Ruel holds his first major Philippine concert for the ‘4TH WALL’ world tour

Australian singer-songwriter Ruel held the Manila leg of his “4TH WALL” world tour last Friday, May 26, at the Samsung Hall, SM Aura Premier.

The event was opened by Filipino rapper Young Cocoa, who sang his original songs “Quezon Don”, “Zesto”, “Nova”, “Seasons”, “Kafka,” his most anticipated hit song “Manila,” and his unreleased song, “Fade Away.”

The fans’ anticipation couldn’t be contained as they jokingly shouted “lumabas ka na” (come out) repeatedly screaming his name until the lights turned down. The concert started with an introduction to Ruel, accompanied by a drum solo, before he started singing “GO ON WITHOUT ME,” the opener to his first studio album, 4TH WALL.

This is followed by a performance of his hit songs, “GROWING UP IS …,” “YOU AGAINST YOURSELF,” and “Dazed & Confused” – before asking the crowd to sing the chorus of the next song, “Face to Face.”

Ruel then introduced the next song by explaining how its music video is filmed in the Philippines, making the crowd excited. He said that when he was in the country last February, he spent most of his time in Manila stuck in traffic, so he wondered why not film in the back of a pickup truck in the middle of the traffic in Manila for his song “SITTING IN TRAFFIC,” and he did.

During his song performance, he introduced a special surprise guest, Filipino singer-rapper KZ Tandingan, who sang the song with him and then proceeded to sing “MUST BE NICE.”

After talking to the crowd, Ruel started playing the piano and sang a little of Ogie Alcasid’s “Bakit Ngayon Ka Lang”, but stopped as he said he only remembered the beginning of the song.

While playing the piano, he sang a cover of One Direction’s “Night Changes” and his songs “WISH I HAD YOU,” “golden hour,” “Free Time,” and “LIE.”

Ruel hyped up the crowd after singing ballads by asking them to jump when the beat dropped for the next song, “Flames” by SG Lewis, where he was featured and had an electric guitar solo after the song.

He then performed “SOMEONE ELSE’S PROBLEM,” “IF AND/OR WHEN,” “Younger,” and the best-selling song “Painkiller” as he went down the stage and around the venue.

As the concert came to an end, he thanked his band members, the crew and staff, and his girlfriend, who was also in the concert venue at the time, before performing an acoustic version of “END SCENE” and the credits rolled on the screen, showing everyone who is part of the tour.

As the credits rolled, Ruel came back on stage to sing his final song, “I DON’T WANNA BE LIKE YOU,” and thanked all of those who came before bowing and leaving the stage.

Ruel held a free concert at Ayala Center in Cebu and SM Lanang in Davao the following days, on May 27 and 28, respectively, as part of the ongoing tour in the Philippines.

This is his second time in the country this year; he also performed at the Venice Grand Canal in McKinley Hill, Taguig, last February 18 for a special free mall show to promote his then-upcoming album, 4TH WALL.

Then 14-year-old Ruel debuted in 2017, released three EPs, earned five platinum records, and amassed over 2 billion streams worldwide. He’s also the youngest artist to sell out the Sydney Opera House twice.