As a somewhat-frequent resident, I’ve seen some great entertainment acts at Lake Tahoe in my time; Bob Dylan, Chris Isaak, Richard Simmons … but I’ve never heard the smooth song stylings of a WBC super welterweight champion. That all changed on Tuesday with Manny Pacquiao’s sold-out concert at Harrah’s Tahoe, in which he took fans on a musical magic carpet ride of delight. Actually, Manny’s not a great singer … but neither is Kevin Costner, and his band also sells out the South Shore Room.
It was a day to remember. First came Manny’s press conference, in which he said he’s feeling fine after pounding Antonio Margarito into a fine powder at Cowboys Stadium. So complete was the beatdown that Margarito required facial surgery, which was completed on Tuesday. No, there was no news on the Floyd Mayweather front; at this point Mayweather is just an afterthought. While he’s holed up in Vegas, Pacquiao is entertaining the masses on stage, literally occupying the high ground in their political stalemate. They don’t even need to meet now; Pacquiao is pretty universally considered, if not the better fighter by some, the real people’s champion.
And he likes to party, in an open-collared, Rat Pack kind of way … which has been a Tahoe specialty since the 1940s. Joining Pacquiao on stage were the MP Band and Madonna Decena and some other people I don’t recognize, and as a bonus for me fully half the songs were in Filipino. Proving his staying power once again, Pacman insisted on a full rehearsal, then at the show sang 20 songs straight through without a break. At one point he brought up his wife, Jinkee, onto the stage to serenade her, although she looked more interested in picking out people in the crowd.
Pacquiao will be singing again tonight in Vallejo, Calif., before heading back to the Philippines. Stay cool, my Pocket Sinatra.
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Pacquiao’s Lake Tahoe concert a hit [ABS-CBN News]
