Red Velvet! Red Velvet! Red Velvet!”
The crowd chanted before the K-pop World Music Festival (KWMF)began on June 9. The event was organized by All Access Productions. Whenever the Mall of Asia (MOA) Arena became silent, someone from the crowd will start the fan chant where the Korean names of the members will be called out.
“Bae Joo-hyeon, Kang Seul-gi, Son Seung-wan, Park Soo-young, Kim Ye-rim, Red Velvet!” Excited screams followed the roll call. Red Velvet came in and performed the songs, “Red Flavor,” “Powerup,” ”Moonlight Melody,” “Bad Boy” and “Really Bad Boy.”
OneLuv
But the power of the ReVeLuv fandom was felt even before the concert day.
Three local fan groups of Red Velvet organized to work together and called it the RevelUnion. The three groups are ReVeLuv Philippines (@RVLPHProjects), Digi94 Team (@DiGi94Team) and the Philippine Kpop Convention Inc.-accredited Red Velvet Philippines (@official_rvph).
To fund their projects, they launched OneLuv on the first week of May. Their target was P70,000. By May 27, they exceeded their target and collected P81,877.
“We bought Chickenjoy and other food items for them, which is why Irene (Red Velvet’s leader and main rapper) mentioned Jollibee during one of their “ments” on stage,” said Krystelle Vergara of RevelUnion.
They also opened a gift collection box for fans to drop off their gifts and letters for Red Velvet. Red Velvet received gifts from all over the country like Cebu, Davao, Iloilo and Cagayan de Oro for the members. They also sent the members a customized cake with the group on a jeepney.
Fans were also given a banner that says “You seemed so far away, and now you’re standing by my side” in Korean. Stickers were also distributed to put over their phones for fans without lightsticks. It effectively turned MOA Arena into a ocean of pastel coral lights.
“The collaboration is a work in progress. It is something we should do for the Red Velvet Fan community. We agreed to do more projects together in the future,” said Elizabeth Domingo, Red Velvet Philippines admin.
Lesnah Del Rosario of ReVeLuv Philippines said that the collab was initially for a worldwide project for the group’s fifth anniversary. Their activities were moved earlier when they found out about the lineup for KWMF. The excess money collected will be used for the RevelUnion’s future projects. An accounting report of the total donations and expenses will be posted soon.
“We feel very happy that they feel very welcomed here. They felt the warmth of their fans,” said Acee Leonardo. When asked why she likes the group she answered, “They are the complete package. They are just five adorable and unique individuals that are really fun to love and support.”
Fans want more
This is the second time Red Velvet came to Manila. The first time was in 2015 and they opened a concert as rookies. They were the last to perform in KWMF as the most established group.
“I flew in here for the concert. I currently live in Korea because I am studying there. I wanted to be here because the energy is different,” said Lesnah to Super K after the concert.
Red Velvet members are Irene, Seulgi, Wendy, Joy and Yeri. They debuted on Aug. 1, 2014. They also released their newest album la on Wednesday titled “ReVe Festival” with the “Zimzalabim” as carrier single.
The ReVeLuvs are currently doing a survey for a solo concert of the group. To participate, visit the pages and Twitter accounts of the members of RevelUnion.
