STM Experience: Taylor Swift - "Speak Now" World Tour Live in Manila

It's been a while since the last time I went out to watch a concert. 10.10.10 was the last concert I went to, which is Adam Lambert's "Glam Nation Tour" at the SM Mall of Asia open grounds. 4 months later, here I am again making a concert review to share my wonderful experience to all of STM's avid readers. And trust me, I enjoyed this one so much!

Manila was lucky enough to be part of Taylor Swift's "Speak Now" World Tour. After successful concerts in Singapore, South Korea and Japan, it's Manila's turn to witness Taylor Swift's explosive country extravaganza on Feb 19.

Chosen by Taylor Swift herself, Filipino talent, Sam Concepcion opened the concert at exactly 8pm with his version of Chris Brown's "Yeah Yeah Yeah". His second song was Kung Fu Panda's theme "Kung Fu Fighting", followed by his hit, "Even If". His last song was a rendition of Katy Perry's recent hit, "Firework" which delighted the audience.

Taylor's set did not start until 9pm. When the lights went down, it was Swift's opening song, "Sparks Fly". Audience went crazy! It was indeed the start of a magical night with country music's favorite princess. Here's the concert set list:

1. Sparks Fly

2. Mine

3. The Story of Us

4. Back to December/ Apologize/ You’re Not Sorry (medley)

5. Better Than Revenge

6. Speak Now

7. Fearless (Acoustic)/ I’m Yours (medley)

8. Fifteen

9. You Belong with Me

10. Dear John

11. Enchanted

12. Long Live

13. Love Story

I must admit that this is one of the best concerts I've ever been to. The crowd is awesome, singing all of the songs throughout the entire concert. Right from the start, you'll know that this is an audience full of energy and true enough, they never lost the energy until the concert ended. Even Taylor herself got amazed at how incredible the audience was and expressed her happiness through her Twitter account right after the show.

Of course, Taylor was as energetic as her audience, dancing, jumping and running throughout the entire concert which delighted the crowd. She was even uttering Filipino terms from time to time. I believe she said "Magandang Gabi" (Good Evening), "Salamat" (Thank You"), Mahal Ko Kayo" (I Love You) and "Kumusta" (How Are You) to which the audience responded with loud cheers. She also had a few costume changes: The sparkly gown on "Sparks Fly", the blue dress on "Speak Now", the shining gown on "Enchanted" and the white dress on "Love Story", which added excitement to the whole experience of watching Swift perform.

The moment Taylor appeared on stage, every person at the Big Dome instantly got mesmerized. There's something about this girl that captivates you. Like when you we're a child and obsessed with Barbie. Maybe because her songs are about experiences. Our personal experiences. We easily relate to every heartbreak and tear and happiness and boy crush that she has or had in the past. Not to mention the charismatic beauty this artist has and the heart of a down-to-earth person. Truly, it was enchanting to meet this artist in person and share with her, even for a night, all of the wonderful experiences of being a teen and being in love.

Below are pictures and videos during the show (credit to the original owners):

The STM Experience: Adam Lambert's "Glam Nation Tour" Live in Manila

I was lucky enough to have been able to watch one of this year's best-selling concerts! Courtesy of my friend's friend, who happens to be working with the concert's production team, we were able to get hold of VVIP tickets to Adam Lambert's "Glam Nation Tour" at the Mall of Asia Open Grounds last 10.10.10 (October 10, 2010). This is another "dream concert" for me so I was very excited to go.

We arrived at the venue at exactly 8pm. No problem though, coz concerts in the Philippines rarely start on time. (Haha!) The opening act Paraluman already up the stage at 8pm and performed for 30 minutes. When they finished their set, a playlist consisting of current pop music was played to include Lady GaGa's "Bad Romance", Ke$ha's "Take It Off" and Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream". The audience never got bored waiting for Adam Lambert's set which didn't start until 9:30pm. While preparing the stage for Lambert's set, his picture suddenly flashed on the LCD and the audience screamed!

The concert was divided into three parts which Adam describes: “In the beginning, it is mysterious, seductive and a little bit dark. And then the middle section is very vulnerable, strip down, acoustic arrangement, very honest. And the last one is very over the top and fun and lots of dancing.”

