James Morrison : The Awakening Tour in Manila

Took some time off to catch the James Morrison concert last night.

Although admittedly not as familiar with his discography as my concert buddies, I did manage to listen to his latest album long enough to get the impression that it was a form of affirmation, if not a total celebration of sorts. Certain tracks sounded like a tribute, a veritable list of people and things that made this particular artist who he is today. The Awakening is arguably more upbeat than Morrison's previous offerings---I, for one, am amazed by the uncanny marriage of this singer's signature rasp and the Motown influence in his third album.

With a setlist of funky tunes intermingled with soulful ballads, this British singer-songwriter performed with a whole lot of swag, jumping and strutting on stage, infecting the crowd with his euphoric energy. The whole concert experience felt like a laid-back party with a take em' to church vibe and Morrison, the anointed preacher. With a unique gravelly voice (which I can only describe as one in dire need of a lozenge, but in a good way), this guy was a sight to behold as he unleashed his inner dance monkey before a crowd of onlookers who had no choice but to reciprocate his verve.

People probably came in droves wanting to hear sentimental hits like You Give Me Something and Broken Strings and let me just say that he didn't disappoint. He likewise sold his new material, singing up tempo songs like Beautiful Life and Slave to the Music whilst dialing things down a notch with heartfelt compositions like In My Dreams, I Won't Let You Go and  Say Something Now, all done with apparent ease and pride. 

There are performers who would often draw energy from the crowd but this one generated his own; he channeled it to everyone inside the Big Dome. This one had a light in him that made you stop wondering whether or not he took more than a swig of spiked Kool-aid, he had an energy and a force that can make you throw your hands in the air and say, "I'll have whatever he's having."

He was obviously having a good time that night and so were we. 

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Concert picture courtesy of Inquirer Entertainment

I initially planned to use a different picture for this blog post, but the picture that came with the Inquirer article pretty much captured the feeling of seeing Morrison work his groove.

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Fuerza Bruta : Look Up

Since mid-February, almost every lifestyle column or event blog was abuzz and raving about Fuerzabruta, an interactive show that originated from Argentina and is currently being staged at a make-shift tent within the grounds of the Manila Hotel until March 26. Hailed as a one-of-a-kind theatrical experience, locals who caught the show were quick to throw words like "amazing, "trippy" and "mindblowing" to describe it, and so like any other curious, entertainment section-reading individual who bought into the hype, I decided to go and do a look-see last Tuesday not knowing that there was such a thing as a Girls' Night version (sigh*). 

Anyway, the show started promptly at 8p.m. but since I arrived thirty minutes early, I was able to down the first of two complimentary drinks that came with the arguably expensive ticket price. As for the actual show, people were led to a dark room where they were expected to move around under the watchful eye of stagehands as the performers moved from one side of the venue to the other. 

Going by the promotional material, audiences were encouraged to clap, cheer, shout and dance to this [supposedly] 360-degree spectacle that fused heart-thumping techno music with hyper-kinetic dancing, aerial stunts and psychedelic (dare I say psychotropic?) visuals. 

The show in itself was different from your usual sit-down theatrical event, it was gimmicky and avant garde, however, I highly doubt that there's a deeper meaning or message that was supposed to be imparted. From what I've seen, Fuerza Bruta appears to have been designed to break through the confines of language and culture by encouraging everybody to participate, celebrate and even get slightly wet under seizure-inducing strobe lights in a performance art extravaganza that more or less doubled as a rave party with a time-limit.

One of the highlights of the show was the part where people craned their necks to see female performers frolic and glide across a shallow hanging pool that slowly descended and hovered about a foot over our heads. They created ripples, formed silhouettes, and teased the audience through a tough yet thin layer of plastic that in turn showcased the diaphanous fabric that barely covered their figures. Now of all the acts presented, this one came quite close to achieving that dreamy, other-worldly atmosphere...that is until you start noticing all the oggling and "interactive" pawing that came about it.   

At the risk of sounding like an old fogey, I spent the whole hour in awe of the seemingly senseless and whimsical activities before me whilst trying to avoid eye contact with the performers who, from time to time, would roam around and induce people to dance in a frenzy and/or smash styropor boxes of tissue-confetti on some random guy's head. So between sidestepping soggy [toilet or Japanese?] paper and trying to figure out how all the sequences to this production fit in with the man on the treadmill, I couldn't help but feel duped. Had I read  Charles Isherwood's theater review, I would have thought twice about rushing off to see it.

Fuerza Bruta is the kind of show that requires an open-minded audience---in particular, the highly excitable and free-wheeling type that wouldn't mind staying up on a weeknight. It has a concept that would no doubt appeal to young, hip, party-goers who chase after fads or else, not-so-young, slightly inebriated individuals who chugged enough alcohol or gogo juice to dive into this short (55 minutes to be exact), not-so magical, mystery tour. 

Was it a unique, one of a kind experience? 

For sure. It assaulted my senses with brute force but as one act gave way to another, its overall impact drastically weakened with the passing of the hour. At the end of it all,  let's just say that I was more than happy to get home, hit the sack and have my own weird dream without having to be in a room full of strangers.

