9th of March 2013 – The Skydome was the venue of hundreds and hundreds of hardcore fans, those kids who live with and love Motion City Soundtrack’s music. In truth, the forceful energy of the crowd matched that of a full-house arena. As the band dished out different hits from their five albums, the full attention and appreciation of the audience focused on one thing – the music. As they banged their heads, punched through the air, sang and danced around, they lavished the experience of seeing such an awesome band performing in front of them.

“That was truly amazing! Thank you for taking the time to be here, when you can be anywhere else!”

Right after playing “The Future Freaks Me Out”, the third song in the band’s set list for the evening, Justin Pierre, the amusingly awkward front man of the band, appeared to be a jovial character right out of a comic as his voice trailed off in a pitch of half wonder and half disbelief. Early on, a strange furry brown thing was thrown on stage by a member of the crowd. It turned out to be a Chewbacca plushie that came with the message that it reminded the fan of the band’s front man. He then kept it tied to the mic stand all throughout the concert. His eyes seemed to twinkle behind his dark-rimmed spectacles as he watched the audience. His face was filled out with the smile of a child who just received a surprise birthday present. Meanwhile, his bushy hair was still in perfect sync with gravity.

He had dared the crowd to sing the interlude of the hit in an effort to gauge the crowd’s reaction. What he got was beyond his expectations – hundreds and hundreds of people singing along perfectly to every word and every tune. They nailed every word, every beat. They were everything ecstatic, bursting with so much excitement, which the band, in turn, radiated. As Justin said, the Manila crowd is one of the loudest they had ever encountered.

Motion City Soundtrack is composed of Justin Pierre (lead vocals and guitar), Joshua Cain (guitar and backing vocals), Jesse Johnson (keyboard/moog synthesizer), Matthew Taylor (bass) and Tony Thaxton (drums). They are known for creating catchy pop-punk anthems about the biting woes of being left out and the little joys of romance, all wrapped in poetically witty clumps of lyrics that inescapably spin around your head once you hear them. Interestingly enough, their music can both be upbeat and melancholic, both satirical and sincere, both awkward and cool. With that quirk, they held down the crowd in Skydome.

They played a diverse set of songs from their five albums. Some of the songs they played included “My Favorite Accident”, “LG FUAD” and “Broken Heart”, “Her Words Destroyed My Planet”, “Timelines”, “True Romance” and the last and highly anticipated “Hold Me Down”.

It was great fun seeing most, if not all, of the people in the pit having the time of their lives. They crowd had such outrageous love for the band’s music which made the concert really enjoyable for all the attendees. Even more notable is the fact that the band really tried their earnest to do the same. From the beginning to the end, it was indeed entertaining.

Motion City Soundtrack Live in Manila Set List:
1. My Favorite Accident
2. Her Words Destroyed My Planet
3. The Future Freaks Me Out
4. The Coma Kid
5. When You’re Around
6. Broken Heart
7. A Lifeless Ordinary (Need a Little Help)
8. Last Night
9. Timelines
10. L.G. FUAD
11. This Is For Real
12. Attractive Today
13. Better Open the Door
14. True Romance
15. Point of Extinction
16. Everything Is Alright
Encore:
17. Modern Chemistry
18. Disappear
19. Hold Me Down

Written by Sandra Mae Laureano
Photos by Carla Barretto

* Special thanks to CNCA Media Concepts and Red Stone Productions