While we know Belle Mariano primarily for her scintillating acting stints, it can’t be denied that she has proven herself as a legit recording artist with her debut album Daylight and her newly-released EP Somber. Following her successful Daylight digital concert held last January 2022, Belle hit another significant and impressive milestone in her career with her first live, face-to-face, and in-person solo major concert. Entitled Beloved, the sold-out show unified her bubblies (fandom), friends, and family at the New Frontier Theater where she unleashed and lived her inner pop star dreams to the max. She was definitely in her element last July 22 and radiated that pop princess loveliness, poise, vigor and elegance.

The show started with a very cool Belle video montage followed by the concert’s opening number, which, fittingly, is her breakthrough song “Sigurado” with orchestral arrangements. She then had her quick opening spiels to welcome the sold-out crowd before stripping off the pink skirt of her pink catsuit and chiffon coat ensemble custom made by Joseph Palma to perform a fiery song-and-dance cover of the Dua Lipa hit “Levitating”. To say she slayed the performance is a massive understatement. Belle collaborated with her stylist Adrienne Concepcion for her four incredible looks that evening.

A video montage explaining her new EP Somber played, followed by performances of album tracks “Road Trip” and a stripped down rendition of "Session Road”. On the surface, it seems that this is a tender ballad love about making some quality time with your special someone, but halfway through it reveals itself to be a sorrowful story of realizing that the relationship is merely a dream that’s not coming to fruition. Using the metaphor of a road trip, the song finds Belle revealing the desolate reality that their time together has met its endgame. “Sad to say our roadtrip has come to an end.”

Somber exhibits Belle as a satisfactory storyteller with her song, and “Session Road” is one of the tracks that best exemplifies this. After licking her wounds by vacationing in Baguio City, it soon steers to a chance meeting with a new boy on Session Road. With a musical arrangement that surmounts and rises to characterize its developing feelings, the song symbolizes how separations can get convoluted.

For Somber, Belle collaborated with some of the youngest and most promising producers and songwriters around. She had a ready army to work with – Daylight producer and certified hitmaker-songwriter-producer Rox Santos, singer-songwriters Trisha Denise, Cesca, and Jeremy G. (also a budding studio wiz).

Belle brought in Cesca onstage to do the Somber track “Pansamantala”, where Belle digs deeper and contemplates on the insight that her relationship is nearing its inevitable sad conclusion. It is a very bitter pill to take, and that’s an emotion Belle and Cesca flesh out with their heavenly voices. Still, the song ends to new possibilities of reawakening the love, that a spark can be lit once more.

After Cesca’s solo spot, Belle returned with another lovely blue ensemble and performed one of her biggest hits “Tanging Dahilan”. It sparked the biggest kilig moments of the night when Donbelle partner Donny Pangilinan appeared on the LED screens! By the way he looked alone, it was easy to see how proud he was of Belle on her own spotlight.

The Gen Z phenomenal actress then delivered a medley of international hugot hits from different recent time periods – “Driver’s License” by Olivia Rodrigo, “The Man Who Can’t Be Moved” by The Script, and “I Don’t Want to Wait” by Paula Cole.

Belle then sang “Bugambilya”, arguably one of the biggest early favorites from Somber. The track lyrically offers the most sophisticated take on the whole record in a four-minute emo masterpiece. "Hugis ng pananabik ang namumulaklak sa panimula/Ng isang panahon kung sa'n nais kong umalis.” The approach to have bilingual Filipino and English lyrics paid off, putting the song at its most expressive.

Another collaborator from the Somber EP, Trisha Denise joined the proceedings onstage. It was also a reunion of sorts for the two, as Trisha also wrote the aforementioned “Sigurado” for Belle. The pair performed “Running Out of Time”. This track can be considered as a Gen Z anthem of sorts where the song’s main persona evokes the pressures that many young people go through today, that constant need to rush to achieve many things as possible. We live in a time where people feel that there’s never enough time and demand instant satisfaction, and the track makes the point of how this mindset takes a toll on your physical, mental, and emotional health. Considering how she has hardly taken a break since her ascension to fame a couple of years ago, “Running Out of Time” is one we think resonates with Belle. This song gives value to taking things one step at a time.

Belle’s last special guest performer for the night was once-in-a-generation pop talent and one of her closest friends in showbusiness, Darren Espanto. She once again displayed her flair for song-and-dance with their performance of the Philpop gem “Dati”.

Mariano gave her fans a surprise thrill when she picked up an acoustic guitar and performed the Jayda Avanzado-penned inspirational song “Rise”. Musical director Iean Inigo then took the acoustic guitar cudgels to help her do a different acoustic spin on a cover medley of “Time After Time” by Cyndi Lauper and “Dancing Queen” by ABBA

For her final stretch, Belle came out decked in a stunning black crystal covered- catsuit to perform the title track of her planned Somber and Solemn double concept EP. The track is about having that epiphany that life has its bright spots when you step back, pause, and consider everything. In spite of the difficulties and confusion, there is always light at the end of the darkness.

She closed her first major concert fittingly with the Selena Gomez empowerent and independence anthem "Who Says" and took a final bow from some of her most significant life and career well-wishers and, of course, Donny Pangilinan. Belle returned for an ancore and capped the night off with a cover of the party rock anthem "Shut Up and Dance" (WALK THE MOON).

While Belle Mariano, may still have a long ways to go before she can be considered a legitimate concert queen, she proved herself to be a new gen phenomenal pop princess.