When tickets went on sale for F✦FOREVER's three consecutive nights at Indonesia Arena in Jakarta, they were gone in seconds. All 45,000 seats per show, three nights in a row, sold out before most people had finished loading the ticketing page.
The total comes to 135,000 fans over a single weekend, all there to watch Jerry Yan, Van Ness Wu, Vic Chou, and Ashin of Mayday share a stage.
The shows took place on May 28, 29, and 30, and by all accounts they delivered. Tens of thousands of Indonesian fans sang along in Mandarin to every song, not just the familiar refrains but full verses of tracks that have been around for over two decades. Videos from inside the arena spread quickly online.
The four artists on stage were visibly moved, which is saying something for a tour that has already completed 19 shows across major Chinese cities, including Shanghai, Chengdu, and Shenzhen.
F✦FOREVER brings together three members of the original F4, Jerry Yan, Van Ness Wu, and Vic Chou, alongside Ashin, the lead vocalist of Taiwanese rock band Mayday.
The project is not a full F4 reunion as Ken Chu is not part of the lineup, but that has done nothing to slow demand.
If anything, the tour has built its own momentum on the strength of new material and a production that reportedly cost 250 million to mount, with a crew of nearly 300 people behind it.
The Manila show is set for June 27 at the Philippine Arena, with tickets available via SM Tickets. After that, the tour moves to Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, and Singapore through August.
The Philippines has a long history with the music and the people behind this tour. Meteor Garden, the 2001 Taiwanese drama that made F4 a household name across Southeast Asia, found one of its most devoted audiences here. It became especially popular after airing on ABS-CBN.
—By Paolo Lim