How have you guys been? Y’all been good this is incredible. Thank you for coming,” vocalist Cove Reber stressed. As he emphasized that the Manila show is the last night of their tour.

“I’m glad we are ending it here in Manila. This is one my crowd favorites,” he added as they play “Finding Home.”
Burchell then screamed “Manila, I want a circle pit!” Manileños greeted it nicely with a pit in two standing sections flowing with the fast-paced and breakdowns of “Flow and Feel.”
Reber then emphasized: “Let’s get this shit together. You can be yourself again”– As they played “Come Close.”

Burchell then introduced their new song, but the fans already knew what was coming? of course, they yelled back with a “yeah.” I mean who wouldn’t, right? That is the power of streaming platforms.

“I think I’m losing my voice but that’s alright. Because this is the last day and I’m losing it with you,” as Burchell Smiles. Then the song “On My Own,” strums along as it transitioned to a song played for the first time in Manila, “Silver String.”

While they were on a short commercial pause for new releases, the band came back playing tracks from their 2006 debut. A song fueled with emotive tune, and softcore lines came next with “I never wanted to.”
Reber then asked every attendee to go wild on their next song. As he mentioned “I wanna see you guys you rowdy.
The next one is a heavy one and i need every one rowdy and singing.”
This created a huge pit opened as lights opened emphasizing a positive mental attitude violence with a much bigger pit opening up for the song “Collapse.”
It wasn’t enough for Burchell, he said to keep the energy up with “Bury Your Head.” And that it follows the end of the album’s track, “Some Sense of Security.”

Beau Burchell then introduced the current and touringmembers of the band namely Alex Rodriguez, Cris Sorsenon, Phil Sgrosso, Cove Reber, and he himself, the only original member of Saosin.
But it would not be a Saosin gig without that song. And pretty much sure everyone would be pissed off if it wasn’t played. A song, as Reber mentioned that made him fall in love with the band. An unlocked core memory to the days that followed for everyone in the room–“Seven Years.” And as the band asked before its breakdown “Split up a wall” the fans reacted to every word.

The concert isn’t just a concert where you go see someone playing. It’s a reflection of progress among every former emo kids as they face adulthood. Maybe, and just maybe, that is the reason why most of them were just gazing along the band. Feeling the moment. Not because it was just the prominence of Saosin, but because the bittersweet memories of the past came back through the solid set of songs placed right into their ears and faces.
There were no encores. Just a last song. It was not any deep-cut that slices into your veins. Not “Mookies Last Christmas.” Not “Third Measurement In C.” Not even “Pretty Plays Baby.” Oh hell no.

It’s a song that binds each people in the venue. Amid individuation, there is someone, and something that is meant for you. As the song and its title goes, “You Are Not Alone.” A set of choir-esque voices from the crowd and hand waves provided the calm energy as the concert comes closer to its end.

As they take their final bows, Reber asked the fans for a quick photo. But what surprised the band is that fans continuously sang the lines to “You Are Not Alone.”
Maybe as emos we never grew up in this trap called life. Maybe it was never a phase. And that throughout all of life’s regrets there is a band like Saosin that will remind us of what we once were, what we could have been, and what we might be.

Words by Luigi Lacuna
Photos by Seth Valenzuela
Special Thanks to Pulp Live World