The Dream Setlist for SB19's Simula at Wakas World Tour
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As Billboard exclusively revealed in February, SB19 set 19 dates on the Simula at Wakas World Tour, spanning cities in the Philippines, Taiwan, the U.S., Singapore, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE this year. In addition to playing some of the biggest venues of the group's career, SB19 teased more cities and shows to be announced soon, with visits to Australia, Japan, and Hong Kong on the horizon.
Pablo, Josh, Ken, Stell and Justin previously told Billboard that their fans, known as A'TIN, should 'stay tuned for new genres and performances, plus fresh arrangements of our older tracks,' adding how that 'from our last tour they have seen more of our individuality but this time, we will be coming stronger.'
A stronger, bigger tour naturally requires a stronger, bigger setlist. So, before the group plays the first dates across Asia this spring, and returns to the U.S. in July, here is Billboard's dream setlist for the upcoming Simula at Wakas World Tour, which will hopefully include most, if not all, of these global hits.The opening number is the song that sets the tone for your whole tour and 'DAM' is the clear choice for several reasons. Not only is it the lead single off SB19's recently released Simula at Wakas EP, but the song scored the group their first No. 1 on a U.S. Billboard song sales chart following its debut atop the World Digital Song Sales chart in March.
But 'DAM' didn't only resonate in the U.S., but hit No. 4 on the recently launched Billboard Philippines Hot 100, and bowed on charts in the U.K., New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and more. What better song to kick off your new worldwide tour than your biggest global hit yet?
Naturally, we want to hear the extended version of the song because its military-style march opening feels like a truly epic way to kick off the show.
Continuing the high energy set by 'DAM,' the next move would be to jump right into another new SB19 banger with '8onBall.' Not only will it keep the audience hyped, but also express the group's greater global ambitions amid their largest world tour yet. As declared by Justin and Josh in the song's intro: 'Wait a second, 'cause we're going to the top.'
To connect to the theme of SB19's worldwide ambitions while keeping the audience excited, 'Shooting for the Stars' is our next pick. The August Rigo–penned lyrics will ring true to the tone of the concert ('I've been shooting for the stars, aimin' high/ The universe is ours, yours and mine/ Hop up on this rocket, nothing's gonna stop it, no') while the addictive post-chorus hook is begging for an entire venue to singalong ('High! Oh yeah!/ Ready, aim, fire, shoot! Oh, yeah!').
After three songs of what will surely be intense choreography, we'll give the guys a break by slowing things down with the other song August Rigo wrote for them, 2023's 'I Want You' from their Pagtatag! album, with the mid-tempo R&B jam allowing the guys a moment to catch their breath, greet the audience and focus on the passionate delivery and honeyed harmonies. The guys can bring out the mic stands or stools to sit to enhance the song's intimate, sultry vibe.
Time to turn the volume back up. The latest single off SB19's Simula at Wakas EP — which made its debut on World Digital Song Sales earlier this month following its music video release — would be a natural pick here. After 'I Want You,' we could imagine the guys ducking out for an outfit change at this point to give them some additional breathing room and signify the show's next chapter of intensity. We'd love to see looks reminiscent of the fun and colorful looks the guys wore in the video.
Since the group's 2023 Pagtatag! World Tour, the group has been delivering some of the best collaborations of their careers. 'KALAKAL' with Filipino hip-hop icon Gloc 9 feels like a must-include for this tour, especially since the critically acclaimed veteran made a special appearance at the group's previous world tour finale in early 2024.
Stell will set a powerful tone with his opening lines, 'You can't stop this, we gonna get it /Who can? None, 'cause we born to take it,' and we'd love to see if either of SB19's top rappers Pablo or Josh might want to attempt to rap Gloc 9's lines, or even write new verses whenever Gloc isn't on hand to perform with them.
As promised by Josh in SB19's exclusive interview with Billboard, the group will be delivering new versions of their past material, and we'd love to hear a fresh interpretation of the early SB19 single 'Alab (Burning).' While the bright electro-pop track might not feel mature enough for where the group stands today (and didn't make the cut for the Pagtatag! World Tour), taking the song's theme of 'Burning' and giving it a rock, hip-hop or EDM makeover would surely add some edge, while also serving as a nostalgic treat for those A'TIN who have been with the guys since the beginning.
Some felt the Pagtatag! World Tour's setlist was too front-loaded with too many ballads. But no matter what you thought about the song order, the gorgeous dedication to parents, 'Mapa,' was a standout moment, with the entire venue singing along to the soulful singalong hook. We'll gladly take an extended live version of 'Mapa' here to ensure everyone gets their ballad fix.
To truly show how much the group has grown, this feels like a perfect moment to introduce some solo stages. For an easy sonic transition from the fuzzy feelings set by 'Mapa,' we'd love SB19 leader Pablo's performance to begin with a snippet of his stunning, slow-burning ballad 'The Boy Who Cried Wolf.' While the song (and its accompanying video) are especially emotional, letting Pablo give a taste of the track and the lingering wolf-like 'woo, ooh' hook before the regal trumps of his empowering single 'Edsa' take over. Pablo can showcase his pop sensibilities on the bright track for a moment before transitioning into the much darker rap cut 'Batata,' which lays out his ambitions over zipping, pounding production.
Pablo had a busy 2024, dropping 'Edsa' in May before unleashing both his ALON and LAON albums within a week of each other in September, so it's the perfect time to show his breadth of work. While we're not entirely sure how to make the jump from the stark 'Boy Who Cried Wolf' to cheery 'Edsa' and then the intensity of 'Butata,' if anyone could figure it out, it's SB19's genius producer Pablo.
