Katy Perry brings hit ‘California Tour’ to Manila

photo by Pocholo Concepcion

MANILA, Philippines — The cheapest general admission ticket to American pop superstar Katy Perry’s concert Sunday night at the SM Mall of Asia open grounds was pegged at P888. For a family of three that would be P2,664 – a bit steep if you’re on a tight budget, but then we wanted to catch the first major foreign gig of the year in Manila.

The concert was the last date of Perry’s hectic California Dreams world tour that opened in February 2011, and which only took a break last month. It came at a time when Perry is savoring the sweet taste of success as a performer – the tour reportedly having grossed nearly $50 million.

It might also be the last few shows to be held at the uncomfortable MoA parking lot, before SM inaugurates its 20,000-seat indoor Arena sometime in May.

The breezy weather helped us cope with the hassle of having sore feet since there were no chairs – which would not have been a problem if the venue was a grassy football field. Except that this was, indeed, a parking lot and the thought of sitting on stone-cold concrete did not ease our discomfort.

A number of families sat on improvised mats from carton boxes, while some lucky ones grabbed the handful of plastic chairs that were left unused by food concessionaires, the medical emergency teams and concert production crew.

Otherwise everyone did not seem to find relief – or had no choice but to accept the fact – that watching a concert from the farthest section of the venue would be difficult. Looking at

photo by Pocholo Concepcion

the stage, we imagined Perry would be the size of Thumbelina.

Scaffolding piled several meters high that housed the audio mixing board and four trees served as the ultimate visual obstruction. There were two video screens to compensate for this, but they were not as clear as the ones near the stage. Darn, we thought, this would not look like fun at all.

At past 9 p.m. good news came – a friend called to say she had extra tickets to get us in nearer the stage.

All seats were occupied. But ex-Eraserheads drummer Raimund Marasigan saw us and said, “My daughter and her friends are out there standing near the rails, so you can have their seats.” We felt like the most fortunate folks that night.

It was past 10 p.m. when Perry finally appeared onstage, singing “Teenage Dream” – sending all the kids scampering to get a good view of her. Everybody stood on their chairs, giving us no choice but to watch the action on the video screen.

Perry’s act exploded with creativity and imagination. There was videotaped storyline that introduced her character who, stuck with a dead-end job, escapes from her miserable existence to an Alice in Wonderland-type of world full of candies and delights.

The pop-rock music wasn’t pumped to ear-deafening volume, but it was the crowd’s shrieking that shook the grounds.

Perry’s songs are very catchy for their controversial content, like “Ur So Gay,” which could be mistaken as homophobic, but is said to be a flippant dig at wimpy ex-boyfriends.

“Waking Up in Vegas” came on with a colorful team of dancers, including an Elvis Presley impersonator.

The concert’s “story” progressed when Perry met two mimes who offered her a brownie cake that got her “stoned” – setting the stage for songs that matched the concept. “Peacock” showed her in a colorful bird costume.

photo by Pocholo Concepcion

“Whatever is in that brownie, it sure is making me feel sexy,” Perry purred. She went on to invite any guy onstage who could take his clothes off. Ivan Dorschner, an ABS-CBN talent, volunteered.

Perry asked him, “Have you ever kissed a pop star?” – before she herself locked her lips on his for what seemed like an eternity.

This was the cue for another controversial song, “I Kissed a Girl,” which started off with a jazzy intro.

The “effects” of the brownie transformed Perry into a catwoman, and at that point it became apparent that the 27-year-old singer-songwriter was sending a message to the hip and straight alike: that nothing beats freeing the mind to enjoy her music.

We leave it to the parents in the audience to explain to their kids who might ask if brownies could really make one feel sexy and giddy.