When Adam finally went up the stage at 9:30pm, the concert grounds with 20,000 people went wild! The concert started with a medley of "VooDoo", "For Your Entertainment", "Down the Rabbit Hole" and a rendition of Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire". People started to get off their seats and dance. Very nice crowd, I should say. Very participative. After the number, Adam uttered these words: "Finally, a concert in Manila! Finally in the Philippines!" which received a loud response from the audience. Though I think the most memorable moment during this part of the concert was when Lambert kissed, yes, kissed (in the lips) his bandmate-boyfriend who happens to be the same person he kissed during his controversial performance at the American Music Awards. I believe it was during his performance of "Fever" which is by the way, a song written by Lady GaGa.

The second part of the concert includes some of Adam's slow tempo tempo songs like "Soaked", "Aftermath" "Broken Open", "Sleepwalker" and the fan favorite "Whataya Want From Me" in acoustic style! It was very heart-warming. Adam feeling each and every song he's singing. Definitely sang from his heart.

Come third part of the concert, the energy was already up the ceiling and when Lambert started singing "Strut" the audience had no choice but stand up and dance. The best part I should was the ending song when he started to perform the mega hit "If I Had You". Audience sang their hearts out and were literally jumping in excitement, me included. There was also an encore song, which is his signature AI song, "Mad World".

Overall, I would say that this is definitely the best way to celebrate 10.10.10 and I surely had a blast. It was a night of pure glam rock, dancing, having fun and letting it all out! Truly one memorable concert for me.

Thank you very much, Mr. Adam Lambert! Mahal ka namin!

SET LIST:

• Voodoo
• For Your Entertainment
• Down The Rabbit Hole
• Ring of Fire
• Fever
• Sleepwalker
• Whataya Want From Me
• Soaked
• Broken Open
• Aftermath
• Sure Fire Winners
• Strut
• Music Again
• If I Had You
• Mad World

Checkout some pictures (courtesy of Ed Arevalo) and videos (courtesy of suz526) below:

OPENING MEDLEY

FEVER

STRUT

IF I HAD YOU

MAD WORLD

The STM Experience: INTENSITY - Rain and U-KISS Live in Manila

So, I was lucky enough to win 4 Gold tickets (at 3,095 pesos each) to Rain and U-Kiss' concert last night at the Mall of Asia Open Grounds. Thanks to Smart and PinoyExchange! I went to the concert with two of my best pals, Hybrid Cha and Tina. Too bad, our friend Issa was not able to join us for the concert, so we had one spare ticket. If only the tickets were given to me earlier, I would've raffled one for you, my blog readers.

We arrived at the venue at about 7:30pm. Still not a lot of people there, compared to the David Archuleta-David Cook concert I attended there back in 2009 which was already jam-packed hours before the actual concert.

Christian Bautista was the first to perform on stage. He sang 3 songs: One Way's "Wrong Number," "Beautiful Girl" and "The Way You Look At Me."

Next up were the boys of U-KISS who sang 4 songs, including their hit, "Bingeul, Bingeul."

At around 9:30 the main act started his set. Korean Superstar Rain emerged in the middle of the stage on his white suit, black body fit shirt, black skinny jeans and killer shades, to the delight of the audience.

Rain sang a total of 9 songs. You can see the actual setlist below:

• It’s Raining
• Touch Ya
• How to Avoid the Sun
• I Do
• Love Song
• Love Story
• Rainism
• Hip Song
• Instead of Saying Goodbye

Personally, the part of the show I enjoyed the most was when Rain sang "How to Avoid the Sun." It was very visually appealing. That sunset backdrop left me in awe. Very picturesque, I should say.

Overall, I would say I enjoyed watching Rain perform live. As a hardcore fan of music, he's definitely one of the artists I would want to see perform live. And it's surreal to finally see it happen. Though it was a little too short for a concert (yup, no encore), Rain still gave his fans one of their best nights ever. It was a night full of high-energy dance numbers and bad ass visual effects, not to mention the constant flashing of Rain's to-die-for abs which always made the crowd scream.

Checkout the rest of the pictures below:

(credit goes to azraelcoladilla.com and wandergirl.com)