Boundless energy and frenzied screams speak for Taylor Swift’s Manila concert

Originally published in the Manila Bulletin, February 22, 2011

Taylor Swift enchanted her Filipino fans during her one-night ‘Speak Now’ tour concert at Araneta Coliseum. (Photos by yours truly)

MANILA, Philippines – To say that the Araneta Coliseum was jam-packed last Feb. 19 would be an understatement of how Taylor Swift gathered thousands of people for her first show in the Philippines, the second to the last leg of her Asian “Speak Now” tour.

From the attendance to the inexhaustible energy of the crowd, Swift’s concert saw one of the best Manila crowds in recent times. She may well be one of the very few artists who can gather kids (mostly tween girls) and their parents, ladies and their boyfriends (who are probably closet – or not – fanatics), circles of friends, foreigners, and local celebrities all in one venue.

Her sold-out concert in Manila proves her global appeal; that even half the world away, people relate to her autobiographical yet universal lyrics and sing along to her ear-friendly tunes. Her honest music is a breath of fresh air in the airwaves polluted with relatively superficial songs. No wonder that her records rose above the dwindling conditions of an industry battling illegal downloading, selling millions of albums worldwide.

So it’s not surprising, but remarkable nonetheless, that lines longer than anacondas began forming at the gates of Araneta as well as in front of the ticket booths (for those hopeful to score one of the “very limited” Standing Room Only a.k.a. SRO tickets which were sold on concert day), as early as lunch time.

We also saw fans who hand-painted “13,” Swift’s lucky number, on their hands or faces, and those who brought large fan-made posters for their idol, one of which says “I was enchanted to meet you, Taylor,” an allusion to one of her songs. Clearly, these kids look up to Swift. And why not? The 21-year-old pop-country darling has a clean lifestyle (she has never been caught partying or drinking), though her love life is trapped in a web of intrigue.

By 5 p.m., gates were opened at last, and the earliest entrants literally ran upstairs with fulfilled looks in their faces as if they were about to find a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. Excitement filled the venue until lights went out at 8 p.m. and front act Sam Concepcion, hand-picked by Swift herself, electrified the crowd with his four-song set.

The young Grammy winner ceased her fans’ restless anticipation when she finally came out the stage around 9 p.m., dressed in a sparkling gold dress and with “13” painted in her right hand. Fans screamed like there’s no tomorrow as Swift kicked off her set with “Sparks Fly,” a track from her latest album “Speak Now.”

Armed with colorful glow sticks, cameras and ready-for-cheering voices, the fans seemed to have had a duet with Swift as they sang every word and every note of the 13 songs (which consisted of songs from her second album “Fearless” as well as from her latest one) she performed as if they are their own. They did so well that Swift’s singing could barely be heard above the din at some instances.

Nevertheless, Swift was in her element that night, her voice in good condition, hitting the notes in their right places. She twirled, danced and head-banged on the stage (which, by the way, had a T-shaped extended stage and another elevated stage – said to be Swift’s choices as well) as if she’s right where she’s meant to be.

Swift kept the pace, alternating between slow and fast songs and playing piano and guitar (which she changed almost as much as she changed pretty costumes) on some numbers. She also injected mash-ups in her set, such as in “Back To December,” which she combined with OneRepublic’s “Apologize” and her song, “You’re Not Sorry,” and a toned-down, ukelele version of “Fearless,” adorably mashed-up with Train’s “Hey Soul Sister” and Jason Mraz’s “I’m Yours.”

“Magandang gabi (Good evening) Manila. Welcome to ‘Speak Now’ tour. I’m Taylor,” were Swift’s first words after singing “Mine.”

She interacted with her fans not only through her spiels, in which she shared her own reflections on life and love, but literally reached out to them, tapping hands of those in the moshpit. In “You Belong With Me,” she went down the stage to shake the fans’ hands and even picked up a bouquet of flowers from one of them.

She further endeared herself to the Filipino audience by saying some more local phrases such as “Salamat” (thank you), “Kumusta kayo?” (How are you?), and “Mahal ko kayo” (I love you all), and asking them if they loved Sam Concepcion. The coliseum was filled with roars of approval.

Manila witnessed first-hand what many might’ve just seen on TV or on YouTube – that Swift is not just a prolific songwriter or an earnest singer – she is a dedicated, intense performer. She wasn’t hailed as the 2009 Country Music Associations’ Entertainer of the Year for nothing.

For sure, Swift’s concert will “Long Live” in the Filipinos’ hearts and minds.

Taylor Swift Red Tour Manila Recap!

Better to have been seated at the topmost section of the MOA Arena, right side of the stage, than to have not sung and grooved and screamed my heart out with and for one of my biggest inspirations at all.

The lines outside MOA Arena were already long when I got there at around 3 p.m. or 4 p.m. of Friday, June 6. You’d easily recognise the dedicated Swifties who dressed up like Taylor. So many people wore fedora hats, cat ear head bands, had face paint and lyrics written on their arms. Many wore Keds and super short shorts. I spotted a few sparkly beings – literally with lights in their outfits! There was even a Swiftie who dressed in a Cornetto black forest drumstick costume!

