"Marry You" picks the pace back up, followed by "Runaway Baby," during which the crowd coerces him into a small dance break. The song ends to a puff of smoke and the lights cutting out, because Mars is a true showman who uses his few theatrics to effective – and impressive – extent.
He comes back onstage to a piano-backed performance of "When I Was Your Man" that proves he can do feelings just as well as fun and funk, before a brief piano intermission and a costume change. He reclaims his stage with "Locked Out of Heaven," which ends in a spray of gold confetti, before dedicating "Just the Way You Are" to the crowd as he closes the show.
Wait for it 😍 #SmartBrunoMars #SmartMusicLive pic.twitter.com/54Ap0kqYCJ
— SMART (@LiveSmart) May 4, 2018
In effect, it's a good two hours of pure entertainment, but not for entertainment's sake. The difference between a concert – an artist performing their songs live to a crowd – and a show – where an artist gives the audience an experience that's as unforgettable as it is resonant – is subjective and difficult to ascertain, but, judging by the sentiments of the crowd and their clamor for an encore, is a feat that Mars is fully capable of achieving. In the end, it's clear that talent takes center stage in his performances, just like how he creates music not just for the charts, but for that shared human experience.
It's a special kind of magic when an audience gives the artist back just as much as they are given, and hopefully, Mars felt all the love that Manila has for him because the cheers managed to usher him and the band out for an encore performance of "Uptown Funk," which had literal balls of fire shooting into the air and faux firemen coming out on stage with extinguishers. It was lit, in all iterations of the word.
Uptown fuuuunk!!! #SmartBrunoMars #SmartMusicLive pic.twitter.com/QVaOfq0Vii
— SMART (@LiveSmart) May 4, 2018
It's safe to say that Mars did not meet Manila's expectations, instead exceeding them in the best possible ways. The man is a showman, a born entertainer, and Manila can't wait for the next time he swings back into town to paint it gold all over again.
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