Ne-Yo makes a first in Philippines concert scene
Three-time Grammy-winning artist Ne-Yo turned the Araneta Coliseum on Monday night into a huge party venue when he got the audience joyously dancing and singing to his hit songs non-stop.
Ne-Yo held two shows, back-to-back in one night — a first in the Philippine concert scene — due to public demand. He was supposed to perform for one night only but the show was quickly sold-out, so his fans requested for another show. The American singer-songwriter granted his fans’ request when he decided to hold another show that same night. The Manila concert was presented by veteran concert producer Wilbros Live. Hence, Ne-Yo’s first show was held from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m and another show followed at 9 p.m. Clearly, Ne-Yo, who last held his concert in Manila in 2010, is still well-loved and popular in the country.
One of the highlights of his concert happened during the second show where Miss Universe 2018 Catriona Gray joined him on stage. Their “reunion” moment at the concert has since gone viral on social media with Catriona hugging Ne-Yo and recreating her lava walk. Back in 2018, during the Miss Universe pageant in Thailand, Ne-Yo performed Miss Independent, while Catriona and two other Top 3 finalists — Miss Venezuela and Miss South Africa — sashayed on stage. Catriona stood out while doing her famous lava walk in her red gown.
The beauty queen, who is a self-confessed Ne-Yo fan, had the opportunity to join the R&B singer on the stage, and refreshed his memory of their encounter at the pageant. She said, “My name is Catriona and I actually walked with you in Thailand.” A surprised Ne-Yo reacted, “Yeah, I remember you, I remember you,” and both hugged amid the din of screams from the audience.
Excitement and joy pervaded Ne-Yo’s 90-minute concert during the first show, which this writer attended. The singer displayed boundless energy all throughout the concert and sang over a dozen songs or more.
Accompanied by a live band and three female back-up dancers, Ne-Yo electrified the crowd with his first song, the crowd favorite Miss Independent.
Clad in a black suit, pants and his trademark fedora hat, Ne-Yo crooned to the lyrics of the female-empowering song, rising to his toes, snapping his knees forward and resting a fingertip on the brim of his hat. His dance moves, ala King of Pop Michael Jackson, sent the audience into frenzy.
He then next segued to another pop song She Knows.
“Beautiful people of the Philippines, what’s going on? Happy to be back in Manila, it’s been a while, I miss you. Ladies only make some noise. I want to dedicate this next song to all the beautiful ladies out here. To each and every beautiful woman here who I call my ‘Sexy Love,’” said Ne-Yo before singing Sexy Love.
Ne-Yo’s repertoire in his concert was a combination of his classic hits and new songs from his recent album Self Explanatory, which was released in July last year.
Ne-Yo, whose real name is Shaffer Chimere Smith, shot to fame during the early 2000s after penning the hit song Let Me Love You for singer Mario. He then launched his solo singing career and his first three albums reached the top two spots in the US charts.
“A Ne-Yo show has classic songs and future classics,” he said during the concert. “Future classics — it might not be your favorite right now but trust me, it can be soon,” he added and proceeded to sing Handle me Gently and Don’t Love Me from his new album.
Then he sang another classic Because of You, which got the crowd jumping to their seats again because it is a long-time favorite.
In between his performances, he would playfully banter with the audience and wipe his sweat with those towels that he’d later throw to the audience. A woman screamed in the crowd, saying, “I love you Ne-Yo!” to which he replied, “I love you babe.”
Another memorable performance from Ne-Yo that night was when he sang Mad and So Sick, hits that helped in catapulting his musical career in the US. Suddenly, it was the 2000s again as he took his fans on a trip down memory lane.
“So Sick is now 16 years old and it’s been a good life,” Ne-Yo reminded the audience.
In the song, he showcased his breezy falsetto as he crooned, “And I’m so sick of love songs, so tired of tears, so tired of wishing you were still here, so why can’t I turn off the radio.”
Now 43 years old, Ne-Yo still has that distinctive voice that makes women swoon. As he performed this number, he asked the audience, who sang along with him, to turn on their cell phone lights. It was beautiful to view a sea of lights from everyone’s cell phones while Ne-Yo sang this song.
And then it was dance time once again when Ne-Yo played tracks from the songs he penned for pop superstars Beyonce and Rihanna. The gifted songwriter let the audience sing to the lyrics of Take a Bow and Irreplaceable, training the microphone towards them, with the fans singing to their hearts’ content.
Ne-Yo’s voice and talent in dancing were enough to win over the audience. But the production design was top-notch, too. Ne-Yo and his production team brought their state-of-the-art set design to the Coliseum, complete with a big LED TV screen on the stage, fire works, confetti rain and throbbing laser and strobe lights that made you feel you were in the club. The Big Dome pulsated with green laser lights as Ne-Yo danced and sang Closer, making everyone wave their hands and swing their hips. Music videos of Ne-Yo’s hits were shown on the giant screen as Neyo performed.
Another fun part in the show was when Ne-Yo called out two women volunteers to dance on stage. The women, overwhelmed by Ne-Yo, did sexy dances but mostly embraced Ne-Yo tight for like 40 seconds or so. They were so happy. Ne-Yo also sang Beautiful Monster and One in a Million.
For his last song, he sang another hit song Let Me Love You (Until You Learn To Love Yourself).
The lights went out but the crowd chanted his name, and of course, he came back for the encore and kept the party going. The crowd got wild when he sang three more songs such as Let’s Go, Give Me Everything before ending the night with Time of our Lives. And then there was confetti rain.
“Thank you Manila, love and peace,” he told the crowd.
Ne-Yo made the fans who attended his first show very happy that some even wanted to attend the second show but it was already sold-out.
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