
To her faithful following, she’s more than ‘that ‘Call Me Maybe’ singer,’ as they pack the concert venue to the rafters.
Today x Future, a watering hole just some meters away from the New Frontier Theater, the evening’s venue. A DJ puts it on, the opening saxophone solo blares, and the tight-packed dance floor trembles, brimming with euphoria.
This scene happens on a much bigger scale in Carly’s third visit to the country, the last stop in the Asian leg of her Dedicated tour. It’s glorious to behold and to experience first hand – that missing out would cause painful regret. (IN PHOTOS: Carly Rae Jepsen Live in Manila 2015)
Seeing her live gives a rush unlike any other – no drug like her, indeed – as she tirelessly burned through a 21-song set that even included some deep cuts.
Paolo Abad is a film/television editor and motion graphic designer. He is also a self-confessed concert junkie.
MANILA, Philippines – A saxophone beckoned like a horn signaling the Rapture. It’s the opening riff to Carly Rae Jepsen’s 2015 single, “Run Away with Me,” and suddenly, the crowd roars like their souls have ascended to another plane of blissful existence.
I’ve seen this before in venues like Cubao’s “Lots of queer people cannot come out, much less find someone to partner with, and that doesn’t mean they’re unhappy, or lacking, or in need of agency. Wanting without having is not tragic, and Jepsen is one of the few celebrities telling a queer community plagued with a complicated relationship to ‘outness’ that we are whole no matter how much of ourselves we choose to share.”
In Jepsen’s hands, maybe imagination doesn’t necessarily have to materialize completely into an actual moment. A song will suffice.
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