Russ’ arrival in the Philippines was highly anticipated and longed for by his Filipino fans. It is pretty obvious from his social media interactions with us that we have a special place in his heart. This is why a lot of Filipinos have been patiently waiting for him to come to our country and when he teased about “seeing Manila in the summer” back in March, Twitter exploded.
After years of waiting and tour speculations, Russ has finally brought his energy and infectious songs to Manila.
When his summer tour tickets were released three months ago, it did not take long before they got sold out. This is more proof that the Philippines has been ready for him ever since.
His time in the Philippines was definitely full of surprises. He arrived last Friday, July 26, and surprised concertgoers who were present at Bazzi’s show in The Island when he went up onstage to perform with him. Photos and videos from that night spread like wildfire on social media, and it heightened the hype even more for his show the next day.
However, the surprises did not end there ⎼ he showered his Filipino fans who were not able to buy tickets with love by tweeting that he would put as many fans who would slide in his DMs onto his guest list, so that they can watch.
Also, he performed his single “Summer at 7” live for the first time in his Manila show, further cementing the strong love and relationship that he has with us Filipinos. He proudly announced that the Philippines was the country where his top listeners were from, and he added that Filipino women are so beautiful that he wants to marry one (fun fact: he followed Filipina beauty Janica Nam on Instagram, LUCKY!); he teased that all they had to do was to “slide into his DMs”. This caused an uproar from his fans, and I’m guessing that by now, his inbox on Twitter and Instagram are flooded with messages from women who want to be personally serenaded every day by this talented guy ⎼ who can blame them, really?
The setlist was so long and I believe he sang more than 25 songs (yes, you read that right) in his set that ran for almost 2 hours at most. He capped off his concert by giving an encore performance of “Missin’ You Crazy” because indeed, even while he was still on stage, he said that he already misses his Filipino fans. With the way his short stay in the country went, I would not be surprised if we see him back here next year ⎼ or if we are lucky, maybe even every year.
Russ is an amazing performer and you can see how passionate he is about what he is doing. He connects with his fans in an unbelievable way and it is evident how much he cares for each and every one of them. He shares his struggles through his songs, as well as his breakthroughs, in hopes that he can help those listening who are experiencing the same thing.
To add, he also wrote an inspirational book entitled “IT’S ALL IN YOUR HEAD” under HarperCollins, which is set to be released in November. I can already foresee this book being a hit and inspiring readers to go out there and “take a leap of faith”.
Thank you so much for the impactful visit, Russ. Looking forward to the next one!
