British-Norwegian boyband A1 will reunite with all four members for first time in nearly 15 years.
Filipino fans can look forward to seeing the complete group in time for their 20th anniversary reunion tour.
The band—composed of Paul Marazzi, Christian Ingebrigtsen, Mark Read, and Ben Adams—will be staging four shows presented by Concert Republic over the next few days.
On October 21 and 22, A1 will perform their hits at the Kia Theater in Cubao. This will be followed by the SMX Convention Center in Davao on October 23. Their last show will be on October 25 at the Waterfront Hotel & Casino in Cebu.
A1 became popular in the 1990s for its hit songs such as "Like A Rose,"
"We love everything about the Philippines," Christian said during the band's press conference last October 17 at Novotel Manila Araneta Center in Quezon City.
He continued, "We love the country, it's beautiful. The people are beautiful, so kind-hearted! Every one greets us with a smile out here.
"So many people know our songs and love our songs. That's what we love the most."
This is the band's 7th time to visit and hold a show in the Philippines. In 2001, A1 visited the country for a promo tour in March and went back for their first concert at the Araneta Coliseum in October.
Their last concert in the country as a quartet was in July 2002, at the former NBC Tent in Taguig City. This was three months before Paul officially announced his departure from the group.
In February 2012, A1 returned as a trio to the Philippines for a concert with Blue and Jeff Timmons of 98 Degrees. The band returned on the same year for a charity concert at the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino.
In October 2016, they staged their Here We Come-Back Tour in Manila and Cebu.
After 16 years of not being able to perform for his Filipino fans, Paul admits he feels nervous about returning on stage, but he is more excited about performing again with his band mates.
He told the Philippine press, "It was something I was obviously a little scared about to work with them again. And I was thing how much have we all changed.
"But as Mark was saying, it was just right in the bag, straight back in there.
"The songs were there, the lyrics were there, the humming needs a tiny bit of work but they were there. It's been really nice."
Rumors about the band's reunion project with Paul started in September 2017 when Ben uploaded their group photo on Instagram.
When asked what sparked their reunion with Paul, Ben said they just wanted to catch up with their band mate.
Ben recalled, "There wasn't really any thought process of 'let's be a band again' and after that, we go on rehearsal again and it was really just like the old times.
"Then we sort of said, 'Well look, you know, our reunion is coming up for our 20th year and we'll release a track, perhaps we should think about doing concerts together.'
"And of course, the first place that we thought of to come to do big concerts for the first time together was Asia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore."
With their huge following in Southeast Asia, members of A1 didn't have to think twice when deciding which country to visit first for their 20th anniversary reunion concert.
However, Ben observed that some UK fans are quite jealous since the band will hold the first leg of its tour in Asia.
"They were all quite angry at you guys because you get to see us now. They have to wait for us for at least a year.
"We're happy about that, obviously, but you know, it's gonna be amazing.
"The whole rehearsal period… it felt a bit like we never stopped being a four-piece.
He later told Paul, "We're very happy to have Paul back so thank you Paul for coming here and joining us."