Bruno Mars was amazing live, but the concert experience had its challenges—crowds, distance, and surprises. Curious how the night really went? Read my blog!

Disclaimer: All views expressed on this blog are my own based on my own experiences and do not represent of any entity with which I have been, are now or will be affiliated

June 26, 2023
Batangas, Philippines
Monday

Bruno Mars was one of the artists I heard when I initially started working in 2010. Nothing On You was the song he released that I really fell in love with, followed by Just The Way You Are from his very first album Doo-Wops and Hooligans. He was just getting started on music television. Well of course, those are not the only songs I love. Bruno Mars is also half Filipino, which adds to his appeal for me. He is just the greatest!

I’ve wanted to see him perform live for a long time, but I’ve always had other priorities, so I keep missing him. I used to enter contests in the Philippines to win concert tickets because they were too expensive for me to buy.

I couldn’t let the fact that he was visiting the Philippines for the fourth time pass me by. He only had two stops in Asia, both in South Korea and the Philippines. I believe he simply wanted to visit the Philippines because he is half Filipino.

I bought tickets to his June 24th event at the Philippine Arena in April. It was insane purchasing the tickets online; I had to wait in line for an hour and when my turn came, there were only a few seats left! Given that he would only be visiting two nations, the rivalry was fierce. I just went with whatever was available, which was ticket Upper Box B for PHP5,500 from Live Nation Philippines.

After a few hours, his show on June 24th was sold out, and I was grateful that I was able to purchase tickets; it was tough to purchase internet tickets now. I dashed over to SM Tickets to convert my etickets to actual tickets.

After a few days, they announced that they will hold a day 2 concert for Bruno, and I was like, damn, I should have chosen better seats, but I’m alright with attending for day 1.

Day1 Concert – June 24th (Saturday)

I left Batangas at 11:00 a.m., arrived at the bus terminal by 12:00 p.m., and the bus operator DLTB Line Corporation left Lipa, Batangas at 12:45 p.m. I arrived in Manila around 2:30pm and had to drop off my luggage at Airbedz Makati, where I will be staying overnight. A single night at a hostel cost me PHP1,300. I booked a Grab around 3:00pm and arrived at Mall of Asia by 3:51pm. I was almost late; I had to run to the place because I didn’t know where the bus shuttle station was, and I arrived barely on time at 3:51pm. They’ll leave me if I don’t arrive by 4:00pm!

We arrived to Philippine Arena, the event location, around 7:15 p.m., after travelling for three hours owing to terrible traffic! We were starving and needed to get to our seats quickly because we didn’t want to miss the show. We purchased muffins and water (the bottled water lid will be opened and gave to the guards), which will prevent injury if they throw these water bottles at each other. We found our seats and ate while we waited for the show to begin. Fortunately, we made it!

Concert Experience

The concert began at 7:40 p.m. and finished at 9:30 p.m. It was incredible to see Bruno Mars! We had a great time dancing the night away. We also sang along to his love tunes as he serenaded us! He has incredible vocals, can dance, play several instruments, has a very pleasant stage persona, and I enjoyed all of his Tagalog lines when he spoke to the audience. He also sang a few lines in Tagalog, which was quite impressive. That is something I can only experience in the Philippines.

I enjoy everything about him, from his dance songs to him singing ballads. He’s one of the musicians I’d like to see again, and I’m still hoping to catch him in the Philippines. When you see him here, it affects you differently, and the Filipino crowd is unrivalled. It had been a memorable evening.

Set List of Bruno Mars

THINGS TO NOTE:

Bus Shuttle – We got round-trip tickets to the Philippine Arena at SM online for PHP600. To be picked up at 4:00pm in SM MOA. The location is near IKEA and in front of the SM Mall of Asia Arena. The bus shuttle was just a regular air-conditioned bus; I was expecting it to appear like an exclusive SM bus shuttle, but no such luck. SM is owned by Henry Sy, who also controls the majority of the malls in the Philippines.

When we left the venue at 10:00 p.m., it was difficult to spot the bus shuttle, which they said would be parked on Parking E, but when we arrived after about an hour of walking, there was no bus shuttle waiting for us, so this stinks! It was not well synchronised. I will never use SM’s bus shuttle service again.

Travel Time – Without traffic, it takes only one hour to drive from Manila to Philippine Arena. However, the road was extremely congested due to heavy traffic, and it even rained heavily during this time, so we arrived at the destination in 3 hours!

The show concluded at 9:30 p.m., we left the stadium at 10:00 p.m., but we reached home by 1:30 a.m. through commute; there were no buses, so we rode a jeepney from Bulacan to Monumento, then hired a Joyride (similar to Uber/Grab app) to Mall of Asia, then Makati, where I would be staying!

Philippine Arena (venue) – The Philippine Arena is located in Ciudad de Victoria, Bocaue, Bulacan. It is one of the world’s largest indoor arenas, seating 55,000 people in a fully enclosed structure. It is owned by Iglesia Ni Kristo (a religious sect in the Philippines). They created it to hold a congregation for them, and it now hosts concerts, athletic events, and other big events.

When I first saw Katy Perry’s Prismatic World Tour (I just won the ticket here) in 2015, the very first international concert conducted in the arena, all I could remember was how difficult it was to exit the parking lot and how long it took us to get home in Manila. After that, I couldn’t recall anything except having a great time with Katy. Now I needed to memorialize our experience in our commute so that I wouldn’t forget the dread. haha During the event, we met Sunny, a Thai girl who was also bewildered like us.

Cons of the Venue

1. There was no escalator in the arena – for something with such a large seating capacity, they did not consider making it accessible to everyone. There was an elevator, but no other options; if the elevator is full, you must climb the stairs.
2. No cellular signal especially for Globe subscribers – It was crazy, I enjoyed it during the performance since you got to appreciate it, but what about when you needed to phone a friend because you got lost haha?
3. Heavy traffic – it was really crazy in day1 because a lot of people did not make it, they were stuck in the road for 3-4 hours. I felt really bad for them. Some of them were foreigners too and it was a very bad experience for them.
4. Logistical Nightmare
5. Poor coordination by Live Nation (organiser) – there were no signs directing us to where we needed to go, and we got lost walking simply to find parking E. They don’t care about the concertgoers; people have complained about this, but there has been no resolution.
6. Poor customer service – when I asked the ushers where parking E for the bus shuttle was, they couldn’t give me accurate directions. What kind of bullshit direction was “just follow the crowd”?
7. Limited food kiosks – While I enjoyed the muffins we purchased, I wish there were more food alternatives.
8. Few Accommodations Near the area

Solution

1. Go to the event after lunch time so you can arrive early. It’s better to arrive early than to miss a concert. Although I sympathise with those who are unable to go early due to employment obligations. Commuting in PHL is a pain.

2. Make a reservation for a hotel near the venue. I just looked, and there are just a few Airbnb condos available for rent.

3. If possible, fly somewhere else (other nations) to see a show.

4. Study the parking lot map; I already know where to depart so I could travel back to Manila; I guess I’d do it if I had no other option hehe.

Even with the problems from the venue to the organiser, I don’t mind doing it again for Bruno Mars because this is one of the best concerts I’ve ever seen in the Philippines! I’m so thrilled to be back doing what I actually enjoy: witnessing concerts by my favourite performers. Thank you, Bruno Mars. Miss Kita, mahal! (I miss you, love.)

Love,
Maria, sometimes Hooligans, Niskie