Josh Groban Live in Manila: An Inspiring and Uplifting Concert
It has been 12 years since his last concert in Manila and Josh Groban’s highly anticipated show last Feb 22 in MOA Arena was definitely worth the wait. It was a special night from the entire tour where he included a lot of his greatest hits specially for Manila.
What made it even more special and definitely a highlight of the night was when he was joined by Lea Salonga. Even in a wheelchair, the Broadway star looked stunning in her blue dress. Both had great rapport on stage and as expected, the two world class singers left the audience in awe as they performed “All I Ask Of You” and “The Prayer”. It was so amazing and pitch-perfect that it gave me goosebumps. It was a rare performance and Filipino fans were so lucky to witness that.
Aside from Lea Salonga, Josh Groban also had a beautiful duet with balladeer Christian Bautista. Christian, who was also the front act of the show, has been a longtime fan of Josh Groban and was truly inspired by him so it was nice to see him living one of his greatest dreams as they performed Andrea Bocelli’s “We Will Meet Once Again” together. What delighted a lot of the fans was also hearing once again some of the old hits just like the uplifting song, “You Are Loved (Don’t Give Up)” and when he performed it that night, his powerful baritone voice blended beautifully with the music from ABS-CBN Philharmonic Orchestra, that accompanied him up throughout the night.
The crowd also looked forward to “You Raise Me Up”, one of his most famous songs. He mentioned that he believes that Filipinos are some of world’s greatest singers and he knows we love to sing that’s why he asked the crowd to sing along with him and the Ateneo Chamber Singers that backed him up for the show. And towards the end of the song, the arena was filled with star-like lights from the audience. It was a heartwarming sight as fans swayed in unison, giving us all the feels. Aside from that, what also made the audience emotional that night were “To Where You Are” and “She’s Out of My Life”. He shared that the latter was actually a Manila-exclusive performance and he stayed up all night just to practice that since he doesn’t usually play it in other shows.
We’re so glad he included it especially for his Pinoy fans. Of course, he also performed some new songs from his latest album. For his song “Granted”, he recalled that when he was still a teenager, his teacher pushed him to sing for the first time in front of his schoolmates and that gave him confidence and helped him a lot in pursuing his passion, which is why he wrote the song. It’s really nice how how he would share personal stories in between songs. Like for “River”, he also shared that it was his way to remind everyone to reach out to those who suffer from depression. Similar to his previous hits, these songs from his Bridges album are also moving, touching, and inspiring. The kind that would lift you up after a long day. The concert was one of those shows where you leave refreshed with a smile on your face. He even quipped that he would not wait for another 12 years to come back, but more like 12 minutes. Even if we would have to wait for a while, that spectacular show will surely be in our memories for a long long time.