CN Blue in Manila Can’t Stop!

The boys singing the title track of their new album.

Never has a name of a tour become more appropriate that in was last night. Amidst the strong winds and heavy rains of Typhoon Mario, the brave Boices of CN Blue made their way to the Araneta Coliseum last night (September 19, 2014) for the Manila leg of CN Blue’s Can’t Stop Tour.  The South Korean rock band’s second visit to Metro Manila brought in winds, rain, good music and a rocking good time. These boys don’t hold back when it comes to their concerts, and tonight had to be one of their best yet. 

“Intuition” was one of their opening songs.

After opening with their new songs, CN Blue finished up “Intuition” before they made their introductions. Jungshin, Jonghyun, Yonghwa and Minhyuk introduced themselves, with Yonghwa even declaring that he had missed his Manila fans. The band was very appreciative of the fans who did manage to make it to the Big Dome. In charming, accented Tagalog, the band’s drummer and youngest member Kang Minhyuk said, “Salamat sa pagpunta niyo dito, kahit may bagyo! Salamat, salamat!” 

Then the show went on. CN Blue are at their element when performing live, obvious from the way they dance around, smile and enjoy every second of their performance. Yonghwa as the band’s lead singer knows that his enthusiasm and powerful voice is infectious enough to get fans on their feet. He makes great use of it in between songs, singing “Manilamanilamanilaaaa,” and “mahal ko kayoooo,” much to the audience’s delight. 

Despite the arena being half-full, the show went on.

While  fans easily recognized their Korean hits like “Intiution,” “Love” and “I’m a Loner,” the we also loved that the boys played Korean versions of their hit Japanese singles, like “Blind Love,” “Greedy Man,” and “In My Head.” After all, CN Blue started out as an indie band in Japan before sweeping South Korea. On the stage and adding new riffs and variations to their songs, it looked like the boys were having the time of their lives. We were just glad we were along for the ride. 

But it didn’t stop there. The encore had the audience lit up by balloons and flashing rings, and that was the backdrop the boys used to end their show with our favorite songs, namely “Love Girl,” and ended with “Love Light,” a fan favorite. Yonghwa summed the night up pretty well. “I will pray for you. we will come back here, I promise you! We love Manila very much! I very very mahal kita! Very very salamat!” 

CN Blue’s kindness doesn’t end there, as they announced that they would be opening a school here in Manila, their second after CNBLUE School in Uganda. Yonghwa, Minhyuk, Jungshin and Jonghyun are sure that this would not be the last time that they come to the Philippines, and their fans could not have been happier. 

We can’t wait to see them again!