sept '23 wrap: Ready to Be, Leg 2
After focusing on unit and solo activities for MiSaMo and JIHYO in July and August, TWICE wraps up the 2nd leg of their Ready to Be World Tour in Bulacan—with a bang
Singapore
TWICE opened this month by kicking off the second leg of their Ready to Be World Tour in Singapore, where they played two sold-out shows at the Singapore Indoor Arena.
It was a hot weekend—literally—but 30-plus-deg weather did not stop ONCEs from trooping to the venue, ready to see the nine-piece act—Nayeon, Jeongyeon, Momo, Sana, Jihyo, Mina, Dahyun, Chaeyoung and Tzuyu—in concert finally after a long four-year wait.
By this point, the Ready To Be Tour is already a bit well-traveled, having done shows in three continents—launching in Seoul in April before heading to Australia and Japan in May and across the US in June. (After restarting the concerts in Singapore, they headed to Europe to hold their first-ever concerts in London, Paris and Berlin, before going to Bangkok and finally ending this leg in Bulacan (of course))
Famed for its slew of solo stages for each of the nine members, the tour has a few more tricks up its sleeve for this particular leg: for her solo stage, Jihyo performs her title track “Killin Me Good” from her recently launched mini-album ZONE (originally “Nightmare”, also a B-side from ZONE), while Jeongyeon dances to “Can’t Stop the Feeling” (yes, from the Trolls OST) instead of Lizzo’s “Juice” for hers.
These two new features are definitely among the highlights of the Singapore show, which we watched from the standing pens on Day 1 and from our seats somewhere up in the stands on Day 2. Each post had its own pros and cons, though I know now that if you’re under 5-foot-6, floor standing is probably not for you LOL. But no matter! The girls were SO CLOSE, and their energy was amazing, as always.
Philippines
After keeping tabs on their Europe and Bangkok shows—as well as their several miscellaneous schedules in between, which included appearances at the Milan Fashion Show for Momo and Sana (Onitsuka and Prada, respectively), an appearance in Japan for Chaeyoung as Etro’s first Japan brand ambassador, and a fanmeet for Scarlett in Jakarta—we finally caught TWICE in our home turf at the Philippine Arena in Bulacan.
Ticketing in June was famously a bloodbath—proof that many wanted a seat when TWICE returns1. We knew it was going to be a logistical nightmare, but thankfully, the organizers offered roundtrip bus shuttles from Mall of Asia (P650) and Vertis North (P450), so we decided to stay at Vertis North for concert weekend2.
The wait for TWICE was hot but worth it—while VIPs started entering the venue at 11am, gates opened at 4:30pm for everyone else which meant that for many who arrived before lunch to avoid getting stuck in traffic, they waited at the grounds for at least five hours before the queues for entry even started moving. But we suppose that for people in costumes, those going around exchanging freebies, or for big groups who awaited this weekend excitedly, the wait—a culmination of four years since Twicelights, and five months since the RTB kickoff in April—was never boring.
The show, which started at 7pm and ended around 9:30pm, featured over 30 songs from start to encore, spanning over 20 albums since the group debuted in October 2015—eight years ago this month.
From the jaw-dropping opener “Set Me Free” back to back with “I Can’t Stop Me”, to the Title Track Medley of crowd-favorites “Yes or Yes”, “What Is Love”, “Cheer Up”, “Likey”, “Knock Knock”, “Scientist” and “Heart Shaker”, up until the explosive “Talk that Talk” stage that covered everyone in confetti—there never was a dull moment, not even when the girls slowed it down a little before encore with “When We Were Kids” and “Crazy Stupid Love”.
On Day 1, we had VIP Soundcheck, and the girls sang three songs: The Best Thing I Ever Did, Hot and BDZ (perhaps this stop’s most played song—they also sang this for encore on both days, I think). Our area was pretty energetic—we sat behind this friend group full of Nayeon stans who danced and sang along throughout the show, and beside two girls who also danced very well to nearly every song3. In all, not a bad place to be, floor-wise—and definitely miles better, energy-wise, than the crowd we were with for Singapore standing floor (sorry).
