
Morrissey Live in Manila
May 13, 2012
World Trade Center, Pasay City

Who is Morrissey?
Gary Valenciano On Higher Ground! Catch the last 2 nights on June 8 and 9, 2012 at the Music Museum

Be amazed at the innovative stage used by Gary V


Gary Valenciano with Julianne

Gary V singing with versions of himself (more…)
Hanson Live in Manila Concert Review

After much anticipation and preparation, fans gathered for the first time in over fifteen years at the Smart Araneta Coliseum to see the award-winning musical trio Hanson as they made their Manila stop for the Shout It Out Tour. The show was made possible by Dayly Entertainment and Rockstar Touring.

Opening act Robin Nievera rocked the stage, giving the crowd a taste of his newly launched album, Overwait. “It’s spelled W-A-I-T,” he joked after announcing the album name.

The excitement in between sets was palpable. Waves of cheers and screams echoed throughout the Big Dome at every mic check and light test. Zac, Isaac and Taylor were greeted with wild cheering when they took the stage and kicked off the show with the song Waiting for This, followed by one of their older hits, Where’s the Love.

After all these years, the Hanson fans did not fail to show their love. Every person present was cheering and singing along, many even holding up signs and posters with messages for the band. So much energy was emanating from the crowd that one would think there was double the number of people present. (more…)
Smash Project 2012 Concert Review
The highly anticipated Smash Project 2012 is one of the best concerts we’ve had this year at the Smart Araneta Coliseum with multiple acts that we can never imagine to be on stage in one big event. The 5-hour event top billed by four international bands like The Cab, Cobra Starship, Chris Carrabba of Dashboard Confessional and The Used were joined by our top local bands Typecast, Urbandub, Slapshock and Chicosci plus a performance from Malaysian band One Buck Short.
Front Acts


Local band Typecast opened the show and played one of their best songs Boston Drama. The band proved once again their reputation as one of the most unique local bands. Second on stage was Urbandub, they performed First of Summer and Soul Searching. Chicosci hit on stage with their songs Paris and Diamond Shotgun. After kicking the show with 3 local bands, One Buck Short took the stage with their rock version of Katy Perry’s #1 hit Last Friday Night. Slapshock was the last band to perform and gave a performance that made the crowd wild.

The Cab


A 15-minute break was given to The Cab to prepare for their set. The excitement of the audience particularly at the lower box section was insane. They’re shouting the name of Alex, (vocalist of The Cab) who has Filipino roots. It’s very obvious that the band knew how to entertain the crowd. There were a lot of banters after almost each song. They delivered a 40-minute set of punk/pop music including Angel With A Shotgun, Bad, Intoxicated and their massive hit Bounce.

Cobra Starship
(more…)

Evanescence and Bush Live in Manila concert review
The crowd got a taste of dark epic rock from Evanescence and 90s rock hits from Bush as both bands gave back to back performances last February 19, 2012 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. After 1 ½ decade British rock band Bush with front man Gavin Rossdale returned to Manila and performed their tunes showing that they’re still in the business.

The band released their first album in 10 years called Sea Of The Memories. With the band’s name at the background, Rossdale together with his band mates took the stage at exactly 8PM and immediately nailed their first song called Machinehead followed by Baby Come Home, both of these songs were received well by the audience. Early in the set, they played one of their most successful singles The Chemicals Between Us, the reaction from the crowd was great and loud. It’s like there’s no signs of a hiatus from this band.


Gavin interacted well to the audience, his energy was top the notch and recognized the crowd very much. They did not disappoint the fans by performing hits such as All My Life and Greedy Fly. His voice was not drowned out by the guitars, the live audience was able to witness his soaring vocals throughout the show. One of the highlights was when Gavin went into the audience. He left the stage and ran through the entire venue reaching the hands of the fans and singing up to the upper levels. The crowd at the upper box A and B were visibly enjoying his performance. The concert did end well as they performed The Beatles’ Come Together and finished the entire set with their classics Glycerine and Come Down. Bush thanked the audience for supporting them for years and left the stage.

After a half hour of preparation, the main act Evanescence was ready to take stage, as the lights dimmed, the audience shouted with energy and anticipation. They kicked off their show with What You Want from their self-titled third album Evanescence. The excitement of the audience was totally ecstatic. Up next was Going Under from their multi-platinum selling debut album Fallen. Amy Lee’s operatic voice dominated the big dome. Their third song of the night was The Other Side and immediately followed by Weight of the World. Unlike Bush, Evanescence rarely talked to their audience. Still, Amy delivered with incredible amount of energy, hypnotizing and soaring vocal style, best demonstrated on their ballads My Heart is Broken and Immortal. She sat down with her piano and did three straight songs, Lost in Paradise, My Heart Is Broken and Lithium. It’s so great seeing the softer side of Amy on her piano.

Coca-Cola Philippines pulled off one of the biggest anniversary concerts held at the SM Mall of Asia Concert Grounds. The concert was a great experience mainly because of the unique collaboration between some of the bands and artists like Wolfgang with Gloc-9, Sandwich with Jay Durias, 6CycleMind with Eunice (of Gracenote) and Kleggy (of Banda ni Kleggy), Sponge Cola eith Chicosci and Itchyworms with Ebe Dancel.

