Third time’s (still) a charm

MANILA, Philippines - Vertical Horizon frontman Matt Scannell takes to heart the art of doing spiels. For one, he doesn’t just introduce numbers. He shares stories about them. 

Small wonder his audience is way too connected to the tracks even before his band starts playing them. 

“Before it was a tough time for me to live in New York and I had this fever. This song is about getting through that fever,” he said in part before singing I’m Still Here, one of the well-applauded songs he and his group played in their recent Manila concert held at Newport Performing Arts Theater in Resorts World Manila. 

Fans of Vertical Horizon definitely found it amusing that Matt had a penchant for doing lengthy talk before playing a song. No problemo, he does it with much feeling and sense anyway. 

The crowd had to wait for the final stretch to hear live their three most notable songs: Best I Ever Had, Everything You Want and You’re A God. But it was worth the wait. Even the spiels seemed to be playing melodies on their own. 

At one point he talked about the ’90s rock ’n roll movie That Thing You Do and that scene when the film’s fictional band The Wonders heard its song on the radio for the first time.

He related, “In my case, I had no high five moment. I was alone in my car and I heard this incredible guitar riff and voice and realized that it was me!” 

He actually described his take on that personal moment as “slowing down an experience that ran for about two seconds,” to sheer delight of everyone. 

As expected, he wouldn’t miss the experience of being in the Philippines. It’s their third time here and has gotten deep of their understanding of things Pinoy. He found lechon so delicious that he quipped, “That’s so good the pig doesn’t stand a chance.” 

He paid homage to Typhoon Yolanda victims somewhere before the meatier tracks came off and then noted, “There’s a good thing going on here. The Filipino culture and heart are very big.” 

It must have been the best line that night had.