On the evening of Friday, July 29, 2022, Korean stars Treasure, BamBam, and Jackson Wang all gathered together for 2022’s KPOP MASTERZ in Manila. After a climactic countdown, the first act of the night, Treasure— entered with a striking performance of ‘Jikjin’, followed with a selection of their songs such as ‘I LOVE YOU’, ‘MY TREASURE’, and ‘MMM.’ Shortly after, the fetching host of the evening, Kring Kim—with her vibrant pink hair and lively aura entertained the crowd with a few games.

Kicking off with treasure match wherein the members split into two groups competing against each other. It was team ‘mahal kita’ v.s ‘team gwapo’, engaging in battles of “bato-bato pik” and “Ddakji”, the notorious Korean game popularized by Squid Game. Treasure then wrapped up their segment with ‘BOY’ and a remixed performance of their viral hit song ‘DARARI’.

Up next was Bambam, opening with ‘wheels up’, and unexpectedly surprising the audience with a heartfelt performance of ‘Ngiti’ by Ronnie Lang – as per an old vow from one of his past shows in Manila a few years back.

Bambam, of course, kept to his promise and sang the song for his fans. During BB’s Yes or No segment, he proudly showcased his ability to say ‘i love you’ in six different languages, told his fans that he wanted to build a night market and name it #BamBamShotPuno, and even expressed that bangus is the best fish he tried, thus making #Bamngus trending on twitter. The highlight of the night, however, was when Bambam invited Sandara Park onstage for a special performance of 2NE1’s ‘I Don’t Care’. Bambam then encouraged his fans to do Got7’s fanchant as he ended his segment with a performance of ‘riBBon’ with Sandara.

Jackson Wang, the final act of the night, opened with ‘Cruel’ and swarmed the stage with dusky yet enticing themes. He also performed ‘Blow’ and new songs from his upcoming ‘MAGICMAN’ album. Jackson acknowledged and praised how genuine and passionate the crowd’s cheers were, even going as far as to say that he could feel that his fans truly meant it. The Got7 member ended the night with a charismatic finale of ‘100 ways’.

Everything that had transpired wouldn’t have been possible without Inang Reyna of Kpop Happee, Sir Vernon, and everybody at Pulp Live World. We would like to extend a heartfelt thanks to them for giving teume’s and aghase’s the novelty to see their idols and witness their performances live, and for making their dreams come true for the night.

See more photos from the show here
Words by: Manila Concert Scene