K-Pop Rock Band Day6 in Manila, from the Gen Ad Section

“Parang umpisa pa lang, maiiyak na ako,” said Rossen, 26, who came all the way from Pampanga to attend Day6’s February 22 concert at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Cubao. We, along with thousands of other Day6 fans, officially called My Day, were already in line to see the band on the Manila leg of their Forever Young tour. 

Notable for their Everyday6 project in 2017, where they released two songs every month, the group debuted in 2015 as a six-member band with their hit track “Congratulations,” an angry indictment of an ex who’s already moved on. Throughout the years, they’ve released beloved songs that are part serenade, part anthem, and part paean to broken hearts, like “You Were Beautiful,” “I Smile,” and “Welcome to the Show.” They are now a quartet consisting of Sungjin (guitarist), Young K (bassist), Wonpil (keyboardist), and Dowoon (drummer) — all trained vocalists. It wasn’t until 2024 that they landed at the top of Korean music charts with the propulsive yet lovelorn “Melt Down.”

“The beauty of DAY6’s artistry lies in how versatile they are able to make each track within a single album — in one moment you’re listening to a stadium anthem that’s reminiscent of a young U2, and in the next, there’s a segue into Killers-esque post-punk revival,” wrote Riddhi Chakraborty in Rolling Stone India. 

The Gen Ad Experience

Those of us who lined up for the general admission seats were already in line hours earlier. Unlike the seated sections below us, gen ad seats are first come, first served. If you wanted to get a good place at the Smart Araneta Coliseum’s seated uppermost section or even in the standing or VIP sections in front of the stage, you would’ve had to come in early. 

Lining up at concerts early isn’t a comfortable process. I stood in the heat of the sun for almost eight hours to see one of my favorite K-pop groups, only to be met with more ineptitude once we got inside the waiting grounds. But that Saturday was mostly a chill day. With a book in hand and a handful of food vendors roaming around the queue, I patiently waited to finally see Day6 live for the first time. 

Though some tend to go for VIP seats with soundcheck privileges or the seated lower and upper box seats, there are many reasons why fans get gen ad seats. For one, concerts are expensive. For younger fans who are only banking on their ipon, a gen ad ticket can be the most accessible pricing tier. For fans who are already out of the loop, the ticket-selling announcement might have caught them off guard, and they’ve only managed to get gen ad seats, which can turn into a standing section if all the benches are filled. For an unemployed fan like me, gen ad was what I could afford. But gen ad or not, this doesn’t diminish the concert-going experience. What matters is that we’ll be seeing our favorite group in real life. 

Rossen first watched Day6 during their second tour in Manila back in 2019. “Umiyak ako noon,” she said. “Kasi first K-pop concert ko din. First song pa lang — as in talaga, mangingilabot ka na sa boses nila.” Coincidentally, the 2019 tour and last Saturday’s concert both opened with the song “Best Part,” which we all met in roaring anticipation. A soaring anthem that spoke of shedding the fear of uncertainty, “Best Part” perfectly set the tone for what we were in for that night. Fans knew every single word of every song, prompting Young K to say that the night was “legendary.” 

Plowing through a 29-song set — which ended with a second encore of “Best Part” because the band was so enlivened by the reception of the fans — Pinoy My Days sang it all throughout like it was Saturday night at KTV. Before the final set ended, an actual karaoke sing-along moment featured fans on-screen dancing and singing Day6 songs. Keep in mind that the majority of the lyrics were in Korean. 

“Nalaman ko lang na a-attend ko ng concert this Thursday, so hindi pa din ako maka-believe na nandito ako ngayon,” says Win, a student from Baguio City, who was actually reviewing for exams while in line for the gen ad section. Knowing that the Day6 concert would fall during a school day, she didn’t even attempt to buy during the October 2024 pre-sale. But with a canceled school day and an available ticket falling on her lap, she went to Manila to watch Day6 once again. Like Rossen, she watched them during their 2019 tour. “Even the intro of the first song noon naalala ko pa din,” she said. 