Continuing with a heavier theme set from Pablo's 'La Luna,' we'd love to see Ken — a.k.a. Felip — hit the stage next to deliver a song like 2024's 'Fake Faces.' The alt-rock rager can be a moment of release for the audience to really let go and feel ready to truly enjoy the rest of the night without worrying about what anyone might think.Playing off the rock vibes in 'Fake Faces,' Josh Cullen gets his rock-star moment with a performance of his popular single '1999' from his Lost & Found album. It's another moment for fans to rock out with the guys. We might be crazy, but we could even imagine Josh crowd-surfing while belting out the track. Too much? We'd imagine not for Josh.
After the members get some sufficient rest after the three solo stages, it feels right to bring out Simula at Wakas' intense ballad 'Time.' The track features an impressive vocal performance with a few starts and stops in the arrangement, which will require the guys to be fully prepared to tackle the all-English cut.
As part of SB19's continuing international crossover, the band linked up with JVKE for a special remix of his Billboard Hot 100 Top 10 hit 'Golden Hour.' While JVKE raced up the charts around the world with 'Golden Hour' in 2023 (reaching its No. 13 peak on the Billboard Global 200 in February), SB19's remix helped extend the song's impact and longevity, with an SB19-only performance being a particular treat for international audiences. Maybe JVKE could even pop by for a special appearance at one of the stops.
It's time to kick back up the energy with a familiar, fan-favorite single like 'What?' Upon its release in 2021, the team that produced the track with Pablo shared how the song was particularly challenging to craft due to the multiple tempo changes. A new version that imagines the song slightly more straightforward allows fans to enjoy while taking it easier on SB19, who are, at this point, only about halfway through the concert.
Despite never being released as a single, 'Mana' remains one of SB19's most-streamed tracks on Spotify with the trap-y throbber becoming one of the group's go-to live tracks.
'Bazinga' is our pick to follow, keeping the energy from 'Mana' alive and connecting as yet another fire track from the Pagsibol EP, the final song from the 2021 record in this concert.
SB19 have shared that they considered releasing 'CRIMZONE' as the lead single off PAGTATAG! (though ultimately going with 'Gento'), but another fan-favorite cut that has surpassed the Spotify streams of several of the group's singles, it would truly be a crime not to include 'CRIMZONE' and is one last big up-tempo before — dream setlist spoiler! — another set of solo stages.
Justin delivered a lovely cover of One Direction's 'Little Things' during the Pagtatag! World Tour, but now SB19's youngest member gets a chance to show how much he's grown since the last tour by releasing his own solo music and kicking off his acting career. We'd love to hear a medley of his easy-listening rock-pop tracks 'Surreal' and 'Kaibigan' during his solo moment — perhaps cutting the first 30 seconds of the latter since it may be challenging to get a similar reverb and jumping straight into the joyous pre-chorus before encouraging the audience to clap along on the singalong hook.
Stell took the audience's breath away with his powerhouse performance of 'Defying Gravity' (performing all parts from the Wicked epic) every night on the Pagtatag! World Tour. We're looking for him to stun us once again by recreating the performance showcased in his funky 2024 single 'Room' — including, most importantly, the mesmerizingly cool chair dance he pulls off during the bridge. Take a look below in case you haven't already.
Another crossover moment from SB19's past year includes their featuring on a single from apl.de.ap, the Black Eyed Peas Philippines-born member who has represented his heritage by rapping in Tagalog in BEP tracks like 'Bebop' and 'The Apl Song.'
This bumping dance track is a perfect song to transition back to the group music after Justin and Stell take the stage. Lyrics like 'Get ready for the night, you ready?/ I've been waiting for this night for so long' will hit with slightly harder impact when fans realize the concert is inevitably coming to a close soon after months of anticipation, but will inevitably snap into dance mode once the beat hits on the second chorus.
In a full display of how far SB19 has come in their five years together, we'd love to hear their early EDM single 'Go Up' mashed up with 'Moonlight,' their latest DJ collaboration with U.S.-based producers Ian Asher and Terry Zhong. Both songs feature euphoric, feel-good builds, and it feels like a special and clever way to represent artistic growth while giving newer A'TIN more reasons to revisit older material.
There's one more new song left to perform from Simula at Wakas with 'Quit' acting as the EP's centerpiece rock anthem. At four minutes and forty-three seconds, it's by far the longest song on the record, and the layers of harmonies on the bridge are perfect for the members to lead an epic singalong with the audience as they wave goodbye to the audience…
…but that goodbye will be short-lived because it's encore time!
SB19 used 'What?' as their final encore song on the Pagtatag! World Tour, bringing back the beloved breakout single as an official, satisfying closer for the show. We want to recreate the wonderful energy of that moment again, but this time with Pagtatag's lead single, 'Gento,' which helped the group break out even bigger and will reignite the crowd once they hear its opening beats.Because everything needs to be bigger on this tour, SB19 won't just have one encore song but two! Ending with the band's feel-good funk-pop single, 'WYAT (Where You At),' feels appropriate, as the lyrics discuss searching for one's other half to complete them. Pablo, Ken, Josh, Stell, and Justin can dedicate the song to fans as a final message to officially wrap up their biggest show to date.
Find out more information about — and see what songs SB19 really performs — with more details on the Wakas World Tour here.
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