ONEREPUBLIC
“It’s cool, but not raining … perfect!” Ryan Tedder, the lead vocalist of the pop-rock group OneRepublic, said as he emerged onstage at SM Mall of Asia concert grounds, where some 26,000 eager fans gathered for the recent MTV Music Evolution Manila 2016.
But it wasn’t always that way.
Rain fell in intermittent spates, in wavering intensity throughout the night—but not hard enough to make anyone budge. Audience members may have ended up getting soaked, but they’re stoked, nonetheless.
After an unusually lengthy setup time, OneRepublic—the one-night show’s headliner—finally kicked off its set at around midnight. But with the way the revelers greeted the band, with ear-splitting cheers and shrieks, you wouldn’t think that they had already been singing and dancing their hearts out for close to five hours.
OneRepublic, which previously held a concert in Manila three years ago, opened with “Love Runs Out,” from its 2013 studio album, “Native.” From the get-go, it was immediately apparent that Tedder was going to deliver:
As a showman, Tedder was indefatigably passionate. He ran, slid and leapt across the stage. As an instrumentalist, he showed versatility, easily shuffling between the guitar and keyboards.
As a vocalist, Tedder was malleable and deceptively forceful. He consistently went above and beyond what he did in recordings, tinkering with his songs’ melodies every so often to make them fresh—but, at the same time, true to their essence. His belting was muscular; his head voice, piercing; and his falsetto, fluid and agile.
In “Apologize,” the band’s piano-driven first single, Tedder wove all such qualities into one stirring number.
The music was either soothing or uplifting, but always with catchy, surging choruses that compelled everyone to sing, as in the anthemic pop-dance ditty, “Counting Stars,” and the inspirational “I Lived.” “With every broken bone/I swear I lived,” the crowd roared back, as Tedder and his bandmates—Zach Filkins, Drew Brown, Eddie Fisher and Brent Kutzl—brought the house down.
The theme of MTV Music Evo’s second edition was pop music and its various iterations. While OneRepublic had pop-rock covered, Far East Movement, the Asian-American band from Los Angeles, dispensed walloping beats and zinging synths of urban-vibed electro-pop music.
The group, which is behind such club bangers as “Like a G6” and “Bang It to the Curb,” was missing one member, Korean J-Splif. But the rest of the quartet, Filipino DJ Virman, Japanese Kev Nish and Korean Prohgress, managed just fine, effortlessly turning the venue into one huge dance party with funky remixes and frenetic bass drops that sent ripples across the ground.
The popular girl group Apink, on the other hand, reaffirmed K-Pop’s immense popularity in the country. Dressed in twee sailor costumes, Park Cho-rong, Yoon Bo-mi, Jeong Eun-ji, Son Na-eun, Kim Nam-joo and Oh Ha-young had their hordes of fans squealing their heads off in glee.
As the elaborate stage burst into an array of dizzying colors and lights, the ladies began their brief set that included the perky bops “NoNoNo” and “Luv.”
Bebe Rexha, the American singer-songwriter-producer of Albanian descent, is perhaps best known for her song, “No Broken Hearts,” that features rapper Nicki Minaj, and “The Monster,” the Billboard No. 1 hit that she cowrote for Eminem and Rihanna. On that night, however, she proved to be an incredibly spunky and charismatic singer who managed to hold people’s attention, even with her lesser-known songs.
Hosted by MTV Pinoy’s Yassi Pressman and Andre Paras, as well as MTV Asia’s Hanli Hoefer and Alan Wong, the concert was recorded live for broadcast “in over three-quarters of a billion households around the world,” thus making it a good platform for Filipino artists’ music to be heard.
JAMES Reid and Nadine Lustre
NADINE Lustre performed bubblegum pop and R&B numbers.
James Reid and Nadine Lustre of the popular JaDine love team served a heady dose of R&B and bubblegum pop. While Nadine’s numbers, which included “Me and You” and “Paligoy-ligoy,” were mostly perfunctory, James’ were more compelling, particularly those that let him show off his dance moves and personality, like “Huwag Ka Nang Humirit.”
Together, their impact is undeniable, as evidenced by the incessant shrieking that filled the air, as they tackled a medley of duets.
FATHER and son. Gary (left) and Gab Valenciano
Meanwhile, Gary Valenciano, the lone veteran in the roster, had the unenviable task of opening the event before a crowd that was restless from the downpour that continued throughout his set. But Gary tackled the challenge with much aplomb, and instantly set the tone for the rest of the night.
Combining traditional and modern musical elements, Gary opened the proceedings by playing the kulintang, which was then augmented by a blast of electronic dance music. The 51-year-old music icon made it a point to perform only original material—but not without giving them some sprucing up. “Hataw Na,” for instance, had a noticeable hip-hop flavor and a more robust arrangement.
Later on, Gary shared the stage with his son Gab, who engaged his father in a dynamic dance-off. The stage was already slippery by then, but Gary and Gab threw all caution to the wind and set the stage ablaze.
MTV Music Evolution Manila 2016 premiers on MTV Pinoy on July 19 at 8 p.m.
E-mail apolicarpio@inquirer.com.ph