Arthur Nery’s theatre-sized thanks to fans

Arthur Nery’s recent concert just confirms what a lot of Pinoy pop music fans already know: he’s a big hit. This we already know, of course, as Nery has been steadily building his star status ever since breaking big with his 2019 album “Letters Never Sent.”

Still, Nery's concert is a welcome confirmation of how far the singer has come in his career.

And we just love these first major show types, because a) it’s the first time a music act gets to perform every song on their repertoire with energy only a ‘first solo concert’ can coax out. And b) the whole house is there for you. Let’s call said energy, glow-to which Nery evidently had as he opened with a string-section version of his slow groove R&B ballad “Isa Lang.” Quick note: when you open your set with your most recent single and your fans go bonkers. You’re off to a good start.

And Nery knows it too. Nery croons, and the crowd of mostly Gen Z’s (or later millennials) goes crazy. And Nery takes it up a notch with another fan-fave song in “Take All The Love,” then cools it a bit with “Life Puzzle.”

How 'bout say house being there for you? Well, it was during Nery’s first spiel that he got to hear everybody, and what a feeling that must be for Nery. Who can only say his thanks and look with wonder at the filled-to-the-balcony venue as it reacts to every motion and word that he says?

The number of times somebody called out “love you!” and Nery answering back “I love you too!,” might not be the most dynamic of fan-artist communication, but it's real and there was a lot of it that night. For an admitted introvert, Arthur did well in the spiels department, even having his comedic moment when he had to read off a script for his sponsors.

But of course, it’s about the music, and there was a lot of it that night. Hot spots in Nery’s setlist were the excellent-sounding string quartet that decked songs such as “Binhi” and Nery’s version of “Rainbow.” The singer also covered the APO Hiking Society hit “Yakap Sa Dilim” which really fit his style to the T.

And while Nery, one by one, checked off the must-do songs from his hit-heavy repertoire that included “Happy w u,” “Higa” and even deep cuts like “Got Me Tangled,” “Cotton Candy,” we still missed one of his big hits in “Pelikula” (which technically, is a Janine Teñoso track) but perhaps her absence on said show didn’t warrant said song getting on the setlist.

But the guests that were there were more than enough: John Roa sang “Dati.” Arthur Nery’s duet on “Gravity” with opener Just Boys’ Leon Oceña. Fine sounding “Gusto Wit Ya” singer Deny and Cean Jr. (performing their collab-track “Still Miss You”) and the latter’s own “YK.”

Nery also used the show to launch an unreleased track titled “Segundo, siguro” and then closed the show with, you guessed it, “Pagsamo.”

But more than anything, the soldout show at the New Frontier Theatre is the singer’s big thank-you to his fans, to which he owes his current status. A theatre-sized thanks as Nery can’t help but gush his gratitude to those who came and watched and reflected all the love he was giving that night a thousandfold.