It may be premature to say that “The Heist” is one of the greatest albums in rap history, even if the duo that recorded it, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis (M&RL), bagged four important awards at the recent Grammys.
It is timely, however, to say that the tandem’s performance is one of the greatest live musical acts we’ve ever seen. The thousands who watched their concert last week at the SM Mall of Asia Arena would surely agree.
The show was crazy fun. As a rapper, Macklemore had the flair and drama down pat, with a little evangelical magic thrown in for good measure. He knew how to put the crowd into a frenzy, peppering his infectious energy with passionate, witty dialogue.
The fans, who didn’t mind standing for hours waiting for him to appear, screamed themselves hoarse while jumping up and down like maniacs.
Rarity
Lewis called his partnership with Macklemore a rarity because a rap duo is hard to come by these days. But we think it’s the uncanny chemistry that makes it a unique team-up.
Individually each one has real talent. Macklemore recounted how he discovered Lewis on MySpace, or what he called “Facebook for old people,” and how it took only a few listens to decide that he wanted to rap to Lewis’ beats.
The concert kicked off with “Ten Thousand Hours.” After two more songs, Macklemore paused to say that this was not his first time in Manila. When he was 19 and out of school, he decided to travel and wound up here. He never thought he would be back again performing before a huge crowd.
He added that he wanted to spend some time in Manila after the show, and asked the crowd slyly where one could go for thrift shopping. His spiels served as a perfect segue for the chart-topping single, “Thrift Shop.”
Powerful
His spoken-word version of “Starting Over” was rousing and powerful, an inspiring recollection of his battle and triumph over substance abuse. “If I can be an example of getting sober, then I can be an example of starting over,” he chanted over and over, a mantra for people trying to overcome drug or alcohol addiction.
He followed up with “Otherside,” then heightened the tempo with “Can’t Hold Us,” before winding down with the resonant “Same Love,” which had everyone swaying and singing along.
Irish celebration
After performing a hot set full of hits, he seemed reluctant to leave. For his encore he did “Irish Celebration,” during which his crew unfurled a Philippine flag.
The gig was book-ended perfectly with one last burst of energy as he did a reprise of “Can’t Hold Us.”
The ceiling couldn’t hold the euphoric high that Macklemore and Ryan Lewis unleashed.
We can’t wait for the next album and, hopefully, another Manila date with this dynamic duo.
