Concert Review: Alicia Keys Sets Manila on Fire

My most favorite concert of 2013 as of yesterday was Swedish House Mafia, which incidentally, was the first concert I saw this year - and concert after concert came and none of them came close to the magnificence of that show. Their show was just a dazzling display of lights, laser and incredible dance music.

Well, until Alicia Keys show last night. She didn't need to have too much gimmick like lights or lasers or synchronized dance choreography or an elaborate stage design. Just like her previous shows here, all she needed was her grand piano and this time, a motley of hunky male dancers and a pair of well-placed back-up singers who really helped her achieve the sound and the arrangement she wanted.


Funny thing is, this was already her third show in Manila, yet the MOA Arena was still filled up in decent numbers! Just goes to show that she really has a solid fan core base here in Manila. Since she was on a tour, her voice was topnotch last night! She was also more confident now in doing the little dance steps. No more awkwardness this time.

Well, I love her setlist last night! Since she has several albums already, she just picked the most familiar ones from all of them, and included a few new songs from her latest album, Girl On Fire. I was surprised that Brand New Me was well applauded and of course, Girl on Fire definitely got the crowd going! I was taking a video for the most part in the first half since I loved the sequence of the songs that she chose. I am actually more a fan of her more 'obscure' songs than the more famous ones since I like their very laid-back vocal and piano arrangements. My most favorite song was Try Sleeping with a Broken Heart, which surprisingly, she did as a whole song! I was checking out Youtube and in most of her previous shows, she just segued it with Unthinkable. Last night, she did it as a whole song, including that pretty piano bit in the end! It really made my night! Yun pala, more surprises were still in store for all of us!

Anyway, what set her concert apart from all the others this year was the surprises she had for everyone and her heartfelt concern for the victims of the super typhoon Yoladna. She actually gave a very nice talk towards the end of her show, before she sang If I Ain't Got You, where she surprised everyone when local nightingale Regine Velasquez came out! It was a beautiful duet with Regine doing the main vocals while Alicia did the second voice! It was such a delight to watch to think I'm not even a Regine fan! Then, Alicia proceeds with her spiel on love and caring for each other and then, Apl d.Ap comes on stage to do Where's the Love! Again, surprised everyone, including me!