Music

Walk The Moon said ‘shut up and dance’ — so we did

Text by COCO MACEREN / Photos by MIKE REBUYAS

It was an electrifying night — from the lights to the multi-colored paint on the faces of the fans in the crowd and the awkward dance moves. Walk The Moon is something else live. It was a three-day, five-show spectacle filled with the perfect mix of indie-rock and dance tunes, kind of like an ’80s dance party straight out of a John Hughes teen movie, only this time it was better, much better.

On the last set of their Ayala malls tour held at the Activity Centre of Glorietta, Walk The Moon brought in the color to the then gloomy weathered Metro Manila. Their energy and sound were so infectious that even passers-by up on the second and third floors of the mall had to take a second look over the ledge, some of them even staying to finish the whole show. As Nicholas Petricca, the band’s vocalist told us then, “We still see ourselves as the underdogs – every night, on that stage, fighting for our lives, fighting for that new fan.” Safe to say, they gained a lot of new ones during their Manila shows.

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Their kookiness was like a second skin. It fit them and it showed in their music and in their shows, so I thought what better way to relive what went down during their Manila shows than through their lyrics:

“We rattle this town, we rattle this scene.” —Anna Sun

Where to begin with this? First off, the band did rattle this town — a three-day performance, averaging two shows per day? It was insane. Fans were up and about following them on their social media accounts and attending their shows, so there was quite a frenzy when the Meet & Greet sessions were about to begin. Not to mention the dance numbers that fans performed pre-show.

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“You gotta risk your neck, know in your heart it will be worth it.” —Aquaman

We risked the rains during the days that Walk the Moon was here — there was even a threat of a storm! But all was worth it once you start hearing the intros to every live song they performed. All those jumps you did to Sean Wauguaman’s drumming and to Eli Maiman’s guitar riffs were well worth it. Your heart is thankful but we do think that your feet, not so much.

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“Something in the air is giving me bad ideas, something in the air is giving me wicked thoughts…” —Sidekick

To quote a fan: “Lalong gumagwapo si Nick kapag pinapawisan (Nick gets more attractive when he sweats).” And it’s true; whenever they all broke a sweat, we became more attracted to them. Maybe it was the rock star vibe they brought out or the fact that they were all amazing dancers. Something in the air was giving us wicked thoughts like, oh, why don’t they just stay in Manila forever?

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“Different colors, we carry each other.” —Different colors

A personal favorite of mine is the fact that everyone in the crowd were of different colors — a mix of ages, genders, heck, even fashion sense — but we were all united there as fans of the band. There were no “I-knew-them-before-Anna-Sun” proclamations nor were there “What’s-your-favorite-song-besides-shut-up-and-dance-do-you-even-know-any?” accusations. The crowd consisted of followers and friends who were ready to bring the house, or should I say mall, apart.

 

“Shut up and dance!” —Shut Up and Dance

Do I dare say more?

 

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Walk the Moon live in Manila was brought by Ayala Malls in partnership with MMI Live.

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