Jikamarie couldn’t help but gush about her experience as the opening act for Coldplay in Manila. The 23-year-old R&B singer-songwriter warmed up the stage on both nights for the sold-out Philippine leg of Coldplay’s Music of the Spheres tour last January 19 and 20 at the Philippine Arena. Growing up as a fan of the British band,  Jikamarie could only describe the opportunity as “surreal.”

Jikamarie gushes about being the opening act for Coldplay’s PH leg

@jikamarie iiyak na yung tao oh #jikamarie4coldplay #tiktokmusikat #coldplayconcert #coldplayinbulacan ♬ Rice Crackers – Aves

Jikamarie, known for her viral hit “Lutang”, uploaded a mini storytime video on her Tiktok.

“While we were performing ‘Balang Araw,’ sobrang kakaiba talaga. Sobrang magical na sobrang surreal nung pakiramdam,” she said. “Una sa lahat, dahil napakarami talaga nung tao, 55,000 ata yung full capacity ng Philippine Arena and as far as I know it was sold out. Super daming tao, and that alone, ‘yung pagpeperform sa ganoon karaming tao, sobrang grabe yung pangangatog ko, simula pa lang nung August.”

Last December 8, Coldplay announced a list of its opening acts for the Southeast Asian leg of the tour, confirming Jikamarie for Manila. Other special guests included Valentina Ploy for Thailand and RRiley, Jasmine Sokko, and Jinan Laetitia for the band’s six-night stop at the Singapore National Stadium.

“August pa lang, alam ko na na ako yung mag-o-open, kaya August pa lang umiikot na yung sikmura ko tapos walang nakakaalam,” Jikamarie reveals. “Ako lang, tapos si kuya, tapos a few [Warner Music Philippines] people. ‘Tas ‘yung sikmura ko umiikot talaga, hindi ako makatulog nang matino until kahapon lang nung tapos na. Dahil nga alam kong ganun ka-rami yung tao on both days.”

Jikamarie is thankful for Pinoy fans

Jikamarie showed a clip of the crowd at the arena with their phone flashlights on while she was singing “Balang Araw.” The effect was something every artist could only ever dream of — a sold-out arena full of people waving their lights to your song.

“They had their lights open. The thing is, habang pineperform ko yung ‘Balang Araw,’ nasa talkback ko si kuya Sam,” she said, referring to Sam de Leon, the musical director. “He was like, ‘Jika if malakas loob mo, utusan mo yung mga tao na buksan yung flashlight ng cellphone nila.'”

Despite being apprehensive if the crowd would follow her instructions, Jikamarie still asked them to turn on their flashlights.

“Kinakabahan ako kung magcocooperate yung mga to, but I did it any way. I was like, ‘Can you guys please buksan yung flashlight ng cellphone nyo habang kinakanta ko to,’ and they did, so quick,” she said.

@aiya.dmntd slayed. miss ma’am just earned a new fan @JIKA⋆⭒˚｡⋆ #coldplay #coldplayphilippines #coldplaymanila #coldplaymusicofthespheres #musicofthespheresworldtour #fyp #jikamarie ♬ HINAHANAP-HANAP – jikamarie

“Nung inaangat nila yung mga ilaw nung cellphone nila, parang gusto kong humiga sa stage at mag-lumpasay. Sobrang ‘di ko ineexpect yung support ng mga Coldplayers. You guys are so fricking sweet, I cried when I went backstage,” she added.

Finally, Jikamarie expressed her heartfelt gratitude to Coldplay for gifting her a rare opportunity, which she considers as her greatest milestone as a musician so far.

“Thank you so much, Coldplay, for this amazing opportunity. I’m so grateful, and I’m so happy dahil alam ko itong opportunity na ‘to hindi lang ako nag-e-enjoy kundi every single person in my team [who] worked on this,” she said, ending the video.

Check out Jikamarie’s music on Spotify.

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