Capital Cities Live at Ayala Malls

 

When In Manila – unless you’ve been living under a rock, anyway – you’re bound to be familiar with the upbeat, eargasmic tune that is Capital Cities’ Safe and Sound. Released in 2011, the song went viral on the internet in the United States, and has finally touched base with Philippines air waves and is receiving the love and appreciation it deserves. Truly, nothing beats going about your day with this tune playing in the background, oh wait! I stand corrected. There is one thing better than listening to this track or anything from Capital Cities, for that matter: listening to their songs performed live!

Ladies and gentlemen, I was lucky – nay, privileged! – to attend the Capital Cities press conference held in Makati Shangri-la yesterday afternoon. Flying over from Japan (or was it Korea?), composers/songwriters Ryan Merchant and Sebu Simonian made their way to the front of the room as several eager and camera-happy media individuals went silent for a moment, and then click! click! click! flash here, flash there! and lots of clapping! To say that the room was filled with individuals who truly appreciate the band, would be an understatement.

Boom Gonzales of Magic 89.9 was the event’s host and kickstarted the program with a game (wherein I won a gift pack courtesy of Ayala Malls) and then proceeded to ask the Capital Cities duo a series of questions which the audience had written down. Several of the questions were directed to the making of the Safe and Sound video, and basically the gist is that the video for the song that catapulted the duo into fame was shot in the Lost Angeles theater and showed the duo and several other pairs dancing different styles.

Ryan had mentioned that they initially knew what they wanted the video to show, what dances they wanted to dance and set out to make their ideas a reality by enlisting the help of Hollywood dance choreographer, Mandy Moore. No, not the blonde singer, but a choreographer known for choreographing several dances for the hit TV series “So You Think You Can Dance”. The duo trained rigorously, making sure that they mastered every move to the point that Sebu injured himself.

In fact, during the whole shoot of Safe and Sound, Sebu was performing with a torn achilles. Truly, these guys give 100% when it comes to their music and when it comes to their performances. Seriously: what more can you ask for from a performer?

Make sure you catch them at your favorite Ayala Malls this January 11 and January 12. Piece of advice: bring something that you can “take off and swing around in the air”. Ryan mentioned that he makes it a point to really get the audience pumped up, so they ask the crowd to take some clothes off (ladies, um, keep your shirts on) and to just wave them around. As the media crowd laughed. Sebu made it a point to say that, “Hey, just bring a jacket or bandana or something!” Oh, and more insider tips: the duo will be performing with a live band; so you’ve got a bassist, trumpeter, guitarist and drummer performing alongside.

Words cannot express how much I enjoyed myself this afternoon. It was awesome seeing the front men of Capital Cities in person and I look forward to watching them perform live. So, When In Manila, make sure you head on over to your favorite Ayala Malls to catch Capital Cities live at Ayala Malls this 2014!

 

Capital Cities Live at Ayala Malls 2014

January 11, 2014 – Alabang Town Center(4pm) & Glorietta(7pm)
January 12, 2014 – Marquee Mall(3pm) & Trinoma(7pm)

Check out our post on Relient K live at Ayala Malls last year here: https://www.wheninmanila.com/catch-relient-k-at-ayala-malls-this-weekend/

Catch Capital Cities Live at Ayala Malls This Weekend!