Taylor Swift’s love ‘burning RED' for Manila

MANILA, Philippines- Three years ago, Taylor Swift promised that she’ll be back in Manila—and she did!

Girls, and even boys, of all ages were united Friday night at the SM Mall of Asia Arena to catch Swift’s second concert here in Manila dubbed “The RED Tour” to promote her album RED.

As the light went out and a silhouette of Swift appeared on stage, the people cheered as they flashed the posters, balloons, light sticks and other paraphernalia.

As she finished her opening number, Taylor takes off her hat, hands it to a fan and said, “Maraming salamat po!”

She then started performing again singing the song “Holy Ground,” while she danced and flashed her sweet smile every now and then to the crowd.

After a lively performance, Swift greeted the people “Magandang gabi po! Mabuhay!” which made her fans cheer louder.

“Manila welcome to the RED tour,” she said. “This is my second time performing here in Manila and I think I’m seeing familiar faces tonight.  Are there people here who saw my show before?” when people answered a loud “Yes!” she replied with a big smile, “That's good!"

She then started introducing her next song saying, “If I will choose one color that will best describe falling in love and heartbreak, I will choose red!” and the music started playing her song “Red.”

After a quick costume change wearing an all-red outfit— sleeveless deep cleave top, glittered red shorts, and long red back draping— Swift performed her song “The Lucky One” which speaks about the life of a famous  celebrity.

Then taking off the back draping, slinging a guitar, and taking a seat on a high chair, Swift played the country song “Mean.”

Before singing, she reminded the girls in the audience to love and be themselves no matter what. “If you feel you don't feel you fit in... you should do what you've done. Just be you and find people who are like you,” she said.

As she goes backstage for another costume change, an audio-visual presentation of her journey in her singing career was played. Discovering her passion for singing at an early age, Swift was supported by her parents all the way until now that she’s 22 years old.

As the AVP flashed the age 22, the song “22” started playing and Taylor entered the stage wearing a red top with “Manila” print, black shorts and a hat. She danced and sang as the people sang along with her.

After an upbeat performance, Swift toned down the mood again and performed her songs “Fearless” which she said is about her “first perfect date,” “You Belong With Me,” and “Tied Together With a Smile.”

When Swift went down the stage, a woman playing violin went on the center of the stage, which marked the performance of the song “Trouble.” The crowd enjoyed the song as well as the medieval period inspired costumes.

But the white long dress that Swift was wearing was removed and was changed to a black laced outfit. There was a short pause as her piano was placed on the stage for her performance of the song “All Too Well.”

For this song she said that “we can have our heart broken and be left at cold and all that. But that doesn’t have to make us bitter, and can’t stop us from believing in love.

“Maybe I’m thinking loud here because I had some bad thing happened to me and there have been good things that happened to me, and all of it I remember all too well.”

After a heart-felt performance, Swift went out the stage to change to her white dress for her performance of “Fairytale.”

Everyone in the venue just sang along with her and would cheer every now and then as Swift flashed her killer smile.

But as they say, save the best for last. For her final song, Swift performed the song “We are Never Getting Back Together,” with the circus inspired production number. And for the last time, she asked her fans to sing loud for her until she takes the final bow and waved goodbye.

And for the last time she said, “I love you, Manila!”