Get to Know K-Pop Rock Band ‘The Rose’

Woosung rocking with his guitars @ Coachella (photo courtesy of @TheRose_0803 - X)

Last year, The Rose performed at Coachella, a famous music and arts festival in America, making one of their dreams and bucket lists a dream come true. They were also the first K-pop rock band to perform at the Outdoor Coachella in California, showcasing their unique musical style to a global audience.

Aside from that, they were also performers in Lollapalooza—another annual music festival like Coachella—held in Chicago. They also performed in different Lollapalooza festivals including India, Chile, Brazil, and Argentina. Their setlist for these performances included tracks from their first and second full-length albums, Heal and Dual, along with one of their digital singles, RED, which really set the crowd’s energy level high.

Also, the same year, The Rose had their third concert here in the Philippines as part of their Dawn to Dusk Tour. I can totally say that this was one of the best concerts I’ve been to, not to mention the hype and the energy as we sang along with them. I can still remember how it felt like the Lower box section in Araneta would collapse (of course, it didn’t) because we were all jumping together while singing our hearts out during their performance of RED.

Left: Dawn to Dusk Tour (2024); Right: We Rose You Tour (2019)

Then, another moment, we all got emotional and deeply moved as they sang She’s in the Rain from their second mini album, Dawn. If you haven’t heard it, I suggest you listen to it now—it’s definitely a track that captures the band’s emotional depth. This is one of the songs that made me stan them, along with Sorry and I Don’t Know.

But before that, The Rose’s first visit to the Philippines was in 2019 for their We Rose You Tour. The concert took place at the Samsung Hall in SM Aura on December 19, 2019. The venue was still a smaller one, and it was my first standing concert (as a short girlie), with a high touch or high-five with the members as the VIP perks. I can still clearly remember walking nervously as it came to my turn to give them a high-five.

Jaehyeong (left) and Woosung (right) singing with their guitars

Woosung was just staring at me smiling while I approached him for his high five. Dojoon was so handsome, and when I say handsome I mean like a clean, good-looking, decent guy in a suit and tie. While Jaehyeong was so cute with his cheekbones popping up as he grinned. Then, there came Hajoon who was silently standing and smiling as he waited for his high-five since he was the last one. I still feel giddy and ‘kilig’ while reminiscing about those moments and even while I’m writing this (lol). I also remember after the high-five, I went out holding my hand like I had some bleeding wound (lol), in disbelief that I was able to touch and see them up so close. Oh, those days!

Currently, the quartet is taking some well-deserved rest after their world tour and performances from last year. The group’s leader, Woosung, released his second full album, 4444, and was on his solo world tour last year as well. So, their priority right now is to recharge. But they made a promise to Black Roses (fandom name) that they’ll be back in two months with another great set of music.

Still not sure whether to stan them? Here are some tracks you could add to your playlist: all songs from all their albums—just kidding! Here’s my top list of recommendations: Sorry, She’s in the Rain, RED, California, Like We Used To, Beautiful Girl (Woosung), Moon (Woosung), Time, and YES are just some of the tracks I suggest. But if you have time, definitely check all of their albums and music videos.

If you still haven’t searched them up and listened to their songs yet, then what are you doing? As they say, sleep on your bed, not on The Rose!