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South Korean boy band GOT7 performed the final leg of their Keep Spinning World Tour to a sold-out crowd of thousands at the Mall of Asia Arena.
This is a version of an article previously published in the Supreme section of The Philippine Star.
If you’re a particularly passionate consumer of music and you live in the Philippines, “Come to Manila!” is more than just a plea to the artists you love; it’s more like a battle cry. And for a good while, fans of K-Pop superstars GOT7 have been waiting for them to make good on their promise to return to the country.
After a couple of previous fanmeets and a three-year absence, GOT7 finally made their way back to Manila for their first full concert at the Mall of Asia Arena on Oct. 26 — made even more special by the fact that it’s the culmination of their Keep Spinning World Tour, taking place just one week before they’re set to release their new EP “Call My Name” with the single You Calling My Name.
The energy in the city hit a peak as soon as the seven members — JB, Mark, Jackson, Jinyoung, Youngjae, Bambam, and Yugyeom — arrived, with Jackson causing quite a stir when he was spotted buying a shaving razor at a local department store the night before the sold-out show.
The concert kicked off not long after the sun had set, opening with a VCR that had attendees swooning before GOT7 took the stage and performed their most recent single, the sultry and buoyant Eclipse, followed by Out and Never Ever.
A performance of Skyway then led to the solo and unit stages, beginning with resident songwriters and producers JB and Youngjae crooning Ride and Gravity respectively. The rap line a.k.a. the AmeriThaiKong unit, comprising LA-born Mark, Bangkok-bred Bambam, and Hong Kong native Jackson, then performed God Has Returned and Mañana. Finally, there was a battle of moves between main dancer Yugyeom, and Jinyoung who retorted, “I’m a dancer, too!”
They kept the flow of energy going with some choice B-sides including a remix of Stop Stop It produced by Bambam, 1°, I Am Me, Come On, Page and more, plus their irrefutably iconic single Just Right. They got a little somber and dreamy with Thank You before ramping things up again with Teenager.
“It’s been a while,” Jackson said between songs. “GOT7 is back!” Bambam asked fans to scream “hell yeah” back at him, and was pleased to find that the audience held a good amount of male voices shouting along.
When people began chanting “Walang uuwi!” and they had the words translated, they didn’t hesitate to keep repeating it as well. “Our next song is Walang Uuwi,” JB quipped in a perfect show of his signature deadpan, and Jackson didn’t even wait a beat before mimicking a bass drop, singing the two words, and breaking into a funny little dance.
More songs came next, including a trio of retroactively recognizable title tracks: Lullaby, Hard Carry, and Miracle.
Close to the encore, it was GOT7’s turn to be moved and dumbfounded when a surprise event planned by fans was put into motion, with a video message and singalong relaying the fans’ love and support for them in the three-year wait for their return. Mark, infamous for his low threshold of tears, was visibly touched as he took a moment just crying onstage while being comforted by his members.
In the speeches that followed, each member apologized for the long wait, gave a heartfelt thank-you to everyone in the crowd, and promised that they’ll be back more often. Jackson marveled at the show of passion, while Bambam assured the crowd that there would no longer be any need to fly out to other countries just to see them, that they’ll make sure to fly right to Manila instead.
Youngjae in particular made everybody laugh when he said that the sentiments reminded him of his adorable dog Coco, whom he co-parents with Mark, and how she would always wait for him to come back and it makes him sad he can’t see her more often.
They ultimately closed the show with some classics and guaranteed grooves: Fly, Girls Girls Girls, Shopping Mall, and Before the Full Moon Rises.
The stages were dynamic, with screens and setups that made it seem like you were stepping into another world. Their dancing was fluid and alive, their voices carrying across louder than ever. It was three hours spent exchanging so much energy and fervor and love — literally, in the latter’s case, if the heartfelt and prolonged back-and-forth of “Saranghae!” between the fans and the members was anything to go by.
Even as the other six had left the stage, Youngjae stayed behind, drinking it all in and seemingly not wanting the night to end just yet. Still, he had to come down eventually, and so did everybody else. The cheering rang clear and the lightsticks remained lit for just a few minutes longer. And as they took their final bows and waves their final goodbyes — until the next concert, that is — the only thing left to do was just to keep spinning.
