As the crowd lined up at the New Frontier Theater last Saturday night, the exuberance on everyone’s faces was plain to see. Backstage the mood was quite similar. The band was calm, cool and collected yet with an underlying sense of excitement. The atmosphere was understandable considering it has been nearly two decades since this group has performed together. This was their second stop in the Philippine Tour 2018 just coming from another show in Cebu earlier in the week.

The Moffatts live in Manila

The Moffatts are a band hailing from Canada composed of four brothers, triplets Dave, Clint and Bob along with the eldest Scott. I covered their last concerts here last year which included 3 of the 4 members and Dave’s solo show which was at the Music Museum both of which were well received so I knew what to expect for this one. What I did not anticipate was the magic in the vocal harmonies of all four of them performing together. It’s not often when you hear four brothers performing in sync with a such a deep resonance that touched the souls of the everyone in the crowd.

The attendees lost themselves in the concert itself, as a live show should be. On-stage you could feel the joy of the brothers as they performed together as one unit. There’s something special here that words cannot adequately describe. It’s in the relationship of the four brothers. There’s an unspoken bond which is reflected on and off stage.

I was also the official photographer covering the meet and greet before the show. And how a band behaves off stage provides as much insight to the musical artists themselves as it does when you look into their musical history. There were 200 eager fans waiting patiently, which is more than average, usually, it’s between 50-100 and all of the Moffatts were accommodating, friendly and welcoming.

They even allowed each fan to take a selfie and an official photograph. It’s usually one or the other, not both due to time constraints. In between photographs they clowned around as you would expect brothers to do while still sincerely greeting each and every fan. They even took the time to pose with a sentimental stuffed toy. Backstage they may have had a tiny spat or two in regards to details about the show, however, they communicated their thoughts well, made a decision that they all agreed upon and moved on. All this behavior shows the true spirit of their caring, dedicated and loving nature. Sincerity is one of the things you can’t fake, people see right through it.

The warmly received setlist was considerable with 23 songs that had a pleasant arc which carried from start to finish without much of a hitch. The list included hit throwback songs like “If Life Is So Short,” “The Girl of My Dreams,” “I’ll Be There For You,” and ending the concert with “Miss You Like Crazy.” They also included a couple of their latest songs, “Like I Love You” and “Secrets” from their six-track EP, Chapter: II which was recently released on November 9.

They also featured a couple of acoustic sets which broke things up nicely. Bob came out from behind the drum set and all four of them stood front and center to serenade the modest-sized crowd which sang along in true Philippine fashion. And in a wonderful gesture of a lifetime memory, two lucky fans were invited on stage as the boys serenaded them with the song “Girl of My Dreams” and took a few selfies while they were at it.

They included a couple of deeper cuts that didn’t receive much airplay yet maintained the crowds’ attentiveness with tracks like ‘Don’t Walk Away’ and ‘Girl I’m Gonna Get You.” Not to anyone’s surprise, the venue would erupt with shrill screams of joy when hearing just the first few notes of their favorite songs. As everyone in the venue celebrated the nostalgia with the 90’s boy band, folks were lost in time, forgetting about their daily troubles. The entire venue celebrated in a jubilant yet respectful fashion, just as a concert should be.