Bruno Mars fans got their heart’s wish not just once when the 32-year-old pop superstar jetted from Bangkok to Manila for a two-night concert at the Mall of Asia Arena on May 3 and 4.
The Smart Music Live presented show was the 108th pit stop of the concert dubbed 24K Magic World Tour, which kicked off in Antwerp, Belgium in March last year and is scheduled to culminate in Los Angeles later this year. The tour is in support of his 24K Magic album that has sold more 1.6 million units in the US alone.
Opening his Philippine tour in Manila with “Finesse,” the first of a string of tracks from his latest album, the Grammy award-winning artist immediately set the mood and teased the hips of the thousand Filipino fans that trooped to the venue. He even asked the crowd to put down their mobile phones so they could dance and enjoy the concert.
While the energy onstage was high with Mars gliding with “Treasure” and gyrating with “That’s What I Like” he politely asked the crowd to concentrate on the music and enjoy the show.
“I’m gonna be honest with you, guys. We’ve never been to a place and see this many people not dancing. Manila, can we change that right now? Maybe just this night one, everybody put their phones down and dance.”
“I’ve never seen so many camera phones raised up in my whole life. This makes me a little scary, you know. Because that means you can’t dance if you’re trying to get a shot,” he added.
Then, he continued dishing out hits in succession, from the foot-tapping “24 K Magic” and “Chunky to his Unorthodox Jukebox’s third promotional single and emotional ballad, “When I was Your Man.” He kept a healthy showcase of the current album across the 90-minute show with show stopper “Uptown Funk” saved up for the encore.
To call the show spectacular is an understatement. Mars was a total performer with a very reliable vocals and unlimited energy. The concert, on the other hand, can be likened to a big party lit up by pyro and flame machines and boosted by turbo blowers firing gold confetti over the audience especially when he sang “Locked Out of Heaven”—nothing but musical highlight.
Clad in his trademark cap and pinstriped baseball shirt, the half-Puerto Rican half-Filipino music icon showcased his snazzy dance moves, amazing vocals, his undeniable charm and connection with the audience.
“Manila, I can’t thank you enough. I am dedicating this song to each and every one,” Mars said while blowing kisses to the massive crowd when he performed “Just the Way You Are.”
But prior to that, he made fans go crazy when he uttered “Miss na kita mahal,” an adlib to his “Calling All My Lovelies” performance.
Then put a gold cordless phone close to his ear pretending to make a phone call to his imaginary partner and mumbled, , “Hey, baby, I’m in Manila right now. I just called to tell you…Miss na kita, mahal.”
The entire concert was anchored on Mars’ talent and showmanship with his feet moving around the stage most of the time, not to mention his backing band that danced in formation with him while precisely hitting their instruments.
Generally, he’s old school yet innovative. Probably, that’s what makes Bruno Mars an A-list artist who is destined to stay.
