MANILA, Philippines?Two concerts featuring contemporary big-name foreign artists were held a week apart?surprisingly not at the Araneta Coliseum.

Chris Daughtry, playing to a capacity crowd on July 29 at Eastwood City in Libis, Quezon City, led a band of dashing and quirky rock ?n? roll outlaws in a short but highly charged set.

Looking like a stevedore on his day off in a denim polo shirt, jeans, black sneakers and a bonnet, Daughtry went right down to business with a guitar-driven song.

As he took off the bonnet to reveal his trademark skinhead, the celebrated fourth-placer in Season 5 of ?American Idol? began attacking each succeeding number with so much intensity, treating the mic like a lover?s lips gone cold.

Real pleaser

By the time he seemed on the verge of tears in the chorus of ?I?m Not Over You,? a pattern had emerged. Daughtry?s style of rock ?n? roll hews closely to the stirrings of blue-eyed soul musicians. He breathes life to voices that cry out for sympathy. The tunes rise above the usual sad love stories, with arrangements that could knock you off your feet.

The real pleaser came after the encore of ?Home,? when bassist Josh Paul started fooling around with thrash metal grooves and Daughtry sprinted near the edge of the stage, spraying the crowd with bottled water.

When he tripped over and stood up with an embarrassed smile, we knew this guy was a winner.

Keys holds court

Meanwhile Alicia Keys, surrounded by a funky 10-piece band, held court Aug. 5 at the SMX Convention Center of SM Mall of Asia.

In a tight leather vest and even tighter black jeans, the 27-year-old singer-songwriter looked as if she was about to do a Beyonce.

But charming as she already was, with lovely biracial features, Keys would have done better with minimal choreography.

She was at her best when she played on the Moog synthesizer, squeezing out the funkiest notes that recalled her greatest acknowledged influence, Stevie Wonder.

There was a lot of Motown soul and a dash of hip hop and reggae when she sang ?You Don?t Know My Name,? which won her a Grammy for Best R&B Song in 2005.

A number that paid tribute to 1960s girl groups, in which she was backed up by an all-black trio, forecast the soulful wailing that would define the rest of the evening.

In a track that began with a bluesy vamp, Keys soared with an R&B aria that had echoes of Aretha Franklin. Andre, the male backup singer, engaged Keys with his own solo that could?ve shattered windows, if there were any.

And there lay some of the worries that people in the crowd chattered about. The SMX, a last-minute replacement for the original open-air venue outside the MoA due to the threat of rain, was not the best place for a major concert. An atrocious wide pillar blocked the view from the middle area whenever Keys moved to the right side of the stage. There were few exits and virtually no sign of fire escapes. Worse, the mono-block chairs, tied so close to one another, made seating very uncomfortable.

Eastwood was not ideal for a rock concert, either. Apparently, the promoters of both gigs went against all odds to mount good shows, even if, in the case of Eastwood boss Kevin Tan, it was a nonprofit, promo venture.

Until somebody builds something better than the Big Dome, all other venues will leave much to be desired.