ROCKIN’ ARANETA. Foster the People lead vocalist Mark Foster made the Smart Araneta Coliseum jump up and dance Saturday night in their first ever concert in the Philippines. Photo by INQUIRER.net’s Matikas Santos
MANILA, Philippines—If the Smart-Araneta Coliseum could jump up and dance, only Foster the People could make it.
The entire Coliseum was shaken down to its very foundations when they sang their internationally-acclaimed hit “Pumped Up Kicks” for the finale of their performance Saturday night.
The international indie-pop band opened their performance Saturday night at the Big Dome with their earth-shattering beats that sent people standing on their seats to get a better view of the group and join the mammoth videoke party.
They had barely started with their second song when people were already jumping up and down to their music.
Lead vocalist Mark Foster immediately took notice of the crowds’ enthusiasm after they began singing.
“Yeah man, you guys are a good crowd! It’s not going to take us long to come back for the next record,” Foster told the audience.
Earlier, after their opening number, he said his grandfather and father had both visited the Philippines in separate times. His father was an American soldier stationed in Baguio City while his father was a member of the Peace Corps.
Sans the leather pants, Mark Foster worked out the crowd like the new “lizard king”. The resemblance to Jim Morrison is evident. Photo by Matikas Santos/INQUIRER.net
“It’s so good to finally be here, been wanting to come here for a long time,” Foster said.
“You know it’s so crazy to be here right now, my grandfather lived here in the 40s, and my dad lived here in the 70s, and now I’m here in 2012,” he added.
During a break from one of their numbers, he told about his father having watched a band play in the Araneta Coliseum.
“He told me he watched a band play here back in 1973,” Foster told the crowd. “I’m older than my dad when he was here.”
Foster also said he found out that this was the same place where Muhammad Ali had fought Joe Frazier for the famous “Thrilla in Manila.”
“You guys got history. You guys got passion,” Foster said.
“You guys have [Manny] Pacquiao, the best boxer since Ali,” he added.
He also made the audience sing because he heard from one of the guitar players of Maroon 5 that Filipino audience sang with perfect pitch.
He was not disappointed when their finale song was sung by the entire audience.
Foster the People came to the Philippines touring their debut album “Torches.”