Here's What Happened at KAIA's KAIAVERSITY Fan Concert

In a niche of Filipino music still constantly striving to prove itself even to its own countrymen, growing reach and guaranteed longevity for a P-pop group have been rare gems. And yet, with two years since their debut, KAIA have proven that they have what it takes to achieve these because they’re not doing it alone.

Their recently concluded second anniversary concert, dubbed “KAIAVERSITY”, last April 6 at the Music Museum served as a reminder of a crucial part of their journey personally held dear by the group’s members – one that is quite obvious yet still worth mentioning – and how they were able to keep going against all odds: their very own dedicated fans, the ZAIA.

While most idol groups continue to maintain a certain uptight divide between them and their fans, KAIA, – consisting of Angela, Charice, Alexa, Sophia, and Charlotte – on the other hand, have proven through their second anniversary fan concert that that is simply not the case for them.

As they treated their ZAIA to one surprisingly intimate major solo show, it became particularly evident how important their fans are to them on a much deeper and personal level than what one might typically expect from an idol group, resulting in a night that undoubtedly unlocked quite a few unforgettable memories – both for the fans and for the 5-member P-pop group themselves.

Even before the concert properly started, I could feel the excitement in the air all around me. As fans of all ages were lining up to enter the venue, comparing their photocard pulls, or simply chatting and sharing laughs to pass the time, I could easily tell that a lot of them have been eagerly waiting for this for quite some time now. Unsurprisingly so, given that KAIA’s first ever solo concert, held last year in December 2023 at the tiny Teatrino Promenade, was completely sold-out, leaving a vast majority of their fans wanting more. And now, for many of them, this was finally the moment they’ve been wishing for.

In spirit of the university theme of the show, many of the fans even came in wearing school uniform-styled outfits. In true fashion to the start of a school year, the first item on the agenda was the “Class Photo” segment prior to the start of the concert. This involved few lucky fans getting to take group pictures with the members of KAIA, personally hand them gifts, and even show off their aforementioned outfits, much to the amusement of the five girls.

All of this, including the main concert proper later on, was happening against a simple stage design that was made to mimic a classroom – complete with the likes of school armchairs, small shelves and cabinets filled with books, backpacks, and even a whiteboard jokingly listing the group’s members for being “noisy” and such.

As everyone finished taking their photos, afterwards, it was finally time to head into the show proper.

The concert started somewhat later than expected but kicked off with a literal head-turner of a surprise as the members of KAIA entered from behind the audience – performing a new rendition of their pre-debut single “KAYA” to get the energy going – and were received with frantic screams and shouts from their adoring fans as they took the stage to begin what would eventually become a night none of them would soon forget.

From the get-go, audience members were treated with a full-on school-like concert experience as the group conducted their very own take on a flag ceremony and the concert’s host, Charm Aranton, – recognized as the school’s dean in this fun little alternate universe – even introduced the girls through their respective duties as members of the KAIAVERSITY student council, with all five of them playfully living out their roles many times throughout the night.

This would set the tone and theme for the remainder of the night, as fans were treated to four more up-close experiences – school activities, if you will – with the members on-stage.

The first was “KAIABEE” – a quiz bee of sorts wherein KAIA’s and a couple of fans’ general knowledge were put to the test, causing everyone, –including the P-pop group’s members – to get jokingly competitive with one another amidst a constant, frantic rush of debating on the right answers.

In the end, this was a test of knowledge that KAIA’s Charlotte’s team ultimately aced.

This was closely followed by a fiery performance from the girls of the Nicki Minaj track featuring Beyoncé “Feeling Myself” – a short yet fierce showcasing of the group’s precisely refined yet graceful dancing that could only come from performers who have undoubtedly honed their craft.

Speaking of dancing, KAIA wasted no time getting into the next school activity for the night with “&5678” – another test for a few lucky ZAIA but, this time, on their dance chops as everyone on-stage undertook a series of dance challenges based on Tiktok-viral tracks, such as Hev Abi’s “Walang Alam” and “Marikit Sa Dilim” by Juan Caoile and Kyleswish. This segment even concluded with KAIA’s Sophia dancing to Tyla’s “Water” after much excited prompting from her co-members as well as the audience members.

From here, KAIA eventually decided to take the concert in a much slower direction for bit, introducing the next school activity of the show “DEAR KAIA” – a sit-down activity wherein the members took the time to read through some letters the ZAIA sent in. If you ask me, this was the part of the show where KAIA’s relationship with their fans truly shined as they read through tons of heartfelt words of encouragement, love, and support. This ultimately resulted in the members of KAIA and even, from what I’d observed, some of the audience members desperately trying to fight back tears by the time the last letter was being read.

Afterwards, with tears dried, hearts touched, and “thank you’s” said, the group quickly picked the pace back up with a back-to-back performance of their hit tracks “5678” and “TURN UP” to get the crowd going once more.

This was then followed by the concert’s last two school activities for the night: “LIGHTS, KAIA, ACTION!” and, similar to the end of a school year or term, a closing recognition ceremony for a couple of select ZAIA.

“LIGHTS, KAIA, ACTION!” was perhaps the most entertaining out of all the activities the girls had planned for the ZAIA. For this one, drama class was in session as it involved each of them being paired up with a fan and acting out different school-based scenarios but with a twist. This involved them having to incorporate random lyrics from the girls’ discography into their dialogue, resulting in quite a few witty acting deliveries that had the entire Music Museum roaring with laughter.

The recognition ceremony, on the other hand, was more of a clear-cut form of appreciation KAIA prepared for their fans. Headed by the host as KAIA went backstage final costume change, this involved certificates and freebies being awarded to a couple of the ZAIA based on certain merits, including the likes of being the earliest to arrive to the concert to being the best at the prior school activities. All of this was topped off by a surprise heartwarming gesture from the girls: a special recognition for the heads of their individual fan clubs who were present that night.

Following this, KAIA took to the stage one last time with another surprise: a performance of their dark-sounding, unreleased track “You Did It” to spectacularly cap off the night with a bang, eliciting what was the loudest cheers all throughout the night from everyone in attendance – unified shouts of joy and excitement undoubtedly coming from a fandom that has been patiently waiting for new songs in over a year from their beloved favorites.

As the night reached its conclusion, the girls officially closed this momentous chapter in their story by expressing their deepest gratitude to their fans one final time, leaving them with long-awaited good news that the aforementioned new song they had just performed was finally set to be released this coming April 12. As KAIA’s leader Angela proudly proclaimed, “Pinaghirapan po namin ito. It means everything to us.” [We worked hard on this. It means everything to us.]

All in all, KAIAVERSITY was filled with some of the most heartfelt and candid displays of admiration, care, support, respect, and gratitude between an idol group and their fans. While it may not have been the usual concert most were expecting, where the show uniquely drew its charms from was how it successfully served to bring KAIA and their fans, both old and new, closer than ever before in the last two years since they set out to make their mark in the thriving landscape of P-pop.

Overall, the concert teaches a lesson on the priceless value of friendship – a reminder for us to deeply cherish and never take for granted the people who genuinely care and root for us. Undoubtedly, it bears witness to the fact that, as long as the ZAIA are by their side, KAIA is here and they are here to stay.