Four years after his last show in Manila for his CASE STUDY 01 Tour, Grammy-winning r&b artist Daniel Caesar came back to the city last July 19 to vibe with his Filipino fans once again for his SUPERPOWERS World Tour, this around at the World Trade Center, Pasay City.
Hues of blue and white filled the venue as the opening act, rising Filipino soul artist Jason Dhakal, took over the World Trade Center stage. The promising singer did not hold back and took charge of the crowd’s atmosphere before heading toward the main act. With tracks like ‘Endlessly+Tenderly’, ‘can’t get enough’, ‘ur man’, ‘manila,’ ‘Body & Soul’ and even an unreleased track as a treat, Jason Dhakal exuded elegance, mystery, and flavor that may have left the audience wanting more.
Not long after that alluring performance, Daniel Caesar finally stepped foot in front of the audience, camcorder in hand, belting out ‘Ocho Rios’ while capturing the spirit of live music here in Manila. Fans of the r&b singer proved themselves by singing along with the artist starting from the first note of the opening song. More tracks from his freshly-released “Never Enough” and the 3-year-old album “CASE STUDY 01” namely ‘Let Me Go’, ‘ENTROPY’, ‘Do You Like Me?’ ‘OPEN UP’, ‘Valentina’, ‘Always’.
The mood slowed as Daniel Caesar brought out his guitar to mellow the surrounding tension, starting with the angsty yet melancholic ‘Violet’. The track that followed was a track that every romance scene is made out of — ‘Best Part’. And what a way to highlight this night is the proposal that erupted in the middle of the song! A man took the perfect opportunity to kneel to the woman of his dreams smack center in a Daniel Caesar concert, with Daniel Caesar himself singing this Grammy-winning song in the background. If life were a movie, this moment would surely be their best part.
Following that movie-esque scene, Daniel Caesar continued with ‘Invincible’, his duet track with indie/r&b artist Omar Apollo. More tracks from ‘Never Enough’ made their way into his setlist, including ‘Please Do Not Lean’, ‘Disillusioned’, ‘Unstoppable’, and ‘CYANIDE’ from ‘CASE STUDY 01’.
The show is ending as Daniel Caesar keeps the pace relaxed and hits it off with a stripped-down version of ‘Japanese Denim’, the slow ballad ‘ARE YOU OK?’ and a beautiful rendition of Coldplay’s ‘Sparks’. Daniel exited the stage after a back-to-back stripped performance, leaving the fans wanting so much more. Of course, he would not stop the show there and returned, camcorder present again as the booming bass notes of ‘Get You’ pumped throughout the venue. The crowd was in for a sing-a-long as Daniel captured the moment from every single view and angle. The show ended on a high note for sure, and it was a night that was not only recorded in phones, digital cameras, film cameras, and camcorders - but a euphoric memory always to be recalled.
Big thanks to Karpos Multimedia for making the SUPERPOWERS World Tour happen in Manila!