Win is also a fan of other K-pop groups and has attended several concerts, and this was the first time she was watching in the gen ad section. The surprise of getting a ticket this late is just enough for a surreal moment. “‘Di pa rin ako makapaniwala. Parang mababaliw ako.”

Personal Connections

The subject of healing is a theme that the quartet brings up whenever they talk about their fans. To them, if their music heals their fans, their support heals them back in return. For example, the song “You Make Me” — sadly not part of the setlist — and its accompanying music video is a testament to the beautiful relationship that Day6 and their fans share. In the music video, a couple is on their way to the beach. After a rough patch, the sun shines, and everything is well. All the while, the band sings (in Korean), “Don’t let go / ‘Cause to me you are / My last ray of hope / My one and only shining light / Hold onto me / Being alive / Is scary and tough / But I can push through / As long as I have your love / You make me”

In the concert, fans were attuned to the emotive response of each song, not just to them — the girls behind me were certainly having a party — but to the band as well. My phone speakers were almost at a breaking point upon reviewing my videos from the concert. We all sang along to the cathartic release of songs like “Shoot Me” or “Healer,” the tempest of emotions in “Zombie” or “I Loved You,” or even in the four-part request segment where Day6 plays songs that aren’t on the “Forever Young” set list (they let us sing “Only,” “I’m Serious,” “I Like You,” and “Somehow”), their third return to the Philippines is a joyous occasion for every MyDay, even if you’re Team Bahay (i.e. you didn’t get a ticket).

Day6 songs have that effect on their fans, a rousing dedication that ebbs and flows through each emotion contained in every song. “Parang soulmate sila na nahanap ko,” Rossen said. “‘Yong songs nila parang nag-ko-connect sa akin. Hindi ko alam… kahit ‘yong melody pa lang, parang nag-ko-connect na siya sa akin. And the more na [pinapakinggan ko ‘yong mga kanta nila], super [naiisip] ko na, ‘Ay, soulmate ko talaga ang Day6.’”

“After namiss ko sila noong 2019, sabi ko pagbalik nila manonood ako,” said Sam, a 28-year-old student who counts Day6 songs as part of his life’s soundtrack.

“The Book of Us: The Demon kasi first album kasi na nabili ko. Noong ni-release ‘yon, andon na ako sa breaking point na makikipag-break sa ex ko. Tapos [noong napakinggan ko yung album], sabi ko, ‘A, sige makikipag-break na nga ako. [Laughs] Kasi puro breakup songs, sabi ko, hindi na ako masaya. ‘Yong track na ‘Tick Tock,’ [naramdaman ko na], okay, wala na. End of relationship na talaga.”

For Rossen, it was “I Smile” that spoke to her when she first listened to the band. She said, “Kasi noon, may pinagdadaanan ako, Tapos, ‘di ba ‘yong sa song niya is kahit na may pinagdadaanan siya, nag-smile pa rin siya. Naisip ko, ‘Ay, oo nga. May pinagdadaanan [din] ako ngayon, pero I’m smiling.’”

Throughout the concert, Sungjin, Young K, Wonpil, and Dowoon’s energies were just as high and infectious from start to finish (see the now famous video where fans chanted “Walang uuwi,” which the band promptly turned into a song). They promised Filipino My Days they would return soon, and it wouldn’t take another five years.

It was astonishing to see how much the band has given to its Filipino fans — to think they closed out a spectacular three-hour set with a second encore is wild enough. Making up for lost time, perhaps? Though far away from looking at the band up close or taking home a piece of confetti as a souvenir, we at gen ad seats had a blast just taking in this experience and what was potentially, for others a life-changing event. We were on our feet, jumping, head banging, and just straight-up screaming — like everyone else in the concert. 

“Talagang babalik-balikan ko sila [panoorin], Rossen said. “Kahit next year [agad]. Every time talaga.”