MNL48 held the final leg of the mall tour for their album ‘Aitakatta-Gustong Makita‘ last November 11, 2018 at Vista Mall, Daang Hari. With fans already preparing themselves for the Handshake Event, we were all surprised that another mall show appeared in the event tab in the MNL48 app, and a pretty “remote” location to compared to the previous four venues.
Vista Mall, Daang Hari is the last place I expected to hold an MNL48 mall show, but it was the venue that is most convenient for me, living in one of the subdivisions along Daang Hari. In theory, there’s enough transportationto bring people from Starmall, Alabang to the venue and back: multi-cabs are there as always, and the Metro-Express P2P bus has Sunday trips.
But it’s still a long ways off from where I expected MNL48 to operate. While they performed in Starmall, Alabang, that was still pretty much Metro Manila, which this one just isn’t.
Despite how close the mall is to where I live, I almost did not make it to this show: I suddenly fell sick last Friday, and while the fever left me Saturday, I was still coughing and feeling pretty weak on Sunday. But I wasn’t sure that an opportunity like this will ever present itself again as the group will really be busy these coming weeks..
Despite Vista Mall lacking a proper stage area, the location has been properly adapted to the show’s needs. More than enough seats were made available, and everyone had an unobstructed view of the stage. Unlike the other locations, Vista Mall isn’t exactly a go-to spot for people, being situated in a junction in the Daang Hari Road and too close to a much bigger mall. But there were enough audience, comprised by fans – many of whom travelled from far places – and MNL48 Abby’s family and friends.
Abby lives in Bacoor, so we pretty much expected her family and friends to come and show their support (although at least two other members have ties to Molino). It’s a scene that seemed straight out of our local entertainment: from balloons spelling Abby’s name, to tarpaulins, to fans screaming Abby’s name.
The area left-side facing the stage is completely filled of wotas. The center area is made up of wotas at the front and Abby’s family towards the back. The right side is the mixed bunch, as there are idol fans, Team Abby crowd, and people who came to checkthings out.
There was a funny incident when the van containing the group went up the drive-way….except that driveway had already been converted into the stage! The security guard directed the driver to back up and go down the carpark where the girls can alight the van in peace.
As with the previous shows, there was a “pre-show” hosted by Talent Management Head Gio Medina and Anne to give the girls (and the technicals crew) enough time to prepare. They had some really fun games that played into the personalities of Anne (called Oshi-Anne by the fans), and even Gio himself. Because the venue is a converted drive-way, getting things ready took much longer than they usually did. At one point, a staff was seen measuring the stage, probably to give the members some idea of how small the “stage” is.
Soon though, the show started. Here is the footage I managed to get of the performance. I was shaking all the time due to my body still feeling pretty weak.
https://youtu.be/nsGCf6rjSYE
There were several announcements during the show itself. The Handshake event got moved from November 18 to November 25, while the November Seitansai took its place. It was also announced that a special screening of the next Music Video of MNL48 will be held on the Handshake Event itself.
After the performance, the girls were given a few minutes to freshen up, and then it’s off to the merchandise booth for them. For the third straight event, the girls managed to sell all of their album copies. There were people who bought as many as 40 copies, although towards the end, you can already feel that the wotas are either already digging too deep into their pockets, or tapped out altogether. I suspect this is because of the two upcoming activities on successive weekends.
A lot of the fans who came had also been to the other locations, which is impressive in itself as Vista Mall Daang Hari isn’t exactly located near the Metro. It is accessible, sure, but I can think of at least five other places I’d rather be on a Sunday afternoon watching MNL48. And this is coming from the guy who lives nearest to the place.
But what this also means is that the group is getting a core of supporters willing to go anywhere just so they can show their support. A good number of these fans are also the ones buying copies of the album every time. That’s dedication for you.
While this last venue was unexpected, I still felt quite sad that the mall tour has come to an end. I had been hoping that a few more places were added. Places further outside Metro Manila. In all the MNL48 videos I have uploaded on my You Tube channel, there has always been fans from far away who are really hoping that MNL48 will someday come to them.
But perhaps one day, out-of-town trips will be the norm for our girls, a lot of whom also came from faraway provinces. Maybe some day, their fans from those places will also get to see the girls perform in person, and have a little taste of that sweet interaction that is the trademark of the 48 groups. Maybe, some day.
