“Security plan was implemented properly. No untoward incident recorded and generally peaceful during the entire duration of the event,” said Col. Elmer Lim, director of the Lapu-Lapu City Police Office.
Lim told SunStar Cebu that more than 2,000 K-pop fans witnessed the event, as they started to flock to the venue as early as 3 p.m., or two and a half hours prior to the start of the concert at 5:30 p.m.
Lim said the traffic situation in Barangay Mactan was also normal amid the event that pushed through despite the drizzle and rainshowers.
Vow to return
K-pop stars Chen and Xiumin of super boyband Exo, “The Queen of K-Pop” BoA and U-Know Yunho and Max Changmin of boyband TVXQ, expressed their gratitude to the crowd and promised to come back soon as they took their bow when the show came to an end.
In a statement, Neuwave Event and Productions, the organizers of the concert, thanked the Cebuanos for their support of their debut event in the province, especially the solid crowd who came and stayed at the concert despite the rains.
The organizers also thanked the fandoms, EXO-Ls, Cassiopeias, and Jumping BoAs for going above and beyond to give the artists a warm welcome.
The fandoms distributed banners and freebies to ticket holders with welcoming words such as “Welcome to Cebu!”
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see EXO, TVXQ!, and BoA. We are hoping gyod nga mobalik sila diri sa Cebu. We want to show the K-pop agencies nga ready ang Cebu to welcome K-pop artists,” said one of the fandom admins.
In an interview, Xiumin and Chen said they hope to bring the entire EXO group to Cebu in their next visit.
“We hope on our next visit that we will be a complete EXO,” said Xiumin in Korean.
Changmin, Yunho and BoA also said they were excited to see their Cebuano fans and hope to perform again in Cebu soon.
Warm welcome
Prior to the concert, the K-pop artists received a warm welcome from their Cebuano fans after they landed at the Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA) on Wednesday night, Dec. 7.
Despite seeing their idols firsthand, Cebuano K-pop fans were cooperative with airport personnel, said Mactan-Cebu International Airport Authority Public Affairs Office head Mary Ann Dimabayao.
The concert served as the first leg of the K-pop stars’ Philippine tour. The concert’s second leg featuring the same artists happened at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Metro Manila on Dec. 9. (MKG, PR)