If you grew up in the 90s or early 00s, you definitely sang M2M songs in your bedroom. Last May 1 and 2, we were transported to those days as Marion Raven and Marit Larsen held their shows in Manila as part of their The Better Endings Tour.
On the first day of their Manila shows, fans (wearing purple, of course!) filled the Smart Araneta Coliseum, excited for the concert they thought would never be possible.
When the Norwegian pop duo took the stage and sang “The Day You Went Away,” you could see and hear just how Filipino fans anticipated this moment. It was the perfect song to start this reunion. After playing their second song in their set, “Everything You Do,” M2M told the crowd how this tour came to be.Â
“We’re starting to think this is a really good idea,” Marit told the audience with a laugh. Marion said, “We’re so happy that one year ago, we met each other in that coffee shop.”
“It felt like destiny was playing us a trick, and we’re having that truth being reinforced every night. We hadn’t talked for over 20 years. I was running late, and Marion had a flat tire. And there we were in line, at the coffee shop, the two of us. Nobody else was in the room.” Marit was telling the story and also smiling at Marion, obviously thankful to experience this tour with her friend.
Call it destiny or a coincidence, but you cannot deny that their fans were thankful that the stars aligned at that moment.
Marion added, “We decided to meet a few days later and have coffee, and we talked for 5 hours about everything. And we decided, ‘Let’s go on tour.’ You guys were the first show [that went on sale], and it sold out in 20 minutes. That’s crazy.”
The crowd cheered, also thankful to be part of this experience with the duo. Marit thanked the fans for making them feel so welcome.
Marit and Marion also played some of their solo songs, such as “The Minute,” “I Don’t Want to Talk About It,” “Driving,” “Don’t Save Me,” “If a Song Could Get Me You,” and “Under the Surface,” which Marion said she wanted to include in the set because it is her favorite song by Marit and that she wanted to hear it each show.
In between songs, Marit expressed her disbelief, saying, “Is this really happening?”
“This idea would not make sense if you had not kept these songs alive while we were gone. I don’t know if you understand what this means to us.”
Marion added, “We just wanna thank you for keeping our music alive for so many years.”
She then introduced “Pretty Boy,” saying that they wrote the song about their teenage crushes when they were 14 or 15 years old. “But now I have a son. He’s one and a half years old. And now I feel like the song is about him.”
The crowd sounded amazing as they sang with perfect harmony and backing vocals. At one point, the duo paused because they were emotional and overwhelmed, and Marion said, “Stop it, you’re gonna make us cry!” Throughout the song, they were smiling and beaming while looking at each other and around the coliseum.
After the song, Marion told the crowd, “You are the most incredible choir in town,” and joked, “The karaoke is really helpful.”Â
Aside from M2M’s songs from “Shades of Purple,” they also performed tracks from “The Big Room,” such as “Love Left for Me” and “What You Do About Me,” during which Marion made her way through some sections of the arena and interacted with fans.
Marion also impressively sang “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now,” a cover she recorded with American singer Meat Loaf. “While you were singing M2M in your bedroom, I was singing Céline Dion in my bedroom,” also adding that it is a good karaoke song. After Marion’s performance, Marit came out on stage and said, “My friend, Marion Raven, everyone!”
The last two songs before the encore were “Mirror Mirror” and “Everything.”
When M2M took the stage for the encore, they said they wanted to talk about something. “There’s one thing that we really remember from Manila … and that is Megamall. Were any of you there? We had an autograph signing. We were gonna write some autographs … and 10,000 people showed up. It was crazy.”
Marit said that the first encore song, “Don’t Mess with My Love,” was added to their set because a lot of fans requested it. Of course, an M2M concert wouldn’t be complete without “Don’t Say You Love Me,” which wrapped the duo’s first night in Manila.
Even before that Megamall event in 2000 until now, M2M’s Filipino fans have kept that love alive and showed Marit and Marion just how their music made a mark and influenced a generation. The show was a celebration of friendships and deep connections, and it also felt like filling in all the blanks of a story we all loved since we were young.
More photos here.
M2M: The Better Endings Tour in Manila was presented by Wilbros Live.
Words by Ava S.
Photos by Seth Valenzuela
Leave a Reply