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Photos by Niña Palileo, amateur photographer/videographer. 
Images taken during the actual show held last 9 March 2012 at the Manila Hotel Tent.

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Save Me, San Francisco : Train Live in Manila

We've had a lot of foreign artists over this year and though my sisters and I made a number of plans to catch some of them perform, we never really managed to watch anything because of our conflicting schedules. Most of the concerts were scheduled on a Sunday or a weekday---which meant braving traffic if you're coming from the other side of the metro and/or rearranging your work itinerary just to get to the venue in time for the concert, which in turn meant that you would really, really have to like the artist or group that's performing to go through all that trouble. I didn't think I'd get to watch Train on their second visit to Manila but luckily, one of  my friends decided to make a night out of it, so I ditched my students (scheduled a make-up class, actually) and made a beeline for the coliseum after a boring day at the office.

I half expected the place to be full, maybe not filled to the rafters like the Jason Mraz concert, but I at least hoped for a decent turnout so that concert promoters can get the band to come back and perform in the future. There was a sizable crowd at the Araneta coliseum, it wasn't empty but it wasn't full, but given that everyone's in a mad dash to keep their expenditures in check for the holiday season, I kind of understand  why the Filipino audience couldn't have given this band a better reception.

Anyway, I felt like I needed a break so what better way to reward myself than to watch one of my favorite adult-contemporary rock bands in concert?

If memory serves me right, I was a sophomore in college when Meet Virginia hit the airwaves but it wasn't until Drops of Jupiter came out in 2001 that I truly became a fan. To this day, my favorite Train album would still have to be My Private Nation, with Save Me, San Francisco coming in at a close second.

I find Train's music easy to listen to and sing along with, and while not being insanely popular as other artists before Hey, Soul Sister became a huge hit, songs like Calling All Angels and When I Look to the Sky tend to stay with you and resonate. I've been keeping my fingers crossed for a comeback ever since their single Ordinary was featured in the Spiderman 2 soundtrack, and though never in my wildest dreams did it occur to me that their ticket to mainstream success would come in the form of a sickeningly foppish jingle, I guess I should still count myself lucky that they're out and about.

The concert was supposed to start at 8 p.m. but front act, 6-cyclemind, came on stage about a half hour late and didn't finish their set until a few minutes before 9 p.m. After that, we heard a train whistle/horn and Train opened the show with Parachute, followed by If it's Love---a love song dedicated to their loyal fans. The band then proceeded to play hit songs from their previous albums such as Calling All Angels, Meet Virginia, Get to Me and She's On Fire before launching into a Journey song with one lucky girl, who's obviously no stranger to singing such a karaoke staple.

Being my first Train concert, I really had no idea what to expect, so it was a pleasant surprise for me to see Pat Monahan and the band go out of their way to interact with audience members. I had a lot of fun watching the second batch of Manila Trainettes compete for a signed guitar and pretty much turned green with envy when the frontman jumped into the crowd and mingled with those in VIP and patron seats while singing Marry Me. At this point, my friend looked really disappointed, being someone who loved to document every event with a video or picture, but there was no helping it, since we were stuck with Upper Box A seats.

I tried to console her with the fact that the band sounded great from where we were seated, for it's a fact that one of the many downsides to having front row seats is that you don't get to appreciate the full sound of the band. I'm compelled to sour-grape a little, sure, but usually when you're situated near the stage, one of the instruments end up sounding louder than the others or the lead singer's voice get drowned out by the accompanying sound.

Since this was the Manila leg of a tour to promote their fifth album, Train played a bevy of songs which included the title track, Save Me, San Francisco, the Coke jingle, Shake Up Christmas, as well as Hey Soul Sister, I Got You and as mentioned earlier, Marry Me (though not in that particular order). For their encore performance, Train treated the crowd to Words and of course, the now classic, Drops of Jupiter---and with that, the concert was over. It lasted a little over an hour, which is why my friend's sole complaint was that she wished they threw in a few more songs, made the concert last a little longer.

Overall, I must say that I had fun at this concert. So much fun that I came up with a couple of resolutions; the first being that I should endeavor to get better seats for their next concert and the second would be to get more people to see them perform.

We might not have been near enough to get a decent picture but the music alone was worth the price of admission.

P.S. Being the stingy, fickle person that I am, it goes without saying that the above resolutions are contingent upon whether or not I'll dig their 6th album. Hopefully by then, Pat would've gotten himself a haircut and/or had enough time to run a comb through his hair.

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Concert pictures taken by Kris Rocha for Dayly Entertainment.

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The Frazzled Troubadour

Here's the thing, I don't really get out much nowadays with work and my part-time job teaching, so on the rare occasion that I do manage to catch a concert, watch a play or attend a ballet, I only go out of my way to see something that I'm inexplicably drawn to, really interested in or feel strongly about. So when I heard that Manila was going to be the first stop of Jason Mraz's "A Grateful Journey Tour", I immediately marked the date on my calendar and rushed to buy reserved seats [the cheapest kind, mind you]; all prepared for a night where I'll just let myself be swept away by the music, like driftwood caught in a rolling wave. Lol x).

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