Oh Wonder Comes Back to Manila with Electrifying Performance

Team Manila Concert Junkies
0

Oh Wonder were happy to reunite with their Filipino fans for the last stop of their world tour by gracing the Filinvest Tent last September 27, 2022 with their dreamy tones and smooth vocals.





Paolo Sandejas opened the show for Oh Wonder and set the vibe for the night with a groovy cover of ‘Rock With You’ as well as his original songs ‘Sorry’, ‘Sway’, and an exclusive first performance of his new track ‘Liquid Courage’.








The lights dim and the opening notes of ‘Better Now’ echo throughout the venue as Oh Wonder starts the set. The fans scream in excitement as Anthony and Josephine Vander West are illuminated, their melodic harmonies filling the room. 


This was what I would describe a perfect concert to be like. The crowd was hyped, extremely enthusiastic about the artist and the music but the chaos that a concert like this would typically have was nowhere to be found. Everyone was just vibing and having a great time. The connection of the fans with the music filled the air with electricity and life. You could also tell that the Philippines is a very special place to Oh Wonder which made for an exquisite atmosphere and connection between the fans and the performers. 


They pick things right back up with ‘Without You’ and the crowd sings along to every lyric with gusto. Keeping things upbeat, they follow it up with ‘I Wish I Never Met You’ and ‘Heavy’ as Josephine energetically jumps around onstage.






 “The pandemic has been weird for all of us, right? We almost broke up.” Josephine shares as she introduces the next song. She reassures that she and Anthony are doing well and what helped them mend their relationship was writing and making music about it which is what led to the creation of the next track, ‘Rollercoaster’.











Josephine lightens up the mood and produces a round of chuckles by introducing ‘Happy’ as a “song about Anthony’s ex”. They then follow it up and breeze through ‘Magnificent’ and a medley of ‘Body Gold’, ‘White Blood’, and ‘Plans’.


The crowd noticeably sings louder as fan favorites ‘Livewire’ and ‘Technicolor Beat’ are performed back-to-back. Both Josephine and Anthony are now jumping around onstage getting the crowd to participate for ‘Fuck It I Love You’ and the couple share a cute moment at the end of the song. They transition straight to ‘Ultralife’, keeping the crowd dancing.


‘Landslide’ is another crowd favorite with fans screaming the lyrics right along with the band. A beautiful song about reassuring and being there for someone who’s feeling alone. The song was also famously remixed and sampled by Lil Uzi and Nicki Minaj in ‘The Way Life Goes’.


’22 Break’ from their latest album came next followed by ‘Dinner’ and ‘Lose It’ as the finale to their set. 


Of course, the crowd could not let it end there and screamed for more. The band came right back out for their encore set with ‘All We Do’, ‘Drive’, and a banging ending getting the crowd to participate again for ‘Hallelujah’. 


Josephine mentions several times how special the Philippines is for her and Anthony. They visited the place last in 2019 and got engaged during their time in Boracay. They’ve waited a long time to be back in the Philippines just as the fans have waited for them with anticipation. This has absolutely made for an amazing show with a palpable love in the air for each other, the place, the music, and the fans. 




Words by 
Maria Eliza Pineda
Photos by Find Alyeska

Post a Comment

0Comments

Post a Comment (0)