K-pop artist Youngjae thanked Filipino fans for their warm welcome as he held his second solo concert in the country. 

The member of boy band GOT7  held his “2024 Youngjae Asia Tour: Inside Out” concert in Manila on Feb. 24 at the New Frontier Theater. 

GOT7's Youngjae at his  Inside Out” concert in Manila on Feb. 24 (Jonathan Hicap)

Not only that he was touched by the loud cheers by fans but also by the projects they prepared for him, especially hand banners that featured a photo of Youngjae’s dog Coco. 

Youngjae started the concert with “Vibin,” the main track of his first mini-album “Colors from Ars” that was released in 2021, followed by “Sugar’ from his 2022 album of the same name. 

As he finished performing the two songs, the audience started cheering “Youngjae! Youngjae!” 

“Ako si Youngjae (I am Youngjae). So nice to see you again guys. I was here last 2022 in July right for a fan meeting. I’m back again for my Asia tour this year,” he said, referring to his “Sugar’ mini-concert in Manila in 2022.  

He added, “Thank you very much for the warm welcome. Salamat po (Thank you).” 

“2024 is a very special year for me and I think it has begun very specially because my roots, my beginning, GOT7, is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year,” he said. GOT7 debuted in January 2014 with the album “Got It?” 

Youngjae also performed “Deal,” “Dreaming Again,” “When I Was Your Man,” “Thinking of You,” “Focus,” “Tasty,” “Do It,” “Lonely,” “Problem,” “Roses,” “Moonlight,” “Snooze,” “Crema,” “Flower” and “Never Leave You Alone.” 

In addition, he also performed “Errr Day” and “Beautiful,” and GOT7 songs “Hard Carry,” Lullaby,” “NANANA,” “Girls Girls Girls” and “Breath.”

“You guys really followed the song well. You guys can be singers too. So I’ve been filling my albums with songs that I personally wrote. But it’s really hard, the process of writing songs. It’s really hard,” said Youngjae. 

After he performed Bruno Mars’ “When I Was Your Man,” Youngjae said, “Bruno Mars has a deep connection with the Philippines, right? But he is also one of my favorite singers. He had a concert in Korea last year and I also attended there.”

He revealed that “I’ve been working on something recently. So I’m going to be showing you a lot of things.”  

GOT7's Youngjae at his  Inside Out” concert in Manila on Feb. 24 (Jonathan Hicap)

Fan projects 

Filipino Ahgases (name of GOT7’s fandom) prepared projects to welcome Youngjae at the solo concert venue. 

These included a “Tindahan ni Youngjae” kiosk showcasing Philippine snacks and items; “Tusok-tusok ni Youngjae” consisting of Filipino street food such as fish balls, squid balls, and kwek-kwek, paired with “sago’t gulaman”; and clothing and other items such as Barong Tagalog, hat and pillows. 

Youngjae was particularly touched by the hand banners distributed to the audience featuring a photo of his dog Coco, which has its own Instagram account with 548,000 followers. 

The hand banner featuring Youngjae's dog Coco that made him teary-eyed (Youngjae's X account)

The projects by Filipino fans for Youngjae at the concert venue (Photos from AHGASISters on X)

Filipino fans holding big letters that read “PH 💚 CYJ” or “Philippines loves Choi Young-jae” (Jonathan Hicap)

“So you guys sent me some candies in my waiting room. I saw it,” he said, saying he saw Coco’s photo that’s’ “in the bag with candies in it.” 

He saw Coco’s hand banner from one in the audience and borrowed it, saying, “It’s this one.”

“Who did this? It’s done very well. I also saved it on my phone,” he said. Youngjae was told that it was done by @AHGASISters_, an X (formerly Twitter) account belonging to two sisters who love GOT7 and Ahgases.

“This is the best. I miss Coco,” said Youngjae, who got teary-eyed as he was touched by the fan project.  

He told fans, “Thank you so much for coming today. Mahal ko kayo (I love you).”

Before the concert ended, a video for Youngjae was shown on the screen coming from Filipino fans. 

In addition, fans also held big letters that read, “PH 💚 CYJ,” or “Philippines loves Choi Young-jae.”

As he did his encore, Youngjae surprised fans by going down and going around the audience area to be close to fans. 

Youngjae did his last song and said, ” I'm not sure how many times I've said this today but thank you guys for coming. I really hope that you guys have fun today.”  

“Today I really realized it but I was doing some writing and then rehearsing, I really love being on stage. I really enjoy it a lot,” he said.  

The “2024 Youngjae Asia Tour: Inside Out” concert in the Philippines was presented by Y Global Music in partnership with CDM Entertainment.

GOT7's Youngjae at his  Inside Out” concert in Manila on Feb. 24 (Jonathan Hicap)