Playing for his people
ENGAGING showman played with a dynamic band. photo by SANDY PRIETO-ROMUALDEZ
Should anyone decide to nitpick about Bruno Mars’ Manila concert last Saturday, the only thing he could harp on is that it was over in under 90 minutes. But though the show was short in length, it certainly wasn’t in entertainment value.
Mars, Peter Gene Hernandez in real life, didn’t waste a single minute onstage; crowd interaction was kept minimal, except when he set out to rouse the packed crowd to sing along with him. Not that he needed to. Unrelentingly, Mars bounced from one song to the next, covering a gamut of genres—old-school R&B, soul, pop, disco, reggae, funk and rock.
Highlights
The 28-year-old US singer-songwriter set the tone with “Moonshine,” a midtempo disco-pop anthem that evokes Michael Jackson’s dance music. Sustaining the energy, Mars then ranted about that gold digger “Natalie, who ran away with all my money.”
But before powering through the rest of his repertoire—composed of tunes culled from his two studio albums, “Doo-Wops & Hooligans” and the Grammy Award-winning “Unorthodox Jukebox”—Mars asked everyone to put down their camera phones, and move their bodies instead to the funky, retro-inflected beats of “Treasure.”
One of the many highlights of the concert—part of Mars’ ongoing “The Moonshine Jungle” world tour—was a drawn-out mash-up that had the performer crooning to “Show Me,” “Our First Time,” and sampling, among others, Ghost Town DJ’s “My Boo,” Ginuwine’s “Pony” and R. Kelly’s “Ignition.”
Interspersed with seductive interludes, that number showed off Mars’ vocal dexterity, as he shifted from a potent trill to a velvety falsetto and back. Feet constantly in motion, Mars, who’s quite the engaging showman, pulled off a series of slick moves that involved snapping, swaying, twirling, grinding and hip-thrusting.
From the get-go, it was apparent that Mars’ music sounded even better live than recorded—bigger, bombastic and bursting with spirit. A lot of that had to do with Mars’ dynamic live
PHOTO BY DANYELLE PAPIO/CONTRIBUTOR
band, The Hooligans, highly-skilled instrumentalists who not so much played music, but exuded it.
A sense of bliss emanated from the band members as they danced, sang, goofed around and tinkered with their instruments. Every so often, they fell into unexpected formations and performed fun, tightly choreographed routines; or they huddled with Mars on center stage and jammed together, much like a ragamuffin street band.
Mars, born to a Filipino mother and Puerto Rican father, slowed things down with “If I Knew” and “When I Was Your Man”—the latter drawing the loudest screams and most ardent sing-along. “This was the hardest song for me to write and sing,” Mars said. He performed the poignant soul-pop ballad with just the piano backing him up, baring his more vulnerable side. He didn’t go for the big, glory note and instead settled for a tender riff, a move that was just as affecting.
Madness, whimsy
“Grenade” was preceded by a piano solo that vacillated between madness and whimsy, while “The Lazy Song” and “Just the Way You Are” had the audience singing their hearts out—again. Mars proved that he was a complete performer, playing the guitar in some of the songs, and then the drums in an exciting solo.
Thick, golden confetti rained down the jumping fans as Mars tackled “Locked Out of Heaven.” Finally, for his last song, “Gorilla,” the stage sprang to life with green laser beams darting across the arena every which way, and steady bursts of fireworks. Mars hopped atop a hydraulic riser and belted, in spurts, “Yeah! Baby! Baby!” And then he was gone.
A few songs back, he addressed the rapt crowd: “Thank you guys so much, you have no idea how much this means to me—performing right here, being a Filipino, and seeing my people. I promised you all before, and I promise you all again—we’ll be back very, very soon.”
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