By Clay Moreno
The grand-scale EXO PLANET #5—EXplOration, the band’s fifth solo tour, had a pitstop in Manila at a sold-out Mall of Asia Arena on Aug. 23 and 24.
Thousands of fans greeted EXO members feverishly when they opened the show with “24/7,” but saved their loudest whoops for the K-Pop group’s “Love Shot,” a pop dance track that features a memorably addictive chorus and heavy 808 bass.
From start to finish there wasn’t a molecule of tiredness on stage as Suho, Chanyeol, Baekhyun, Chen, Sehun, and Kai paraded their impressive dancing skills and charisma exciting fans in between sets when they expressed their love for the Philippines and Filipino fans.
They dashingly glided on the stage with their kinetic numbers and captivated the audience with their individual performances like Baekhyun with his electrifying “UN Village,” Suho’s “Been Trough,” Chen’s ballad “Lights Out,” Kai with his sexy solo number, “Confession,” and Sehun capping the prod.
Named the “kings of K-Pop,” EXO is a record-breaking nine-member boy group under SM Entertainment. The South Korean-Chinese boy band debuted in 2012 and is composed of members Xiumin, Suho, Lay, Baekhyun, Chen, Chanyeol, D.O., Kai, and Sehun. Their first album XOXO, which featured the breakthrough hit “Growl,” sold over a million copies and made EXO the best-selling Korean artist in twelve years.
Now years and years into an illustrious career, they are now quintuple million-selling artists, with their most recent album Don’t Mess Up My Tempo, which features their latest music which they will be performing on this exciting tour. EXO has prepared yet another spectacular show for their beloved EXO-Ls, and will surely do their best to fill the spaces temporarily left by Xiumin and D.O. who have both gone on hiatus due to mandatory military service. This is another K-Pop show our K-mmunity shouldn’t miss.
EXO PLANET #5–EXplOration was brought to Manila by Globe in partnership with PULP Live World. Most recently, Globe has brought massive K-Pop acts like TWICE, BLACKPINK, Wanna One, and Super Junior to the country to satiate the K-Pop cravings of Filipino fans.