Katy Perry’s Witness: The World Tour is a Feast for the Eyes
Written by: Maria Eunice Santos
Photos: Denise Villamar
If there’s an artist whose showmanship can outshine an overwhelmingly dazzling background set – one that is heavily comprised of acrobats, dancers clad in outlandish costumes, a plethora of humongous props, literal fireworks, and a great deal of other visionary spectacle – hands down, it’d be none other than the pop veteran Katy Perry herself.
The diverse crowd made up of little kids, teenagers, adults, and high-profile personalities all came together as one big army of Filipino KatyCats in the Mall of Asia Arena last April 2, 2018, and all eyes were set square on the 33-year old singer who stood out amidst the grandeur of her Witness: The World Tour.
With no front act or any further introductions necessary, Katy stepped onstage atop a lift, already set to belt out an impressive string of high notes barely a full minute into the program with her fresh tracks ‘Witness’ and ‘Roulette’. Sparing no time to take even a moment’s breather, she dished out the obvious fan favourite ‘Dark Horse’, and danced through the distortions with ‘Chained to the Rhythm’.
Each breathtaking act served as a promising exhibition of what the two-hour concert entailed for her KatyCats. Props were simultaneously being swapped and moved around in time with the music, including the giant, towering puppets with TV sets for heads, which were recurring aesthetics that devoted fans might recognize from Katy’s viral performance for The BRIT Awards back in 2017.
The show carried forth flawlessly, looking more and more like an extravagant spectacle straight out of Las Vegas with every passing song. Each production number involved a squadron of back-up dancers who alternated from being garbed in alien costumes for ‘E.T.’, to operating 15-feet tall flamingos, to pole-dancing for ‘Tsunami’, to showering Katy with glitters and confetti using large-scaled salt and pepper shakers for ‘Bon Appétit’.
But make no mistake: soaring over all the glitz and shimmers onstage was the playful personality of Katy that she’s mostly known and loved for. She kept the mood effortlessly fun and light with classic bops like ‘TGIF’, ‘I Kissed A Girl’, ‘Hot N’ Cold’, and ‘California Girls’ that featured the meme-worthy Left Shark. The pair also earned a laugh out of the arena when Katy pretended to get furious at her aquatic Superbowl buddy after it rebelliously snatched and kicked the microphone away a couple of times from the pop star.
Among the many highlights of the show also included Katy’s constant attempts to connect with her audience through learning basic Filipino words every now and then. Amidst the countless KatyCats who turned up in costumes impressive enough to earn slots in the show’s actual entourage, a young man in his graduation gown stole Katy’s full attention and was asked to join her onstage straightaway to become her personal language coach.
Josh Madrid, the luckiest fan of the evening, greeted his idol with a tight hug, his eyes brimming with tears of happiness. Upon noticing how nervous he was, Katy made a good-natured quip to break the ice, “He doesn’t look like he’s going to make it through his graduation!” and even volunteered to sit down on the floor with him. With Josh’s help, Katy was able to say “Maligaya akong nandito!” and “Mahal ko kayo KatyCats!” like a trueborn Filipina – and also ended up getting pleasantly surprised when told that ‘selfie’ was, indeed, an actual universal word. Before sending Josh off, Katy took a couple of parting selfies with him – which we’re sure, was the best set of impromptu creative shots that any graduating student could possibly ask for.
As delightful as the stage designs were, it was still the stripped back, acoustic segment that truly highlighted Katy’s powerhouse vocals. “This next one goes out to all the people that have been my supporters – my fans for over ten years. I feel like we’ve grown together. I feel like we’re a tribe. We’re a unit. Mahal kita. I’m so excited to come back here and tour and share the rest of my life with you!” The KatyCats responded to Katy’s sincerity with fervour, singing along to ‘Wide Awake’ and ‘Into Me See You’ from the top of their lungs, and making the arena glow with lightsticks and LED cat ears. In a poetic sense, it was the least choreographed and most simple portion of the show that turned up to be the most emotional beautiful one; just Katy with her guitar and her thousand-strong KatyCats.
“We’re not done yet!” Katy called out to the crowd with a grin. From there on out, it’s one KatyCat anthem playing after another, starting off with ‘Part of Me’, trailed after by ‘Swish Swish’ that had actual receipts raining down the arena like confetti, and ending with the deafening ‘Roar’.
Heeding the chants of her Filipino KatyCats for an encore, Katy emerged onstage one last time to deliver the reinvented version of her hit single ‘Firework’. Despite wearing a frilly dress, she jumped vigorously to the beat of the song, her stamina and energy still as infectious and admirable as ever even after her two-hour stint. “I love you, Manila! God bless you!” Katy exclaimed before descending through a gigantic hand bolstered at the far end of the stage, and leaving her fans with the empowering message of the final song to bring home with.
The stunning pyrotechnics ended Witness: The World Tour with a colourful and literal bang that might as well screamed: take note, world! This is how a pop show is properly done.
