NIKI’s Manila concert made fans cry, dance, and feel hopeful again

“If I could, I'd freeze this moment, make it my home,” NIKI sings in “Anaheim.” And that is how the whole place felt when the singer-songwriter performed at her first solo arena show, which happened in Manila.

The Filipino Moonchildren went out to the SM Mall of Asia Arena on Wednesday night dressed in their best preppy Y2K-inspired outfits for NIKI: black and white looks with accents of bright colors, platform loafers, leather jackets, and plaid skirts or trousers.

The show started past eight, but fans were treated to a playlist with a little bit of everything — Phoebe Bridgers, The Japanese House, beabadoobee, Ice Spice, keshi, Pink Pantheress, Sixpence None The Richer, MUNA, and Taylor Swift — that hit different. With one party bop or melancholic song after the other, fans were totally energized for NIKI to finally take the stage.

The energy in the room was pretty intense, with fans were ready to enter an endless cycle of crying and dancing, plus yelling out lyrics that speak of first crushes, situationships, and serious loves that just never work out.

It almost felt like singing NIKI's songs out loud was a form of therapy.

The band entered the stage with Wheatus’ “Teenage Dirtbag” playing in the background, hyping up the crowd even more with their instruments. 

Then the lights turn blue and purple, and everybody’s favorite Nicole ran onto the stage. In a puffy black floral mini dress and knee-length black boots, the singer wore a huge smile on her face.

NIKI opened the show with “Before,” the first track from “Nicole,” and together with Moonchildren, gave it her all when they sang the line, “Was I just a two-year practice round?”

NIKI letting her Filipino fans sing through the most heartbreaking lines of her songs became something of a theme for the night.

In “Keeping Tabs,” she lets go of her guitar and lets everybody sing the “Fuck, fuck, fuck,” line. She also made fans sing the chorus as she jumped and headbanged around the stage.

“Manila, sing!” NIKI told the arena. And did they sing. During "Vintage," everybody had their hands up, grooving, and singing along.

NIKI danced a lot, too. By “Selene,” the singer-songwriter turned the heat up on stage, which was met with loud cheers.

By this time, NIKI made sure to show her love and appreciation to her Filipino fans.

“Mabuhay!” she greeted everyone. “You guys, it’s so good to be back in Manila —playing my first-ever headline arena show ever in my career. And you guys sold it out in like, minutes.”

She said, “Thank you so, so much. This would be nothing without you. Thank you for being here.”

“And most importantly, I just want you guys to know that tonight is ‘urs.’”

That segue brought NIKI to sing one of her top hits, “urs,” with fans singing their hearts out,

NIKI even pointed at a fan as she sang, “I’m already yours.”

She started the most heart-wrenching part of the night by getting a white electric guitar. “Alright Manila,” she said before starting “Autumn.” Fans never stopped singing the breakup anthem of wanting the best in a relationship that ends painfully.

NIKI headed straight into fan-favorite — and heartbreak anthem — “Backburner,” singing the painful chorus while the lights were off. Once they were switched on, everybody’s vulnerabilities felt out in the open.

As she dove straight into another painful song, “Anaheim,” the crowd went quiet, allowing NIKI to sing that high note in the second chorus. She sounded exactly like the recording.

Taking a quick break from the pain, Niki sang a song she doesn't “normally include" in her set. "But you guys are special," she said as she launched "Take A Chance with Me" with the story of how Filipino fans would message her to play the song in Manila, which she said is “the song that started it all.”

NIKI was 15 when she wrote it about her first crush. “It’s also probably my simp-iest song,” she said with a smile. 

Before she got into another painful track, NIKI had equally sad words.

“This next song, I wrote about—you know, kind of being really sad that you’re the… how do I say this,” she said. “Being sad that the ‘what is’ is less cool than the ‘what if.’

“You know, you imagine a future with somebody. A certain future and you don’t live it out. So sometimes, you get sad and you hole up in your room and you write a song about it. And I did that.

“This song is called ‘The Apartment We Won’t Share.’”

NIKI initially took the piano solo before the rest of the band joined in, giving concertgoers chills. 

As though performing "Around," "Lose," Facebook Friends," top hit "La La Lost You," and the slow jam "Split," with so much emotion wasn't enough, NIKI introduced "the saddest song on the set."

"It’s time to put your lights up," she said as phone flashlights and lightsticks flooded the arena and made for the perfect visual for “Oceans & Engines.” 

“Someday, I’ll be fine,” NIKI sang the line quietly and somehow it hit different, with fans singing the last parts about saying goodbye.

The artist exited the stage with a sincere “thank you, I love you" but a trippy video began to play on screen with her harmonizing in the background, plus clips of her music video for the next song. Everybody readied up for the encore.

The band entered the stage first in school uniforms, fit for the next song “High School in Jakarta.” An energized NIKI, in a bedazzled uniform, danced around onstage.

After that energetic song, she and the band leave the stage again. The Moonchildren immediately start chanting her name, and she quickly comes back to loud cheers.

Before the night ended, NIKI had to play her hit song “lowkey,” as she skillfully spun her mic in between verses. While she jumps around onstage, the fans sing the catchy second chorus.

“Manila, you guys have been a beautiful crowd, thank you so much,” NIKI said.

“We’ve got one more song. You’re gonna give it all you’ve got, right?” she said right before grooving and singing to the familiar beat of “Every Summertime.”

After introducing her band, NIKI and her group took a photo with the crowd. She said goodbye and one last “Mahal kita,” before exiting the stage for real.

— LA, GMA Integrated News