Let me start off with a disclaimer: I am a Kris fan, but I wasn’t as big of a fan back then as I am now. I hate to preempt anything, but take this recap/review of the concert with a grain of salt if you will. Just promise me that you’ll give yourself a chance to watch Kris Allen perform live one day.
Last night’s concert was simply mind-blowing. Boyce Avenue was great and swoon-worthy, the Jabbawockeez were brilliant and out-of-this-world with their dance moves, while Kris Allen? No words can describe the epic-ness of his setlist.
In the spirit of keeping the element of surprise, I refused to watch the Cebu concert videos uploaded online. I wanted my Kris experience in Manila to be memorable and without expectations. Thankfully, Kris did not disappoint one bit. Whoever said that Kris Allen couldn’t headline a concert to save his life must either be blind, deaf, or living under a rock. Last night’s concert proved to the world that Kris could really rock it out on stage.
I managed to record the entire set performance in one entire video (will post the video link soon, so stay tuned for updates). It’s true what they say–you have to watch a Kris Allen concert live to fully appreciate his artistry. The way he arranges songs and connects with the audience is amazing. At the end of the day, he left me wanting for more.
My favorite of the night is definitely the “Falling Slowly/With Or Without You” mashup. I loved that mashup to bits since he performed it in Live In the Vineyard last year, but videos don’t do justice at all for a live performance. If I thought his performances of this mashup on YouTube were beautiful, his live performance last night was brilliant. There are simply no words to fully capture the beauty of that performance. I remember people were screaming like crazy when Kris said he was doing the song, and when he started strumming the first few keys on his guitar, the crowd grew utterly silent–it was as if you could hear a pin drop with all the silence. It was a beautiful, vulnerable, and emotional moment for the Kris and the audience, who just soaked everything in silence as he strummed the guitar and sang the song. It was definitely the most emotionally-charged song that night.
Concert Highlights:
- Manila gave Kris a lot of love last night. People were screaming for him left, right, and center. Plus, the place was absolutely jampacked. If this isn’t a good indicator about how much Filipinos love Kris, I don’t know what else is.
- Getting the Kris picture shoutout when Kai met him backstage.
- Meeting up with my fave benches. Bere and Raye flew all the way from Indonesia and Malaysia. Yay! /flail
Bere, Raye, Raye’s mum, Andrew, Miya, Aeyelle, and Kai - He changed up every single song he performed by adding different bits and pieces. We felt special and loved. LOL
- His stupid face. Despite him clearly being tired from non-stop media appearances and interviews (and the concert in Cebu the night before), he looked like he was having fun on stage. And OMG HE LOOKS SO PRESH WITH THE RED SHUTTER SHADES that a fan gave him.
- During the intermission before Kris’s set, there was a contest wherein you got to win a Kris Allen CD if you could sing a song of his. A girl chosen by the hosts went up to the mic in the audience area and sang “Before We Come Undone.” The next thing you know, the entire crowd was singing along with the girl. Clearly, the Filipinos KNOW the song. Jive, I think you have a strong contender for second single right here. My friends Erick and Michael also joined the contest and managed to garner a few laughs from the audience as well.
- There was this Malaysian girl (no, it’s not Raye lol) who won an autographed CD, got to hug him, and go up on stage to dance with him. She definitely made her trip worth the while, eh?
- After his LLWD performance (which he said was his last performance of the night), the crowd was chanting “MORE! WE WANT MORE! WE WANT KRIS!” And when he came back for the encore, the crowd went in a frenzy!
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Setlist:
- Heartless/Gangster’s Paradise: It kills me everytime I hear the “tell me why are we so blind to see” part.
- Can’t Stay Away: It grows on me more more more more… ahwoooo
- Written All Over My Face: This got the crowd worked up and toe tapping.
- Before We Come Undone: Second fave song of the night (tied with The Truth)
- The Truth: I really felt this song. It kills me every time I hear Kristopher sing this song (be it live or recorded). I also love that the crowd sung along with the song, too.
- Man In The Mirror: Crowd sung along, too. I will always love Kris’s rendition of MiTM even more than Michael Jackson’s. Like, for real. I love how he stopped singing a part and the crowd suddenly realized that he was expecting them to sing along, so everyone filled in the lines.
- Is It Over: More bluesy than ever. I loved it!
- Red Guitar: Still sweet as ever. As he was singing the song, I imagined him thinking of Katy and singing it to her.
- Falling Slowly/With Or Without You: I think this was the song that received the most cheers from the crowd.
- Alright With Me: Loved the audience participation and the fact that fans were fawning/glomping all over him. Sweaty Kris got mobbed by fans onstage (Hi Lara you lucky bench! :P). Kris was on his knees and being silly. It was a fun performance.
- Live Like We’re Dying: Another different take on LLWD. I love how he changed it up and how the crowd sung along.
- Ain’t No Sunshine: A different take on his Idol masterpiece. The arrangement in “I Know I Know I Know” was a cool bluesy addition to the song.
- Come Together: This is where I am further convinced that Krale is real and that Krandrew may be a contender. It was a great song to cap off the night. Too bad the concert had to end soon–even if it did end past midnight.
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Kris Quotes:
“Lots of you today and I like it.”
“Y’all doing good there? Y’all doing good?”
“I’ll talk to you while I go and drink water”
“The song is a song that I did on the show. [Crowd: "FALLING SLOWLY!"] It was movie week. What am I gonna do? I don’t really like movie songs, but there was one that I liked and that it was this one.”
“Alright, now that we got emotional and everything, let’s have some fun. All you gotta do is sing YEAH”
“Wow you were really good. You guys should try out for American Idol. Have you heard of it?”
“Yeah the back. Alright back.”
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Download the Manila concert MP3s here (special thanks to Mel for the kickass recording!)
P.S. Okay, so I just discovered that the entire Kris Allen setlist I recorded spans for over an hour and is worth 1.55GB. How the hell do I upload that online w/o splitting the vid? XD
FIND ME: The full name and picture of Kris’s handler.
