Bruno Mars to Philippines crowd: ‘Miss na kita, mahal!’
If Bruno Mars were “your man,” he would not only “(buy) you flowers” or “(hold) your hand,” but he would also serenade you with his heartfelt songs, impress you with his sexy dance moves and give you his warmest smile.
The Filipino-American hitmaker did all these during his two-night concert at the Philippine Arena in Bulacan last weekend with his band members The Hooligans.
The STAR attended Day 1 of the Live Nation Philippines-produced show that was replete with pyrotechnics, props and bright lighting effects on stage. Bruno and company left the Filipino audience in awe with their stellar and unforgettable performances amid the massive traffic and heavy downpour in the area.
The loud cheering and chanting from the crowd were expected as he opened and ended the show with a bang. Bruno started off with the song 24K Magic and then followed it with some upbeat tracks, slow medley tunes and Uptown Funk as his parting song.
“You look beautiful, Philippines,” the singer told the concertgoers before crooning Finesse. “We traveled a long way to come back to this place because we love this place so much. And we hope, we hope we can get this audience front and back, left and right to singin’ and dancin’ all night. Can we try that?”
He went on performing his hits, one after another, including Treasure, Billionaire, Marry You and Locked Out of Heaven. He even changed the part of the lyrics of Billionaire, a collaboration with Travie McCoy, to “I see my name in bright Filipino lights.”
Bruno further mesmerized the fans when he crooned Calling All My Lovelies and put a local spin on it. He pretended to be talking to someone on the phone and seductively said, “Hey baby, I’m in the Philippines right now. And it’s been a while. It’s been four, five years since I’ve been here. But I still feel the same about you. And it’s still… Miss na kita, mahal. I said miss na kita, mahal.
“You don’t believe me yet? Watch this,” he continued and repeatedly sang the phrase “Miss na kita, mahal” with his bandmates. “Let me tell you, I miss you, girl. Remember we used to come out here…”
The Filipino-American musician afterwards briefly played Wake Up in the Sky and That’s What I Like and enamored the spectators with his dance moves in Please Me.
Members of The Hooligans had also their solo moments in between, displaying their respective skills in playing their musical instruments, such as, guitars, saxophones, drums and piano.
After a short break, Bruno came back with the sensual Versace on the Floor and carried on with the classic Be My Baby by The Ronettes, the ditty that his “parents would listen to” while he was “growing up back home.”
The 37-year-old’s father Peter Hernandez is half-Puerto Rican and half-Jewish, while his mother is a Filipina, Bernadette San Pedro Bayot. Bruno, whose real name is Peter Gene Hernandez, was born and raised in Hawaii.
Using a megaphone, Bruno continued with Runaway Baby and checked on the audience, “Masaya ba kayo?”
“I’d like to take this opportunity to play a little game with you, alright,” he uttered. “This game is called let’s see if you remember this one. I was very fortunate and very blessed to work with some incredible artists (and be) part of the songs that I’m so proud of.”
He explained the mechanics of the “game,” saying, “The way this game works is if you know the words in any of these songs that I’m about to sing I need you all singing it at the top of your lungs.” He asked the audience, “Can we try it?” and received a resounding yes for an answer.
He subsequently sat down behind the piano and took the audience on “a little trip down memory lane,” rendering a few bars of his collaboration with CeeLo Green, F*ck You; Snoop Dogg and Wiz Khalifa’s Young, Wild & Free, Grenade (with smoke effect on stage), Talking to the Moon, as well as the “chords that changed my life,” referring to B.o.B’s Nothin’ on You.
The Grammy award-winning artist kept going with Leave the Door Open, his collab song with Anderson .Paak under their duo Super Sonic, and teased the audience with a “fantasy in my head (with) the Filipino women.” Verbalizing the lines from the song, he said, “Tell me that you’re coming through,” and added, “All the Filipino girls that I’m coming… Bruno, I’m coming. Can we try?” He later on quipped, “Stop ladies. I’m shy. I’m shy. Nahihiya ako.”
Bruno proceeded with When I Was Your Man, a track from his second album Unorthodox Jukebox, which he admitted was “the hardest song for me to write and the hardest song for me to sing until this day.”
Toward the end of the show, he thanked the Filipino crowd for “allowing us to come back to sing” and dedicated Just the Way You Are to the thousands of people who attended the music event.
“I always wanted to play here. Thank you guys so much… I hope we can come back real, real soon. I’d love to see you all again. But it’s tradition every time we come by here (that) we got to have this place singing this song one last time…”
He then requested to turn the lights up and chorused with the audience, “When I see your face/There’s not a thing that I would change/’Cause you’re amazing/Just the way you are.”
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