wave to earth returned to Manila and performed their own mix of indie, lo-fi, pop-rock music— their signature sound. It reverberated beyond the walls of the Mall of Asia Arena last Feb 28, 2025. The band played songs from their most recent album release, play with earth! 0.03, as well as their all-time fan favorite songs which started them out.
The arena was massive and yet the ambience inside was like that of an intimate jazz club, where people join in to listen to music to calm their minds. wave to earth started off the concert with “are you bored?” which I’m sure no one was. This sets off the night with nonstop flow of music! It travels to the ears and body as everyone swayed to the rhythm of the guitar, some to the beat of the drums, and others bob their heads in sync with the vocals of Daniel Kim.
photo courtesy: Kass Flores and KARPOS
The indie band takes little to no break as they perform their hearts out. They brought to life their songs “peach eyes” accompanied by sunset-tone lights showcasing the 3 members on the LED screen. They sang “bad” and “homesick”, painting the arena red and blue, respectively. A gush of screams from the audiences brought the whole arena to a millisecond of breathlessness before wave to earth performs “annie.” The lyrics to the song are layered with another meaning: Annie—a girl’s name, has the same pronunciation for no in Korean (“ani” in romanization) giving the song the meaning of: saying no to Annie for following what the society pressures her to do and just be herself.
photo courtesy: Kass Flores and KARPOS
The band also took turns in showcasing their hand on their own instruments, enamoured with pure love, all the same. Daniel Kim gave an electrifying guitar lead while John Cha gets a cue for his bass solo, and the drummer Dong Q takes center stage with the drums beats. The band’s fellow tour band members Jo Jung-geun on keyboards and Jeon-min on the saxophone also showcased their musical instruments.
As the concert nears the end, with “annie.” The band said their farewell. But we all know very well by now that an encore is about to happen and that’s what happened. We hear 4 more songs including “seasons” and “pink” , another 2 fan favorites. The band officially ends the concert with a pure raw line of musical instruments. Pure “gigil” with a love for music.
photo courtesy: Kass Flores and KARPOS
Special thanks to KARPOS for being part of the tide in bringing back wave to earth in Manila.