Who in the world saw this coming, Wolfgang and Gloc-9 performing Halik ni Hudas

Even after more than 15 years, Parokya ni Edgar still shines (more…)

The Black Star Tour: Avril Lavigne Live in Manila Concert Review

Avril Lavigne performed her 3rd successful concert in Manila last February 16, 2012 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. Presented by Wilbros Live and Midas Promotions, Manila was the 2nd to the last stop of her Black Star Tour. The venue was packed with glowing stars from the fans. The venue was like a small galaxy full of stars. She is still look young, beautiful, talented and has massive of fans that made a concert a sold out event and performed a 75-minute set that included all of her greatest and recent hits.
The night started out with beats and hits from Somedaydream exactly at 8PM. Good thing it was on time because a lot of concert goers had to go to school next day. A song called Black Star opened the show for her Manila tour same on what she did on her latest album Goodbye Lullaby. The stage lights appeared and Avril Lavigne went up the stage as well with complete live band, holding a neon green light up star while happily waving to the huge crowd. As expected, the fans went wild and shouted like crazy. The amazement of the entire Smart Araneta Coliseum was unbelievable. She immediately shifted to her up-tempo and the first hit single from Goodbye Lullaby, What The Hell. The 3rd song of the night was one of her biggest hits Sk8er Boi, during this performance the energy of Avril lifted the energy of the audience wherein everyone was jumping while singing this song. She performed another greatest hit He Wasn’t which was from her sophomore album Under My Skin. She belted out with her 6th song of the night called Alice, an OST from hit movie Alice In Wonderland. She hit all the high notes from the start up to the very end of this song.

The massive fans knew every word and sang along as she performed songs from her latest album such as Wish You Were Here and Smile plus old favorite rock ballad When You’re Gone which was one of the highlights of the night. Who can forget her number 1 hit Girlfriend, this song was received very well wherein everyone was singing their favorite part “Hey hey you you”. One of loudest audience participation happened during the refrain of I’m With You. She gave the fans to sing-along the refrain part over and over again like 3-4 times. Everyone was laughing and enjoying the moment. The way the song Airplanes shifted into My Happy Ending was great as well. (more…)

James Ingram Live in Manila 2012
Smart Araneta Coliseum
February 17, 2012

Front Act – Ms. Lea Salonga

60th Birthday Concert, James Ingram was born on February 16, 1952

James Ingram and Lea Salonga singing “Somewhere Out There” (more…)

Engelbert Humperdinck Live in Manila
February 15, 2012
Smart Araneta Coliseum

Front Act – Faith Cuneta

At 75 years old, Engelbert can still sing and dance effortlessly (more…)

Red Roses Tour: AJ Rafael live in Manila Concert Review

Filipino-American, singer, songwriter and YouTube sensation AJ Rafael ended his Red Roses Southeast Asian Tour last January 18, 2012 in Manila and performed 2 shows together with his band at the Music Museum. Initially it was a one night show only but due to demand of the public, promoter Monsoon Productions added one more show (5PM & 8PM). Thanks to YouTube for being part of his success to make independent artist like AJ Rafael to enter the music industry and share his stuff. It was my first time to watch a concert here and I can say that there are literally no bad seats at all. I didn’t know beforehand how personal and intimate AJ and his band would get with the audience and allows food to be brought in or delivered. His concert has been long anticipated by many of his Filipino fans. The excitement of the young fans and teen at hearts were pretty obvious to finally see the man who has 393,000 YouTube subscribers. Some of them brought personalized banners hoping that AJ would notice their efforts.


We’re treated first with the lovely music from acoustic sensations Krissy and Ericka. They performed mash ups of Superbass and California King Bed and followed by two of their original compositions and another pop mash up. There’s a short break to prepare for the set of AJ Rafael and his band. A video played on screen showing the adventures of AJ Rafael, Noah Bartfield, Andrew Rhim, Danny Morledge, Krissy and Ericka. The audience went wild during their first appearance on stage. It was roughly a 90-minute show full of extraordinary talent from AJ Rafael and his band. The crowd was definitely into it. Fans looked at each other in amazement. That was the moment that people realized how much stage presence the band truly had, like a solid brotherhood. He hit all the songs that brought him to reach what he is right now. He is so down to earth and treated the fans like his long time friends who are following his journey through social media like Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Tumblr. He touched the songs like Emma Watson, Red Roses, Sparks Fly (with Krissy and Ericka), Without You, 500 Days, She Was Mine, We Could Happen, Here All Alone and When We Say (JuiceBox), Disney Medley and the best and most unexpected addition to the set was my personal favorite Showstopper. They waived their audience with more than good music but an epic experience! (more…)

Get Your Heart On Tour: Simple Plan Live in Manila Concert Review
Pop-punk rockers Simple Plan brought its humor and talented live show last January 12 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum as part of their Get Your Heart On Tour. The stage kicked off with rockin’ sets by Kamikazee where they played some of their hits like “Narda,” “Halik,” “Ambisyoso,” “Martyr Nyebera” and “Tsinelas.” They did a good job of warming up the crowd.