After soundcheck and during the wait for the rest of the seats to be occupied, they played the wait vcr sequence on loop—you’re probably familiar by now, they feature the girls with their eyes closed—and it is particularly special for the Philippine stop, because it’s the only time that Chaeyoung is focused on screen. Unfortunately, Chae was unable to perform due to health reasons—something announced only a day prior to the concerts. So the crowd made sure to cheer for her loudly whenever they could, or vibed with her parts during the concert.
Of course, the concert itself was not without its challenges, particularly for Day 1. I think our stop was memorable for the fact that Jihyo’s mic was off during her Feel Special acapella4, and for the entire Queen of Hearts segment that encountered technical difficulties. This played out in our favor eventually—the girls re-did their Queen of Hearts segment before encore (QoH fancams in encore costume! Mina’s tutu jfc), while Jihyo was also egged on by fans for a re-do of her acapella. Only in Bulacan! :)
Difficulties notwithstanding, it is obvious that the girls enjoyed their time performing as much as the crowd enjoyed cheering them on—Jihyo repeatedly mentions during her ment her appreciation for Filo ONCEs energy (“You guys sure know how to have fun! We have a lot to learn from you!”), even whipping out her phone to record the crowd during the encore while “BDZ” played (also something she did during BDZ encore in Osaka). Sana, in her post-event Instagram story, was likewise so taken with the crowd, even going as far as calling the Bulacan stop the best they’ve had: “Pinakagaling na bansa!”
Dahyun, always the darling of the crowd in every concert, dished out choice Filipino words (“Wow! Baliw!” “Grabe!” “Namiss ko kayo!”) while Nayeon and Jihyo, perplexed about what the crowd was chanting right before Alcohol-Free, finally got what people were saying: “Shot puno!” Jihyo’s execution, of course, was immaculate.
For Day 2, the technical difficulties of the first day were addressed—Jihyo finally got her moment in Feel Special, and Queen of Hearts proceeded without a hitch. The crowd at LBA where we were at was just as loud, but we vibed with the Day 1 crowd more—a minor observation, of course. Still, the girls gave their last night in Bulacan their all, even basking in the lights of an “unli-candybong wave” at some point in the night5.
For encore, we heard “Jelly Jelly” and “Strawberry” alongside BDZ (they really love encore BDZ). And from our vantage point, the solo stages were much much more visible (my Sana fancam of New Rules finally got the final shot right after x number of concerts jfc)6.
In the end, we can say with confidence that this was the best stop of the RTB Tour that we had the pleasure of joining this year, besting six concerts in Seoul, Osaka and Singapore, bar none. The energy of the crowd, the stage setup (Seoul/KSPO dome still the best though), the VIP seated arrangement actually made for a great experience, though much can still be done to improve the queues in the other sections (though we guess with the sold-out crowd the 55k-seater venue attracted on both days, really long queues are to be expected) as well as the implementation of the policies (conflicting execution between LNPH bouncers and the actual released guidelines kinda dampened the experience for us in Day 2 as they kept telling us off for sporting a point-and-shoot that they had expressly allowed in their guidelines released a couple of days prior).
But yes—the experience is very much a collaboration between TWICE and ONCE. It was not about an audience watching a performance of group, as much as it was a group performing with its crowd of fans.
My ageing bones notwithstanding, I’d do it again in a heartbeat.
The last time they were here was in 2019 for Twicelights—a concert we missed by virtue of not being in this space yet (when we asked each other where we were in June 2019, we found out that we were at Pride in Marikina—one of Pride’s biggest executions, by the way, so all was not lost.)
The room and breakfast were fine, the location is just a walking distance from the buses themselves so that made it convenient. It took us 45 minutes to an hour in the morning, but over two hours at night (just getting out of the Arena took at least an hour, plus the rains)
I think they’re the ones you could hear in my fancams screaming their rocks off, especially for Jihyo haha FELT
Our Feel Special fancam for Day 1 had someone shouting, “Go Jihyo! Rinig na rinig ka ng puso ko!” in the background. Only in the Philippines, indeed.
Jihyo, who liked ordering ONCEs and their candybongs around in the other RTB stops, was ultimately stumped by this phenomenon: “How do you guys do that without a leader?!?” Well, Ji, sanay kaming walang leader — EMEEEEEE ano ba yon hahaha.
Don’t get me started on Mina’s solo stage from LBA.