Man On The Side: We built this Owl City

There were slightly more people hanging out at Bonifacio High Street’s Central Plaza last Friday evening than usual. Actually, there were several thousand more warm bodies kickstarting the weekend, and they all crowded around the amphitheater to catch the free live show of American pop-rock artist Owl City.

Adam Young (aka Owl City) has been here to Manila twice before. I caught his very first show back in 2010 at the outside parking of the Trinoma Mall in Quezon City. He had just broken through the maistream back then with his inescapably catchy single “Fireflies.”

“I remember being surprised at how many people were there,” Young told me and a couple of other journalists in an interview the day before the BHS show. “The people who showed up, they knew all the words and all the songs. Even some of the older, less popular songs. On that trip, I had only been out of the country a few times, so I remember it being very overwhelming, but in a good way.”

If you’ve never heard of any of Owl City’s songs, imagine a mid-afternoon walk through a meadow or forest populated by butterflies and friendly rabbits, squirrels and other assorted woodland creatures. “Whimsical,” “charming,” and “quirky” are often used to describe Young’s music, which, in the very broadest terms, is a mash-up of indie, electronica and pop. I couldn’t help but ask Young if those are words that could describe his personality as well.

“Yeah I’d say that’s pretty accurate, which is a cool thing because it sort of feels like, the artist really does shine through the music. And for listeners, it almost feels like when they get to know the music, the album, in a way, they kind of get to know me, and my quirks and my traits and whatnot. And it’s an amazing, powerful thing.”

While much of his music has sort of stayed along those musical lines, Young says he’s going in a different direction on his next album, due out this summer in the US. “[It’s] a little bit more diverse than some of my previous records. And the way I went about trying to achieve that is to create songs that are inspired by my love of different genres. There’s inspiration from dance, pop, electronic, even a country song, and a punk rock sensibility that came from my love of bands like Green Day. So all of these influences that I love listening to, kind of filtered their way down.”

At the show last Friday night, my friends and I hoped to be able to catch the show, or, worst case, hang out in one of the restaurants around the amphitheater and listen to Owl City while enjoying end-of-week drinks, which was exactly what happened. The sheer number of fans who turned up made it near-impossible to even catch a decent camera phone shot of the stage, let alone find a spot to stand and watch the performance. We settled in a table al fresco in one of the restaurants as Young and his band, and the rest of the crowd, serenaded us with his hits including “Shooting Star,” “Meteor Shower,” “This Isn’t The End,” “Deer In The Headlights,” “Tokyo,” “Hello Seattle,” and of course, “Fireflies.” He even did a cover of Nena’s “99 Red Balloons,” before ending the show with his big hit with Carly Rae Jepsen, “Good Time.”

“I’m so blessed to be able to tell my friends and family back home that I’m going on a trip halfway around the world,” Young said during the interview. “My friends back home can’t believe I’m playing a show in Manila because it’s so far away. It’s so cool for me to say. I just love it here. So thank you to the fans for being so supportive and allowing me to come back for the third time. None of it would be possible without the fans.”

While it wasn’t a bad way to spend a Friday night for me and my friends, the hardcore fans who turned up were slightly more enthused, no doubt. When I met Young, he was soft-spoken and meek; I got the impression of someone who’s still very much appreciative, maybe even disbelieving, of all the successes he’s notched over the last few years. Here’s hoping he never loses that charm, sense of wonder, and yeah, whimsy, in the years to come. — BM, GMA News

Paul John Caña is a magazine writer and live music geek. He is also co-founder of , an online collective of writers and artists. Email him at pjcana@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter and Instagram @pauljohncana.