“Fun” is not always a word one associates with baritone Josh Groban. But, his recent PICC concert showed that the 26-year-old is more than the soulful singer everyone has come to know.
I’m not one of those who follow his career. I don’t even have any of his songs in my iPod. But I loved the concert so much that I’m thinking of buying one of his albums as soon as I get a chance. And I hope they’ll come up with a “Live in Manila” release soon.
The hubby and I were lucky to be among those who received invitations, courtesy of Smart Infinity, to his concert last October 17. Since it was a gala, we prepared ourselves for a prim and proper evening of ballades.
Thankfully, the concert had a lot more energy than we expected. He sang the soulful songs he’s known for, of course, but a good spiel and some crazy antics made the concert so much more fun!
At one point, he walked through screaming fans on the second and first levels of the concert hall. He sang while shaking hands, getting kissed and hugged. He did a hilarious karaoke bit and sang parts of Bon Jovi’s Wanted Dead or Alive, Elton John’s Tiny Dancer and Rihanna’s Umbrella. He also played the drums and a vocoder (a synthesizer that makes a single voice sound like a choir).
For me, one of the best parts of the show was when rock violinist Lucia Micarelli, uber sexy in her shimmering gown and bare feet, jammed with the band in a remake of Led Zeppelin’s Kashmir.
Other highlights of the evening were Groban’s performance of The Prayer with Lani Misalucha; Lullaby/Weeping, a two-part composition inspired by his trip to South Africa; and To Where You Are, which he sang in an episode of Aly McBeal five years ago. People say the last one made him famous.
If our count is correct, there were 14 numbers in the main show. But, he had such a long encore, with five songs that included Broken Vow, You Raise Me Up and She’s Out of My Life. I think he ended the evening with 19 songs in all. He showed signs of tiredness by then but he seemed to have truly enjoyed the evening as well.
The event was such a big hit that, just halfway through the concert, Groban already hinted at a comeback.
He is absolutely divine, isn’t he?! It’s a shame that not more Philippino Grobanites got a chance to see him in concert. I live in Perth and was very lucky to see him in his last concert in Australia; I also got to meet him after the concert. He’s a truly nice guy!
Yes, he’s very nice!
It’s also important to note that his concert apparently brought Imelda Marcos (wife of the late President Ferdinand Marcos) and ex-President Cory Aquino (the woman behind the People Power Revolt that ousted Marcos in 1986) under one roof.
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I have been a fan since 2003, and he has such quality voice and beautiful character, and he has always been “in the moment” in all of his concerts that I’ve been to. I managed to bring my big family (group of 10) – seating in first row for the Perth show. Even my parents, brother, aunt and children now have bocome Grobanites. Hope to see him again very soon, and hope he’s willing to come back to Perth. We didn’t get to meet him ’cause we were led to wrong direction by the ushers and was locked out for 25 minutes – couldn’t get back in or out.
Wow! Ten tickets in the front row? You are a CERTIFIED GROBANITE!
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