As Men I Trust returned to Manila for the “Equus Tour,” the Filipino crowd welcomed the Canadian dream pop outfit with cheers. “You guys are the best crowd we had on the whole tour,” said lead singer Emma Proulx. “We don’t say that every night, just to make sure you know.”
Nearly three years after the band first performed here in Wanderland 2023, and 12 years since forming, its members have proven themselves to be masters of atmosphere in the studio and onstage.
Audiences entering the Filinvest Tent were greeted by a pre-show playlist, which featured songs from fellow Canadian artists such as Daniel Caesar, TOPS, BADBADNOTGOOD, and Polami Roko. Save for Madonna’s “Into the Groove,” the playlist served as a mood-setter, featuring tracks in the vein of Men I Trust’s dreamy blend of funk, R&B, and synth-pop.
This made Fitterkarma an unlikely and surprising choice for an opener. The Filipino band is known for grit and grime, often pairing edgy and melancholic themes in its lyrics with loud, in-your-face rock. What the band did for this show was bring a fiery energy onstage to warm up the crowd (the venue does get cold) and got people to at least bop their heads. The phones came out for the viral hit “Pag-Ibig ay Kanibalismo II,” which the audience passionately sang along to.
At around 9 p.m., Men I Trust finally ascended the stage in cheers. Proulx, keyboardist Dragos Chiriac, and guitarist Jessy Caron were joined by tour musicians Eric Maillet on the drums and Alexis on the bass.
I’ve always considered Men I Trust’s catalog to be the sort best listened to with headphones, and wondered, entering the concert venue, how the three-piece would translate its sound live. But when the band opens the show with “To Ease You,” the first track off their latest album, Equus Caballus, Chiriac’s synths shimmer just the same.
Live, Proulx sounds more like a restrained Cyndi Lauper, fragile and hushed melodies emerging from the throat. With the way the stage is set up, all other band members are stationary on their platforms; only Proulx has the space to move around, and she uses it to walk up to the crowd at both ends of the stage and smile and nod at them.
Save for Caron’s silk-smooth guitar solos, which were few in number, the band forgoes theatrics to engage the audience. Men I Trust knows that atmosphere is its best asset, and takes the hour-and-a-half-long show pulling the crowd into a different plane, and the audience follows, drawn by Alexis’ fluid basslines and a heartbeat-commanding drum performance by Maillet.
While the audience sang along to favorites like “Tailwhip” and “Sugar,” they watched other numbers quietly, sometimes just not knowing the words, other times totally entranced. Someone behind me muttered “Shit” when the song “Numb” came on, not because it was crap, but because hearing its slow groove live is a full-body experience.
After a performance of “Say, Can You Hear,” (I found myself singing back to them, “Waiting for the world to bend around you,” in the chorus), the band waved the crowd goodbye, prompting the “Isa pa” chant. Men I Trust obliged and launched into “Show Me How,” with the audience singing along.
Men I Trust ended the concert, for real now, with “Billie Toppy,” one of the more electrifying songs on their discography. Grounded on a driving post-punk beat that could get one dancing, the song was an excellent back-to-earth finisher for the show.
