Photo by AJT Santos | INQUIRER.net
BULACAN, Philippines – Over 30,000 KatyCats, some dressed in their best Katy Perry-inspired garb, trooped to the Philippine Arena last Thursday to celebrate with Katy Perry the first anniversary of her ongoing tour, the Prismatic World Tour. Braving the Manila traffic was well worth it, though, as the popstar did not disappoint through a 2-hour display of her singing prowess complemented with visuals that took the viewers to a journey to different worlds that only an imaginative mind like Katy’s could have dreamed up. So let’s take a journey and revisit the night when Katy Perry painted Manila with the bright and brilliant colors of the prism.
The Dolls
Photo by AJT Santos | INQUIRER.net
Before we get to the Prismatic goodness, however, let us first take a moment to appreciate Katy’s opening act, The Dolls. New York based DJ-violin duo Mia and Margot gave us major heart eyes with their unique blend of the classic violin sound juxtaposed with modern DJ beats.
Bombastic kick-off
Photo by AJT Santos | INQUIRER.net
After this enchanting spectacle, it was finally time to see Katy Perry, who started her set strongly with “Roar” and was greeted with the cheers of loyal fans as she emerged from the smoke, distinguishable in the dark by the lights woven into her ponytail. Ending that first song with an actual lion’s roar over the sound system, Katy immediately started on her other hits, “Part of Me” and “Wide Awake.”
Bright like a prism
“People have been sick and homesick. It’s not easy, but we’ve never canceled a show. We know how important it is to show up because we said we would! You have to take me out on a stretcher before I quit!”
At one point in the concert, Katy allowed herself a bit of nostalgia before she continued with her set as she revealed that it was Prismatic World Tour’s one-year anniversary and remarked on the struggles they faced while on the road. She took the time to acknowledge individual members of the audience before proceeding to dedicate one of her songs to the Filipino crowd: “I love you…unconditionally!”
Not only did Katy provide eargasms with her chart-topping hits, she also gave our eyes something to enjoy through the many outfits that only she could pull off, as expected. By swiftly transitioning from a pink kitten, to an Egyptian goddess and then to a rainbow-headed sunflower baby all the while killing it with songs like “Teenage Dream,” “Hot N Cold,” and ”This is How We Do,” the popstar once again captured the hearts of the crowd with the same light and charm that endeared her to the world in the first place.
“Salami”
“How do you say ‘hello’ in Tagalog?”
“Just ‘hello’!”
“I didn’t come all the way to Manila for just ‘hello’!”
After walking up to the microphone in her sparkly sunflower dress, Katy started calling on a volunteer to teach her how to say a few phrases in Tagalog. It wasn’t long before she settled on Rizaleño Martee Viray, who travelled more than an hour to see his idol perform live on stage and was wearing a replica of Katy’s fishbone dress to celebrate this momentous day in the fandom. Giddy and starstruck, Martee taught the popstar how to say “Salamat!” (Thank you!).
“I’ll just think of salami, and then it will turn to ‘Salamat!’” the singer remarked before taking a few selfies with Martee.
Encore
Instagram photo from @reneexcu
Just after shouting “Thank you, Manila!“ at the end of “California Girls,” Katy re-emerges from beneath the stage in a graphic ball gown with fireworks all over it to give the crowd one last treat with — yep, you guessed it — her motivational anthem, “Firework.”
To quote Katy, comparisons are easily done once you’ve had the taste of perfection. We’re guessing second best is all we will know after she made our teenage dreams come true last Thursday night.