Korean singer-songwriter and actress Lee Ji-eun (popularly known as IU) made her long-awaited return to the Philippines for her 2024 HEREH World Tour Concert at the Philippine Arena last Saturday, June 1, 2024. This is her return to the country, nearly five years after her first visit in December 2019, with her “Love Poem” concert. Just like what our editor-in-chief said before, the rest of this momentous show will be about history. This year, we’re telling the story of how Ma-aenas (her fans) made IU say that Manila is “really like heaven”, earning a score of 300, and how the first Korean soloist headlined her concert at the world’s largest indoor area to date.
PHOTO FROM EDAM ENTERTAINMENT/PULP LIVE WORLD
Before entering the arena, thousands of Ma-aenas were given a gift from IU’s mother, as well as theme-matched physical tickets and souvenir cards from concert organizer Pulp Live World and ticketing outlet Pulp Tickets. And what a wonderful way to start the month of June with sunny skies (which IU has noticed) and watch the “golden hour” pass before the three-hour concert even began. IU’s HEREH concert is divided into four parts namely: Hypnotic, Energetic, Romantic, and Ecstatic, and then followed by a Heroic encore that the crowd will surely enjoy.
PHOTO FROM PULP LIVE WORLD
As the show starts, 37,000 Ma-aenas (according to EDAM Entertainment) are already giving their all with their loudest cheers and screams as they sing along with IU’s performance of “Holssi” and “Jam Jam”. IU greeted the crowd with a wide smile saying,
Namiss ko kayong lahat. It’s so amazing. Grabe!… It’s so fantastic. I miss hearing all of your voices so much… It really goes beyond my expectations. Masaya ako.
After performing the first two songs, I can see the Ma-aenas and IU’s excitement in meeting once again after nearly five years of waiting. Regarding the gifts we received before the show, IU reminded everyone in the arena, “Itago ninyo ito nang mabuti.” IU continued her concert set with lively tracks such as “BBIBBI”, “Celebrity”, “Blueming”, “Twenty Three”, “Coin” and “Shopper” to lovely songs such as “Meaning of You”, “YOU&I” “above the time”, and “Through the Night”. Ma-aenas experienced IU’s musical journey over the years, taking us on an emotional roller coaster ride.
PHOTO FROM PULP LIVE WORLD
You might notice that the junior dancers who joined IU onstage in the early parts of the concert were Filipinos, and she expressed how much joy it was to share the stage with them and how cute they were. The Ma-aenas especially admired IU’s outfits, which matched each part of her HEREH Concert stage. The Filipino audience sang along to IU’s song “Heart” while it was played on one of the VCRs on the screen. The fun part is when IU tried to compete with the crowd chanting “Manila! Manila! Manila!” but the loud voices of Ma-aenas chanting “IU! IU! IU!” made her once again surrender to the Filipino audience saying, “Manila talaga. Mahal ko kayo.“, which gave us a score of 300 points from the initial score of 200 from the first part of the concert.
PHOTO FROM PULP LIVE WORLD
IU prepared a special gift for her Ma-aenas saying, “Since you have perfect pronunciation and you have beautiful voices, I also prepared a small gift for all of you.” then she added, “Ikaw at Ikaw”, which is part of the lyrics of an OPM song from SunKissed Lola titled, “Pasilyo“. According to IU,
When I first heard this song, I liked it… When I heard that you liked it, it made the practice worth it. I was so happy while singing this song.
SunKissed Lola reacted on X (formerly Twitter) in shock at how beautiful the song was sung by IU herself. Ma-aenas had been looking forward to hearing the song “Love wins all” live since it conveys the power of love. The crowd cheered even more as an alternate ending to the music video featuring BTS member V was shown on the VCR. Another memorable event experience for both the Ma-aenas and IU was the fan sing-along, in which the entire audience sang an IU song simultaneously. The song “Good Day” was the song to be, which includes powerful three-high notes. IU worried at first that the crowd would not sing along, but she was amazed when the MAAENAs sang the entire song. She said she had been singing “Good Day” for a decade and this was her first time being surprised like this.
PHOTO FROM PULP LIVE WORLD
During the encore, IU asked the audience which songs they wanted her to sing. Ma-aenas gave different answers because there’s a lot to choose from a huge selection of her songs. It was a dream come true for Filipino fans as IU sang some of the best ballad songs that night, such as “Someday” from the official soundtrack of “Dream High” and “Give You My Heart” from the “Crash Landing On You” OST, as well as the first verse of “My Sea”, “Strawberry Moon”, and fun tracks such as “Well.. (Rock ver.)”.
You guys are beyond good. This is really like heaven. Kayo ang langit ko. (You guys are my heaven.)
As much as we don’t want the show to end chanting, “Walang uuwi! Walang uuwi!” (which she also said), IU made a promise to her Filipino fans,
It will not take another five years before I come back here. I was really, really happy tonight. Napakasaya ko. Kita-kita uli tayo. (I am very happy. Let’s see each other again.)
IU’s three-hour HEREH World Tour concert concluded with “Palette” and she said, “Napakasaya ko… magkita-kita ulit tayo. Ingat, bawal magkasakit!” After the concert, IU posted a few pictures of her as she expressed her gratitude to her Ma-aenas who came to see her perform live at the Philippine Arena, as well as group photos of her with the enthusiastic audience from left to right.
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2024 IU HEREH WORLD TOUR
CONCERT IN MANILA아이유를 응원하는
유애나를 응원해💜#아이유 #IU#HEREH #IU_WORLD_TOUR pic.twitter.com/n5K1JnT6f9— 아이유(IU) (@_IUofficial) June 1, 2024
According to EDAM Entertainment in a report, Filipino fans enthusiastically sang along in Korean and perfectly executed all fan chants. They also planned many surprise banner activities to show their support for IU. In return, IU expressed her gratitude and playfully shouted “Manila” during her interactions, adding to the cheerful vibe of the festive atmosphere.
IU’s HEREH in Manila at the Philippine Arena is by far, one of the best concerts we have ever attended this 2024. Making wonderful memories with IU through the night felt like heaven and will be cherishing it forever.
IU’s HEREH World Tour Concert in Manila setlist
[Part 1 – Hypnotic]
Holssi
Jam Jam
Ah puh
BBIBBI
Obliviate
[Part 2 – Energetic]
Celebrity
Blueming
eight
Coin
I stan U
[VCR]
Heart (as background music) [Ma-aenas sang along too!]
[Part 3 – Romantic]
Havana
Meaning of You
Pasilyo (Cover)
Through the Night
[Part 4 – Ecstatic]
Shopper
above the time
YOU&I
Love wins all
[Encore – Heroic]
Shh..
Twenty-three
Holssi (Reprise)
[Fan Sing-Along]
Good Day
[En-Encore]
Someday (Dream High OST)
Give You My Heart (Crash Landing On You OST)
My Sea (First verse)
LILAC
strawberry moon
Well… (Rock ver.)
Palette
IU HEREH World Tour in Manila is made possible by EDAM Entertainment, PULP Live World, and Happee Hour.