Several Swifties put the fun in waiting by randomly singing Taylor’s songs out loud. We were like the pre-opening act act. Haha.

It was amusing yet awesome to see parents accompanying their pre-teen or teen children. They excitedly watched and even took pictures of their kids as they made their way inside the Arena around 6 p.m. Looked like a graduation ceremony! Hehe. The scene just validated Taylor’s positive influence to youngsters being acknowledged by parents.

My seat mates arrived several minutes before Meg Fernandez’s opening set. Daryl (I hope I spelled her name right) and Monique are recent graduates of Computer Engineering at the Ateneo de Manila University. Monique confessed that they had to buy the tickets at double the original price from a seller. Imagine that! But then for them it was better than not being able to attend.

Meg, the opening act, was awesome. She has this insane lung power, she could probably sing big songs for hours. As the winner of the Cornetto Ride to Fame contest, last night was her first major gig. One of the three songs she performed was an original that reminded me of Up Dharma Down.

Her set was quick, finishing in more or less 15 minutes. I guessed Taylor would come on around 8:15 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. tops, but the Arena hasn’t been filled yet! Apparently there were still many people waiting outside the venue. I don’t know what took them long until I saw some of their tweets criticizing the efficiency of the MOA Arena security. Perhaps this is something that the MOA management should reevaluate for future shows.

Honestly, I didn’t want Taylor to see empty seats in the house. That doesn’t spell “sold out” anywhere. To think that there were so many fans who were desperate for tickets. But then I understood that she had to come in at 9:00 p.m. completely filled venue or not. Eventually everyone got inside and I felt relieved.

When Taylor started “State of Grace,” the first thing I noticed was that her voice was husky (minamalat siya). But it was more confident than when I first heard her live in the “Speak Now” Tour (2011). She might have been tired from all the touring and finishing album no. 5 and doing promos for “The Giver” but she is such a graceful pro. It was really a more confident Taylor on stage but the same cute, cool, real, passionate Taylor remains. She still had those spiels that serve as source of wisdom and inspiration about believing in love despite heartaches and being true to yourself even when you feel like you don’t fit in. She still made those pauses in between songs surveying the crowd, smiling and taking all the energy and love in. She still shook hands or high-fived fans near the stage or aisle. Parang tropa mo lang.

It was awesome that she wore a “Manila” shirt during one of her outfit changes and said a few Filipino expressions (“Mahal kita” for “I love you,” “kumusta?” for “how are you?,” “maraming salamat po” for “thank you very much”). You’d know this is an artist who makes an effort to really connect with her fans and give each city she goes to a unique experience.

My favorite performance was “I Knew You Were Trouble” – I just loved hearing live the rock mix they incorporated in the song. It was so electric. And something cute/awesome happened during “All Too Well.” It was supposed to be emotional all throughout but we cheered so hard, chanted her name that she couldn’t help but smile and goof a little bit. Then she wiggled her fingers to signal that she’ll return to the piano. Really loved that moment. And oh, while Taylor was off stage waiting for her cue in “The Lucky One,” we screamed her name and she saw us and waved at us! Reminded me of a similar moment during the “Speak Now” concert. 🙂

One and a half hours is relatively short for a concert, but I expected it (Wanted to hear “Treacherous” live though!) because it had the same length as her “Speak Now” show here. I just wish it didn’t get delayed so that Club Red would’ve pushed through. For a very busy artist like Taylor, I’m sure time is seriously of the essence.

Even if I watched the concert alone, I felt like I was part of this really special community of people who love Taylor. Those folks in my section were really energetic! I never felt intimidated shouting “Love you Teh!” and “Ganda mo Teh!” to Taylor because I know they would understand. Haha.

Daryl, Monique, and I (hiding behind a cartoon lol) 😀

Setlist:

1. State of Grace
2. Holy Ground
3. Red
4. The Lucky One
5. Mean
6. 22
7. You Belong With Me
8. Fearless
9. Sparks Fly
10. I Knew You Were Trouble
11. All Too Well
12. Love Story
13. We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together

Throwback! My article in Manila Bulletin three years ago for Taylor’s “Speak Now” concert: https://wenggarooism.wordpress.com/2014/06/08/boundless-energy-and-frenzied-screams-speak-for-taylor-swifts-manila-concert/

The APY2B Experience (Part 3): Learning from each other

One of the highlights of the APY2B Forum was the group activity. We were divided into groups to discuss the following:

1. Our top 3 values

2. One value we all liked and how we would propose it being integrated in the workplace and instilled in the younger workforce

Mariana, Nina, Jastyn, and I had two other group mates for the activity: Val from UST (too!) and Nicole from UP Los Baños. We shared each of our top three values and pulled out a consensus from there. Commitment, integrity, and leadership won.

