From June through August, P-Pop sensation SB19 made their way through the Philippines and North America for their headlining 'PAGTATAG' World Tour. During the group's time in Los Angeles, we had the chance to sit down with the members here at the Setlist.fm studio to talk about some of their favorite concert experiences!
Enjoy the latest episode of Marquee Memories as Pablo, Josh, Stell, Ken, and Justin share stories about the first shows they attended, seeing BLACKPINK together, and their very own kickoff concert in Manila:
First Concert
Josh: First concert that I've had was actually in my hometown in Imus, they call it like the 'Battle of the Bands,' and that was really, really long time ago. I was still like 12, I think. But I really enjoyed that show and I really had fun, and it was one of the best experience that I've attended to.
Justin: For me the first concert that I attended was also a K-Pop concert. It was Teen Top. Did you know that in that concert, I don't know yet Josh and Stell, but they performed as an opening act during that time. Yeah, so I don't know them, but I already watched them perform.
Ken: I've heard that Post Malone had a concert here in LA, so I went to his concert. It was really, really fun. Amazing experience since it was my first time to going on a concert with my favorite artist.
Stell: Me and Josh were in a cover group. We represent the Philippines, we compete with other countries. After the competition, there's a concert. That's the time where we met BTS. Right now, they're big artists and back then they're just starting. They inspired me to be who I am now. They become a big impact to me as an artist also. My goal that time was to be on the same stage and perform and to show the world my talent. And after that night, I decided to keep on doing what I do and just keep on performing until people appreciate my talent, my skill, and until now that's what I always have inside me.
BLACKPINK
Justin: The first concert that we attended all together was in the Philippines. It was in Philippine Arena. Yeah, last March 2023, and it was a BLACKPINK concert. We expect a lot from BLACKPINK because we all listened to it. We even danced a BLACKPINK song before when we were just starting training. So we were excited to see them in person. So it was fun because we were standing, and then when, when the song came in we just jump and have fun, jive to the song.
Pablo: And I also just wanna say that the production is really good. 'cause there were bands, there were dancers, they were really, really great. The costumes are very, very nice, and they're all giving their all. The showmanship is, you know, up top. We were just really amazed and overwhelmed during that time, and just like, you know, kids, we just enjoy the performances.
Justin: After the show, we were like gonna, talking about we want to, we wanna have a big show just like that. We want to have a bigger production for our concert, for our tour next time. So we kind of, it kind of inspires us to push, to move forward.
'PAGTATAG!' World Tour
Pablo: The most memorable for us is our kickoff concert. For the very first time we did a two day concert and it was full house. So we were just really, really happy, and it was the first time that we performed on stage with a band, with dancers, and with all the the good effects. For us it was the perfect show and the perfect crowd. We're not just the only ones performing, but also the audience. They dance with us. They jumped.
Stell: The song "CRIMZONE" and "Bazinga."
Pablo: The favorite song that I, I always like to perform is called "Mana." It gives me this kind of energy or kind of soul that when I perform that song it feels like-
Josh: You have superpowers.
Pablo: Yeah, I have superpowers. Exactly. We recently built our own company so we're self-managed now. We didn't know if we could really make it. And seeing how everyone enjoy the concerts, even the fans, and even the staff, it's just very fulfilling and very memorable for me. I know that everyone worked really hard for this moment to come, and it's really a blessing to have this kind of opportunity to perform overseas and to be able to introduce your music to a different crowd. That's the most fulfilling and most memorable thing with this concert.
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Check out SB19's latest EP released earlier this year: