Sean Kingston reaches out

Filipinos are like no other when it comes to having fun. Just think. Countries of the world are reeling over wars, recession, the hunger crisis, escalating oil prices and other problems. But here we are having a concert spree watching shows by big name artists one after the other. CD sales maybe at its lowest ever, but take a look at our impressive concert roster.

It has only been four months into 2008, but we have already had My Chemical Romance, Maroon 5, Incubus, Connie Francis, Duran Duran, Harry Connick Jr., Swing Out Sister, Toto, Rex Smith, Mandy Moore, Colbie Caillat and Ne-Yo. And even the locals have gotten into the act with the likes of Martin Nievera, Gary Valenciano, the Champions and even the powerhouse triumvirate of Pilita Corrales, Carmen Pateña and Carmen Soriano joining the parade.

Mercifully, it does not always cost an arm and a leg to watch these artists perform. Competition among shopping malls is also at its hottest. We have so many of these that I really believe that the best way to describe the Philippines nowadays is that it is a country of billboards and shopping malls. Do you think there are enough people out there with enough money to buy all those merchandise?

But no matter. The malls have discovered that one great way to entice people traffic, and that means lots of shoppers, is to have free concerts. They used to be content with local acts but some have now also taken to inviting foreign acts. Colbie, one of today’s biggest discoveries, came to town for a series of free mall shows and sold a lot of copies of her hit CD Coco. So did Mandy.

This week we will have Sean Kingston, the young hip-hop sensation from the US doing a free show. This guy is cute, only 18 years old, is a gifted singer-songwriter and the one responsible for one of last year’s biggest sellers, Beautiful Girls. And he already has a great follow-up in Me Love, another cut from his self-titled debut album. So you can now watch him do these hits plus Got No Shorty, There’s Nothin’, I Can Feel It, Take You There and others at the Glorietta Activity Center in Makati on April 17. It will be all for free, thanks to Ayala Malls, Music Management International, the MYTYM Watch Shop, Tommy Hilfiger Watches and the MTV Concert Series.

Happiest about this development in the area of free mall shows are the record labels. Having an artist in person in a mall show, especially one as big as Kingston, means a big boost up in their dwindling sales. Take note that music lovers may be able to download songs for free through the Net and pass these around to their friends. They can also buy, cheap pirated, even if mostly bad copies of hit albums almost anywhere. But remember, they can never do the same with the prized autographed copy of their favorite artists or the even more desirable photo-op. You need the star, live and present, for those.

I believe that this is also the reason why Pinoys do not mind spending big money for live shows. Nothing is quite like the electricity generated by a concert. In the case of great performers, like Beyoncé Knowles or Christina Aguilera, who have lots of hits in their bags and who make it a point to give the audience their best, the thrills can reach ecstatic levels. Besides, you have already listened to the songs lots of times, so the only way to heighten your enjoyment is to hear them live. That is why people keep going back to those Lettermen concerts even after more than four decades.

So time now to brace yourselves for more arrivals. Set to perform at the Araneta Coliseum are Neil Sedaka on May 17; James Blunt, May 19; The Click Five, May 30, Air Supply, June 14; and Tony Hadley formerly of Spandau Ballet, Aug. 9. I saw announcements earlier for matchbox 20 and Patti Page but have not heard anything about these again so I do not think these shows will happen. I also saw this announcement for something like Lost Sounds of the ‘80s and it features a most interesting line-up, Real Life, When in Rome and A Flock of Seagulls. These three groups had big hits during the ‘80s and having them together in one show is quite a bargain.