How Filipino Reveluvs made Red Velvet’s ‘My Dear ReVe1uv’ fan concert unforgettable

MANILA, Philippines — In Red Velvet’s first solo concert in the Philippines, R to V, the K-pop group was overwhelmed by Filipino Reveluv’s (also known as Luvies) energy and amount of fan projects. 

More than a year later, fans gave the “cake girls” (an affectionate term for the group) more reasons to love the Philippines during the group’s HAPPINESS: My Dear ReVe1uv fan concert on Saturday, September 14, at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City. 

“Last time, we promised you guys that we’ll come back here in Manila as five…. I’m happy that we made that promise,” main vocalist Wendy told the Manila crowd in English. 

The My Dear ReVe1uv fan concert tour is meant to mark 10 years since Red Velvet debuted as a group. The fan concert started with “Happiness,” which was performed by the debut line-up consisting of Irene, Seulgi, Joy, and Wendy.

Yeri later joined the concert for the group’s performance of “Ice Cream Cake,” which is Red Velvet’s first song as a five-piece. Red Velvet also performed hits such as “Psycho,” “Bad Boy,” “Feel My Rhythm,” and “Queendom.” 

The five-member group also performed their latest single “Cosmic” and their B-sides such as “Sunny Afternoon,” “Sunflower,” “Bubble,” and “Underwater,” among others. 

Here are some moments that made the My Dear ReVe1uv concert in Manila special. 

Enthusiastic Manila crowd

From the start of the fan concert, Filipino Reveluvs were cheering at the top of their lungs to every song in Red Velvet’s setlist, earning praise from the group’s members. 

“Our Filipino Luvies have a lot of energy right from the start. And I can say the energy of the Philippines, among the countries for our fan con, you guys are really the best,” Yeri said. 

Joy also shared that the cheers were “so loud that it reached our in-ear [monitors].”

Similar to what happened at R to V, Filipino fans came prepared with many fan projects to surprise the “cake girls.” 

Before the encore portion of the show, Filipino Reveluvs made a rainbow ocean through their phones, with all of the members’ representative colors shown in the arena. They also sang B-side track “Remember Forever.” 

As the group performed “Sweet Dreams,” fans in the standing sections of the arena threw paper planes at the group members as they reached the extended stage. A banner was also rolled down from the lower box section that read: “Thank you for the happiness. Loving you is the easiest thing we have ever done.” 

During “You Never Know,” printed confetti flew on stage that drew Red Velvet’s attention. The confetti read: “I’ll be your friend, so lean on me when you are having a hard time too” and “When I think of forever, I think of Red Velvet.” 

“So sweet…. So many events, guys. So many surprises,” Wendy said in shock. 

Joy’s celebratory return

Member Joy drew the loudest cheers from Filipino Reveluvs whenever it was her turn to speak. 

HAPPINESS: My Dear ReVe1uv is Red Velvet’s first solo concert in the Philippines as a complete group. Joy had to miss the R to V concert due to health issues. 

Fans also made the fan concert special for Joy as they belatedly celebrated her 28th birthday with a banner rolled down during “Feel My Rhythm” in a mix of English and Korean that read: “Thank you for being our Joy. Sooyoung (Joy’s real first name), happy birthday!” 

“You know I was really shocked for celebrating my birthday. While I was doing the performance, I was touched and got emotional. Salamat po (Thank you),” she said in response. 

Fan interaction galore

The Red Velvet members also fed off the energy from the Manila crowd as they were having the time of their lives with fans. During the concert, Joy and Wendy gave their performance props to excited Reveluvs during “Sunflower” and “Zimzalabim.” 

The girls also mimicked fans “Woo woo” cheers and even did the “Eyy” chant, which was popularized by BINI’s Sheena.

During one of their ments, Red Velvet chose sticky notes with questions and thoughts to be read out by members in a segment called “Red Velvet Counseling Center.” During the segment, the members said they sang to EXO’s “Ko Ko Bop” after a fan asked for a song that they wished would be part of their discography.

“Ko Ko Bop” songwriter and producer Styalz Fuego said back in 2019 that the song was meant for Red Velvet. 

Seulgi also teased that her upcoming film photo exhibit NOTHING SPECIAL BUT SPECIAL, which will be showcased in Seoul in October, will have a photobook. Meanwhile, Yeri recited a three-line acrostic poem using syllables of Manila.

Extended rave encore party

For Red Velvet, they saved the best songs for last. The Mall of Asia Arena became a rave party during the encore when they sang “Zimzalabim,” which is supposed to be the last song for the concert. 

As they were supposed to end the concert, Filipino Reveluvs to chant “Isa pa (One more)” for another performance. This prompted leader Irene to ask: “What do you want?”

Fans asked for a performance of their b-side “Hit That Drum,” a song that Red Velvet only performed in their Seoul shows up to that point. After much discussion, the group accepted the request to the excitement of the Manila crowd. 

The members thanked Filipino Reveluvs for the “unforgettable memories” they have made during the My Dear ReVe1uv concert and hoped that they can visit the Philippines more often. 

“Thank you so so much for your energy and screams and your support even before our actual performance. This will be, of course, unforgettable,” Irene said before Red Velvet left the stage for the final time. – Rappler.com