One of the biggest events in this summer’s musical calendar happened last Wednesday, April 6, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. Legends in adult contemporary music,Melissa Manchester and David Pomeranz came together to provide fans an enchanting night through the music that everyone knows and loves.
To start off the night, Asia’s Mr. Crooner Arthur Manuntag stole the crowd’s heart with a wonderful rendition of Shirley Bassey’s “You and I.”
His short but sweet set also included a cover of Andy Williams’ “Love Story” and ended with the classic “What a Wonderful World,” wherein he flawlessly impersonated influential jazz personalities such as Louis Armstrong, Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, and Ray Charles.
Once the mood has been set, Melissa and David came out with a cover of Nat King Cole’s “When I Fall in Love,” much to the delight of the audience.
Musical legend David Pomeranz started his solo set with “Got to Believe in Magic” and “Undying Admiration,” a song that serves as a declaration of his love to his wife, Kelly.
It wasn’t long before David took to the grand piano for “Tryin’ to Get the Feeling Again,” “Crazy Beautiful,” and even a snippet of his “Chaplin: A Life. In Concert” performance after confessing that he is a big admirer of the actor.
After a soulful performance of “If You Walked Away,” David proceeded to launch seamlessly into an impromptu cover of the Ben King classic, “Stand by Me.”
David continued his set by dedicating “On This Day” to a couple in the audience who was celebrating their 35th wedding anniversary that night before ending with “The Old Songs” and “King and Queen of Hearts.”
One of the first things that Melissa Manchester did in her solo set was pay tribute to her dear friend, composer and conductor Marvin Hamlisch, by performing the song “Through the Eyes of Love.”
“The songwriting process is very random,” she shared before launching into an energetic performance of “I Got A Feeling For You.” “I was in bar and some drunk guy comes over to me and says, ‘I got a feeling for you,’ and I was like, ‘I could make that into a song!’”
The rest of Melissa’s set consisted of a slowed-down version of The Ronettes’ “Be My Baby,” “Too Many People,” and “Let’s Face the Music and Dance.”
Melissa took to the piano as well to treat the audience to “Come in from the Rain” before ending her set with “Don’t Cry out Loud.”