[PHILIPPINES] WINNER Won Our Hearts At ‘EVERYWHERE’ Tour in Manila

On November 10, 2018, the Mall of Asia Arena was painted an electric nebula blue courtesy of Filipino INNER CIRCLEs’ lightsticks as they screamed and sang their hearts out at the Manila leg of WINNER’s ‘EVERYWHERE’ Tour!

Even before Jinu, Yoon, Mino, and Hoony set foot on stage, they already felt the warm welcome of their Filipino fans as soon as they landed at the Manila International Airport thanks to the crowd of INNER CIRCLEs waiting for them, who even sang ‘Everyday’ as the boys exited the airport. That was just one of the many fan projects their fans have prepared for WINNER’s visit in the country, and the boys repeatedly mentioned these fan projects in their talking segments to express their gratitude to their wonderful fans.

The boys opened their concert with the song that started it all for them, ‘Empty’. After a dazzling performance of ‘Air’, they walked onto the extended stage to formally introduce themselves. Yoon said that he can’t wait to show their performances as the last time they greeted Filipino fans was four years ago at 2NE1’s ‘All Or Nothing’ World Tour, also held at the Mall of Asia Arena.

The boys went on to perform ‘Hello’ and their most recent title track, ‘Everyday’ after their opening greetings, and then proceeded to chat with the crowd some more. Yoon mentioned that they ate at a famous Filipino restaurant, to which Hoony shouted, “Jollibee!” They also talked about how they enjoyed their time in El Nido, Palawan last May, where they shot their season’s greetings and the 2018 edition of ‘WINNER Summer Story’.

Another fan project that really touched the boys was the advertisement at the Mall of Asia Globamaze that Filipino INNER CIRCLEs prepared for them. The Globamaze is a full global video display with high resolution and full display graphics made possibly by the LED’s 26,300 pieces of point lights. It must have been such a beautiful sight for WINNER to see, knowing that their fans went to great heights just to show their love for them.

After the short chat led by Yoon and Hoony, the segment of the members’ individual stages began with Mino’s ‘Body’ and ‘Turn Off The Light’. Jinu then gave an emotional cover of G-Dragon’s ‘Untitled, 2014’. For his solo stage, Yoon sang ‘It Rains’, a short cover of Lauv’s ‘I Like Me Better’, and ‘Instinctively’. Hoony was the last to perform solo, and he showed off dancing and rapping skills with ‘Serenade’ and a cover of Taeyang’s ‘Ringa Linga’.

The show took a more sentimental turn when the boys performed ‘We Were’, ‘For’, and ‘Movie Star’ in brilliant all-white outfits while Filipino INNER CIRCLEs slowly swayed their lightsticks, seemingly making waves with their beautiful nebula blue ocean.

Even as WINNER exited the stage to prepare for their next performances, ‘Movie Star’ continued to play in the background while the boys’ baby pictures and some throwback photos were being shown on screen. An adorably funny VCR of the boys portraying various characters followed after that which earned laughter from the crowd throughout it was played.

WINNER returned onstage clad in funky new get-ups as they performed ‘Immature’, ‘Love Me Love Me’, and ‘Special Night’. In his segment that followed, Yoon explained that their world tour is named ‘EVERYWHERE’ because they want to go everywhere where their fans are and create special memories with them, which melted everyone’s hearts.

After the short break, every INNER CIRCLE got on their feet as the party continued with ‘Island’, ‘La La’, and the crowd favorite ‘Really Really’. The crowd erupted into cheers when a video of Sandara Park was shown on screen just as the boys were exiting the stage; in full Filipino, she congratulated the boys for their first solo concert in the country since their first appearance in Manila four years ago.

One of the most touching moments of the nights was Filipino INNER CIRCLEs’ fan project during their call for encore — instead of shouting “encore”, they traded their lightsticks for their phone flashlights and sang ‘Movie Star’ until the boys returned on stage. Sure enough, the boys did, and they repaid their fans’ love with tons of fan service as they sang ‘Don’t Flirt’ and ‘Luxury’.

In their closing segments, Hoony assured fans that he would try his best to keep himself healthy until the very end of their world tour with the energy he received from their Manila show, while Mino thanked everyone for all the great memories they made for the night.

Yoon shared a touching realisation of how it came to his mind that singers could not exist without their listeners when he saw a photo of their fans lining up to buy their tickets and he promised that they would definitely return to Manila in the future. Jinu went last and spoke in Filipino, touching fans’ hearts with words like “Mahal ko kayo! Kita tayo ulit! Hanggang sa muli!”

WINNER capped off the concert with another round of ‘Really Really’ and a remix of ‘Everyday’ with the same amount of energy they had when they started the show more than two hours earlier. The arena was all cheers and smiles until the very end, and we’re certain that anyone who was there to witness the boys’ first-ever concert in Manila will look back at nothing but fond memories. 🙂

The Seoul Story would like to thank PULP Live World for the media invite and allowing us to be part of such a wonderful night! We are looking forward to WINNER’s future releases and we hope to see them in Manila again soon! 🙂

Written by: Sai Daquigan
Photo Credit: YG Entertainment

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