You persevere no matter what because you are committed. As we say in Filipino, “kung gusto maraming paraan, kung ayaw maraming dahilan.” You have integrity when you stand up for what you believe in and you do the right thing even when no one is watching. Having a leader gives a team a sense of purpose, serving as the epitome of commitment and integrity.

Meanwhile, here’s our proposal on instilling commitment especially for the youth in the workplace:

#TeamPH: Mariana drew our cartoon versions for this presentation. Look! So cute! 🙂

After the discussions came the sharing. Other groups chose love, creativity, and responsibility, to name a few – and they all had valuable points to support their contentions. So many groups wanted to share their thoughts. Their presentations even had drawings! The spokespersons were animated, too; extremely passionate about what they were talking about. It was such an incredible sight. Teachers would be so touched and excited to experience that in their class. 

Overall, this activity was about delegates coming together wherever we may have come from, sharing our ideals and learning from each other. In the end our presentations were collected, and hopefully AIESEC would come up with a nice general proposal! Would be nice to bring about positive change in our own little way. 🙂

The APY2B Experience (Part 2): Lessons on Leadership

Speakers at the Asia Pacific Youth to Business Forum 2014 have a wealth of experience and expertise in their respective fields that you wouldn’t help but believe their every word. Here are some of them, plus my favorite quotes!

1. PENH HUYNH, chief financial officer of Bacardi Southeast Asia

2. AMOR MACLANG, co-founder of Geiser Maclang, a social marketing communications firm, and a Mindanao advocate. A very empowering woman.

3. JONATHAN YABUT, winner of “The Apprentice Asia” Season 1, now the chief of staff of Air Asia. He’s one of the most compelling speakers I’ve seen.

It’s inspiring to listen to Jonathan, how he turned his insecurities and heartache into strength and motivation that he’s gonna go big. He focused his energies in going for what he wanted – winning “The Apprentice Asia” – and he did it! His was a combination of competence and determination, plus his secret weapon: Extra Joss!

BONUS: Jonathan also said, “Leaders are cheerleaders. They clear the path for you.”

4. ROBY ALAMPAY, editor-in-chief of Interaksyon.com

This statement astounded me because it made me realize that yeah, I’ve not been checking out home pages because I’ve been clicking links I see on Twitter and Facebook instead. This generation can have any information they want/need with every scroll of a page or key word on Google search. Before us is this seemingly limitless universe that is the internet, ready to give us our own space, anytime, anywhere. The challenge now is to not let social media take over our lives and ideals and make it the other way around instead.

*KOL PREAP, executive director of Transparency International Cambodia, also discussed “engaging the private sector in the fight against corruption.” And one of the things he shared was that in order to promote clean business, we must have integrity and accountability. We should also be ethical and adhere to corporate social responsibility.

I must say I went home really “full” that day, figuratively speaking. 😉

Lending their expertise at the APY2B (clockwise from left): Amor Maclang, Jonathan Yabut, Kol Preap, and Roby Alampay (Photos by yours truly)

The APY2B Experience (Part 1)

Are leaders born or made? I remember this question was asked in the application for delegates for the Asia Pacific Youth to Business Forum 2014 (APY2B). I went for the latter because a leader is forged through time, experience, and passion, and vision.

I was in a room full of leaders last Monday at the APY2B as one of the 500 delegates. Probably I was the oldest in the bunch (but not obvious, I hope :p. And besides, you’re never too old to learn!) because majority of the delegates are still in school.

Half of the delegates were of varied nationalities, so it was refreshing to hear their insights. They actually flew in our country as part of a weeklong Asia Pacific Conference 2014, hosted by AIESEC. For a whole day, we listened as accomplished personalities talk about this year’s theme, “values-based leadership.” Interactive activities also allowed us to get to know each other and what we value most.

The post-talk Q&As made me see a generation of younger people concerned about the impact of social media, how leadership can be measured, and how differing values can meet halfway, to name a few. It’s amazing how hungry they were to learn more, bold in asking questions.

We were divided to nearly 40 groups (supposedly a mix of local and international delegates). I was on Group 31 along with Mariana from Ateneo, Nina from UP Diliman, and Jastyn from UST (schoolmate!). We got to meet our international group mates (I love how grand “international” sounds, haha) during lunch but too bad we weren’t able to see them again after that. They probably joined their fellow international delegates.

Two of our group mates were from Japan and India. We were talking about how they found their stay in the Philippines so far when the topic went to traffic. The guy from India said it’s crazier in their country, while the guy from Japan said it’s very convenient to commute there. One day I’ll experience that for myself! \m/ We also had a group mate from Malaysia who’s taking up Chemical Engineering if I’m not mistaken.

One day was not enough to meet and get to know everyone, but I’m glad to have been acquainted with my group mates. Our fruitful conversations gave us glimpses of each other – sharing laughters, thoughts, and stories. This is my best souvenir at the APY2B. 🙂