This isn’t your typical concert review because I know you’ve seen the videos. You’ve read the news. You already know how the show went.
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| Photo: Team Wang |
Still reading? Good.
This might be one of the hardest pieces I’ve ever written, maybe because Jackson’s show struck a chord somewhere deep. Perhaps it was his message, “Life is great… Just gotta be a dick sometimes!” Maybe it was permission, straight from the artist himself, to write freely about my experience.
There are only three men I’ve ever dreamed of interviewing in my 30s: RM of BTS, Eric Nam (whom I was fortunate to speak with in 2023), and Jackson Wang.
Why Jackson, you ask?
I first encountered him while researching BTS. His interview with Zach Sang sealed the deal. He spoke so honestly about who RM is at his core. What impressed me even more was how unafraid he was to shine a light on other artists. Soon after, fan edits started flooding my feed with moments that showed his genuine affection for my ULT bias. In a world where K-pop is often painted as hypercompetitive, seeing real friendship bloom between idols felt rare, even radical.
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| Photo: Team Wang |
When I was preparing for my Eric Nam interview, Jackson resurfaced on my screen again. This time, as a guest on The Daebak Show with Dive Studios. His unguardedness there cemented his spot on my personal “must-interview” list. So when IME Philippines announced his Manila concert, I was ecstatic. I wanted to see him live. I prayed to be part of the media that could ask him questions. That didn’t happen this time. But I held on to the hope of hearing his voice in person, of witnessing the world of Magic Man unfold.
Fast forward to the night of November 2, 2025. Inside the Araneta Coliseum, I found myself surrounded by loyal GOT7 fans. I’ll admit, I was intimidated. I didn’t know Jackson the way they did. But that’s the power of Jackson. We were all there because his story found its way into ours. So I sat back, ready to take in the performer I longed to know, and to see him through their eyes.
Watching the show unfold, listening live to the songs he so carefully curated, felt like being cracked open. Of course, there was the much-anticipated moment: Jackson dancing with his lucky fans. Some even joked it was less Magic Man, more Magic Mike. But the truest, rawest parts of the night weren’t in the spectacle. They were in the arrangement of each song, the honest ments where Jackson spoke directly to us, and most significantly, the VCR. He talked about needing time off, about rediscovering who he was, who he is becoming, and about healing a heart that had been broken.
Then came a montage: scenes of Jackson now, ending as a baby in his mother’s arms. Him, before all of this. If you looked closely, it felt like flipping through a photo album in reverse, peeling back the layers of fame until all that’s left is a son, a human being.
Something inside me burst open then. Some might say the scene was crafted to evoke emotion. Maybe. But I’ll dare say it was Jackson’s way of asking us not just to feel for him, but to feel with him… to see that he is just like us, trying to find meaning in a world that gives so many blessings, yet still finds ways to make you bleed.
While the rest of the crowd lifted their phones to record, I chose to capture Jackson in the quiet reel of my mind, a memory etched deeper than any lens could hold. His presence pulled me back to his lyrics, to that haunting image of him submerged in water, to another of him behind glass, something both divine and fragile. A man on display, performing his pain for the world to see.
Fame and fortune have not spared him from the undertow. Beneath the lights, he wades through the same murky waters I’ve known: of sadness, of silence, of the words and reasons that refuse to come. And as I watched, I wondered if I was ever truly ready to see the artist I admire stripped of illusion, aching but alive. But as a creative, it resonated more than the lights or the choreography ever could. In a time when anyone can use AI to mass-produce words, music, and visuals, Jackson wields technology, his mind, and his influence like a saber, cutting through the noise to reveal what’s true.
Attending this concert felt like he sat beside me, bare and unguarded, revealing the darkness that lingers in the corners of his mind. But there was no pity in it. Only honesty. Only the hope that we, his audience, were not just there to dance and disappear into the night, but to just be present with him. To understand that transformation can be messy, that healing takes courage, and that even in our darkest hours, we are still capable of creating our own light.
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| Photo: Team Wang |
That night, Jackson reminded me that life isn’t beautiful because it’s flawless; it’s beautiful because we keep choosing to live. Because even in the shadows, we rise; we keep moving, and we can turn our hurt into art. Perhaps that’s where happiness is: in the act of living life for yourself. Whether it’s through fan cams like @jkitty.and.kpop, illustrations commissioned by @wangbeomi747 and @kyla_muncal, or fan activations like Team Jacky PH and GOT7 Or Never PH, each act is a reflection of that same spirit: to be brave and to keep feeling. And in the case of the most devoted Jackson Wang fan I know, Patty’s Corner Podcast is a passion project inspired by Jackson himself, an echo of how his journey continues to inspire action in others.
This piece may not be as eloquent as my Eric Nam feature or as immersive as my WILD WILD write-up, but it isn’t without meaning. Jackson left a spark in me the moment I first saw him on screen. And maybe these words are my way of returning his magic to him.
𝐌𝐀𝐆𝐈𝐂𝐌𝐀𝐍 𝟐 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐋𝐃 𝐓𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓–𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔 𝐈𝐍 𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐈𝐋𝐀 was presented by IME Philippines
Special thanks to Publicity Asia