Nothing very visually stimulating to record on video. So I just decided to try recording the sound. But sorry, the sound quality is not too good. But just for you to get an idea how it went. Check out my review in the My Opinions section: http://3xhcch.multiply.com/reviews/item/65

This is one concert that most people I asked did not really have an enthusiastic reaction to. It seems that he is an artist already past his performing prime, which was at its peak during the 90s. In fact, a lot of people did not even know he was coming. I had really wanted to bring my wife here since love songs are are favorite type of music, but she had to review for her final exams. I got to tag along with my cousin Ivy and her friend at the last minute. We just bought the tickets onsite, with no trouble (although traffic and parking in Cubao that night was totally another matter). When we entered, it was already the last song of the front act. We still got relatively good seats though.

The concert started way past 9 pm already. No wham bang entrance, Babyface simply came onstage with his guitar and his band, sat down, said his hellos and started to play. His opening song was "This is For the Cool In You." After that, he immediately segued into his beautiful classic "Everytime I Close My Eyes."

He then introduced and proceeded to perform songs from his new "Playlist" album, which featured songs from the 70s that he grew up with. He started this set with James Taylor's "Fire and Rain". Then, he took on Jim Croce's "Time in a Bottle", Eric Clapton's "Wonderful Tonight" (too cheesy for me, but the most rousing reaction from the audience so far), and finally Bob Dylan's "Knocking on Heaven's Door". Based on the audience reaction, they were clearly here for the love songs, as seen with their reaction to "Wonderful Tonight." The instrumentals, particularly the guitar work, were outstanding for all these songs.

Babyface then stood up and delivered his spiel about lost loves. When he started with his first line of his next song "What if we were wrong about each other...," the audience went wild! This was really an all-out bravura performance of "What If", hitting killer notes and going all lengths with his very strong falsetto toward the end. Truly a showcase of what he can do as a singer. Very good song.

When he returned on stage, he did his first solo hit "Whip Appeal". I still don't know what the title means after all these years. But the song still sounds great.

The numbers that followed were for me the true highlight of the show. Babyface is also well known as a songwriter and producer for other artists. He decided to perform these hit songs in a medley and wow, these were all classics! I really really enjoyed these series of songs from the late 80s all the way up to the 90s. These two long numbers are really worth the price of admission even by themselves!

He first went into a series of hits he wrote and produced for male artists. He started with one of my personal R&B favorites from the 80s: "Two Occasions" by the Deele. Really beautiful song. Then he went into a series of Bobby Brown hits ("Every Litlte Step", "Roni"), then Tevin Campbell ("Can We Talk"), and finally Boyz to Men. "End of the Road" was sung with so much soul and emotion, amazing.

After boys' hits, he went into a medley of his songs for female artists. He started with "Girlfriend" by Pebbles, then songs by TLC ("Baby, Baby, Baby", "Red Light Special"!). To help him with Karyn White's "Superwoman", he introduced a powerhouse female singer onstage named Sasha. Both of them then went on together to sing Mary J. Blige's "Not Gon Cry"; "Breathe Again" and other hits by Toni Braxton; Madonna's "Take a Bow"; then finally a string of Whitney Houston hits. Their duets of "Count on Me" and "Exhale (Shoop, Shoop)" were beautifully rendered.

After those rousing performances, he went back to his stool and delivered what turned out to be his final number, "Change the World." Great song, and great strong performance vocally and instrumentally!

Of course, Babyface returned to stage for his encore. He obviously had not yet played "When Can I See You" yet, and I predicted correctly. Babyface is really at his best with these gentle R&B ballads like this. After that song, the concert was really over.

Overall, this was a good concert. As his own repertoire as an artist was limited, he wisely included a montage of his hits for other artists. These hit-loaded numbers really boosted the memorable-ness of this concert for me. As expected, this concert was not really a visual spectacle. But as an amazing acoustic experience, it has certainly surpassed my modest expectations.