Concert Review: The Bouncy, Vibrant and Youthful Set of Disclosure in Manila 2014

It was lagare night for me last night because as soon as the opening credits of La Grande Bellezza came out at 11PM, I rushed to the parking lot and drove hurriedly yet carefully from Shangrilla Mall to the World Trade Center, weaving my car attentively around the slippery rain-strewn streets of Manila.

As I arrived almost midnight at the venue, I knew Disclosure was not yet at the helm since there were many young people milling outside. Buti na lang I made the right decision to watch a movie before coming here. Sabi ko na nga ba 12 midnight pa sila lalabas!

Well, Disclosure is actually two brothers who DJ together and they gained fame due to several of their hits which include 'Latch' a sentimental favorite of mine, since it's one of the songs I danced to in a public performance!  Kaya to hear it finally played in a live DJ set was just an electrifying experience!

The brothers are very young (19 and 22 daw e) and it really showed in their set.  They started off with their hits, "When A Fire Starts to Burn" and "F For You" and so much as I wanted to go wild, I couldn't kasi medyo masikip ang surroundings.  

Anyway, as the show wore on, medyo lumuwag na as the brothers played songs which were unfamiliar to many.  However, I love the 80s vibe that they played at a certain point.  

I loved that they did Frontin' (that Pharrell classic) as well and midway, they did Confess to Me and Help Me Lose My Mind.  Yun lang ang kilala ko.

They closed the show with White Noise (which recharged the crowd) and their final song was 'Latch' which drove the audience wild!  Biglang nagising ang mga tao! (2AM na rin kasi and Friday was a school or work day for many).  

Critically, I found their set youthful, vibrant and bouncy but not yet as enjoyable as the veterans like SHM and Tiesto (whose unfamiliar songs are as compelling as the famous ones!).  Anyway, they will mature soon and it would be interesting to see how they evolve as artists!

KZ Tandingan Sang Great in Jazzified Concert!

The best joke in the Jazzified concert of Markki Stroem and KZ Tandingan last night was when she said that she was not nearly as sexy as the person in the OTHER concert last night, so she just said, babawi na lang siya sa pagkanta - and the crowd clapped the loudest as she said this!

Actually, KZ can do everything - pop, rock, jazz, Aegis-like belting, bebop - she's one of the local female singers still under the radar, for now. She just needs a really good pop song para she registers with the masa.

Her performance of Somewhere was amazing! I thought tinuldukan na ni Barbra Streisand ang "How to sing Somewhere" guidebook, but lo and behold, someone pala can do an original version of that classic! God bless talented people talaga!

Concert Review: Markki Stroem and KZ Tandingan in Jazzified

This is the third OPM concert I saw this year (Lea Salonga, Sam Concepcion were the first two) and this is the first time ever that I saw more OPM acts than foreign ones. 

Well, that lead will not last for long as Vertical Horizon, The Lumineers and Ellie Goulding are all coming up, and wala pa akong nakikitang local act na I like who is mounting a show - unless I go to Saguijo.

Anyway, Markki and KZ stuck to their jazzified concept last night and almost 95% of the show featured songs rearranged in a jazzified manner. I found it rather cool kasi at least, I did not feel like I was just attending some karaoke party! Alam mo naman dito sa Pinas, everyone can sing, so you don't really have to pay thousands of pesoses just to hear someone sing Rihanna's Diamonds or whatever's a hit on radio.