The Be The Sun concert of the K-Pop group Seventeen at the Mall of Asia Arena over the weekend gave us a glimpse of the power of the Korean wave in the country. The two-day concert was so successful the concert promoter LiveNation had to sell additional tickets to accommodate more fans who wanted to see their idols live and up close. Tickets were sold out in minutes, both offline and online.
The entire show was a dazzling production and well-orchestrated. Everything about the concert was visually and audibly pleasing and it reinforces the fact that our Korean counterpart is well ahead of us in terms of staging live events such as concerts and music fests.
From my observation, there are specific members of the crew dedicated to ensuring that every aspect of the show would be organized, if not perfect. Yes, marshalls are given. But there are groups whose task is very specific, like sweeping the stage after every set or monitoring the light sticks or fan sticks to function in sync with the music—to create a beautiful ocean of colors as the crowd listens to the group perform. In every section, there are leaders among fans to remind them when to put the stickers on their phones in lieu of the light sticks.
For a music fan myself, who is familiar with K-Pop but has not “stanned for” any group yet or doesn’t have any “bias,” the Seventeen concert made me want to see more of the group and ride the K-Pop wave. You see, I may not be too familiar with Korean songs (unless they go viral and gain massive attention online), but the experience I had watching and listening to the group had me wanting more.
Going to the venue, I was told that I needed to be there before 4:00 p.m. for “strapping” despite the show starting at 7:00. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be allowed to enter the assigned section for my ticket. This made me understand the dedication of fans who stay and wait in the venue longer than usual. And this is something that I don’t typically experience in other concerts I go to. I told myself, this is not just a pop concert, this is an entirely different experience.
And the boys of Seventeen did not disappoint. Their energy appeared to be at its peak whenever they appear on the stage. The “ment,” which a good friend explained to me as the time when the artists introduce themselves, speak to fans, and give speeches, served its purpose very well. The crowd was deeply engaged.
Immersive booths for Carats
To make the two-night concert experience more memorable for Carats, the name of Seventeen fandom, there were on-ground events and booths around the venue. Smart Communications, for example, was on the ground and in on the action as the Korean supergroup brought its epic tour to Manila.
As part of its thrust to give Filipinos the best K-Life experience, Smart enabled subscribers to redeem concert tickets with their points on the Smart GigaLife App and by registering to Power All 99, among other offers on the app.
With Power All 99, subscribers enjoy 8 GB for all sites and app, Unli TikTok, and Unli Texts to All Networks for 7 days, giving them the power to do all they want online.
Moreover, during the two-night concert, Smart provided tents for the strapping and merchandise booths outside the MOA Arena so that concertgoers would have a roof over their heads while waiting in line for their turn.
Carats visited the Smart Experiential booths located on the ground and second floors of the Mall of Asia Arena during the concert days where they felt the Power of Smart. They posed for pictures and got to bring home concert souvenirs and exclusive merch like sticker packs and Carat-bong lanyards.
Carats also joined the Powered Up SVT Quiz to show off how well they know Seventeen, which is composed of S.coups, Wonwoo, Mingyu, Vernon (the hip-hop unit); Woozi, Jeonghan, Joshua, DK, Seungkwan (the vocal unit); Hoshi, Jun, The8, and Dino, by answering 10 questions about the group. With Powered Up Rhythm, Carats also got to play a game of SVT Rhythm through Rhythm Hive to claim an Instax printout.
Those who had the Smart GigaLife App on their smartphones also got to strike a power pose at the Smart SVT Booth on the ground floor to get a Powered Up Holographic Memento. Images courtesy of Pledis Entertainment.
