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Jerry Donato - The Philippine Star
February 28, 2025 | 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — The voices behind such hits as Pretty Boy, The Day You Went Away, Don’t Say You Love Me, Mirror, Mirror and Everything You Do are coming to Manila in May for a two-night showcase and also to Cebu and Davao. The Norwegian pop duo of Marion Raven and Marit Larsen, also known as M2M, are reconnecting with Pinoy fans after over 20 years.
The first sight of that possibility came when the two famous artists released the acoustic version and video clip of The Day You Went Away on Sept. 22, a Sunday, last year on Instagram, with the caption, “Let’s give this story a better ending.” It reached fans across the world, and they took it as a sign of a much-awaited reunion of Marion and Marit, who have forayed into their respective solo careers since 2002.
“The lyric on the song says September twenty-second, Sunday, and last year, September twenty-second was on a Sunday. So, we thought it was very meant to be and we had to, you know, release the comeback on this day and also sing the song. So, that’s why,” said Marion when The STAR asked her and Marit about the idea behind the post and the choice of The Day You Went Away in a recent virtual interview.
“And also, you know, back in the day, it all ended so quickly, you know, we never really got to say ‘bye’ in a way,” added she, “and now, we just want to, you know, come back and reconnect with everybody and also have big concerts. We never had big M2M concerts back in the day. So, finally, we get to play the music live.”
At the height of their popularity, they had an Asian tour that included the Philippines, and their team mounted a show at SM Megamall in April of 2000 to promote the album titled Shades of Purple. M2M even appeared in a noontime variety show a year later for another album, as YouTube clips show.
“Well, one of our biggest memories is being in the Philippines because the Philippines has always been, like, the most crazy audience, and they’re always, like, so much fun,” shared Marion, “and like one of my biggest memories from back in the day is when we had the autograph session at the Megamall. We were gonna write just a few autographs there, but 10,000 people showed up. It was so crazy. We felt like the Beatles or something.”
Their Pinoy fans are supporting them and coming together for the reunion concert dubbed “M2M: The Better Endings Tour 2025” with the Manila shows at the Araneta Coliseum on May 1 and 2 sold out and two performances on May 3 and May 4 at the SMX Convention Center Davao and the Waterfront Hotel Cebu, respectively.
“You know, it’s been so magical that we’re reconnecting with our audience online,” said Marit, adding that she and Marion ran into each other at a coffee shop in Oslo last year.
“That’s how this all started. We haven’t been in touch for a really long time and we’ve rediscovered our friendship. We’ve rediscovered our music and we’ve already spent the first couple of months of this year, we’re really reconnecting with everything. It feels with so much joy to see the response online, too, like how fast these venues (have been) sold out. It’s been overwhelming.”
How do they describe their music from the day Marion and Marit formed the duo until they decided to pursue solo careers?
“I would say like singer-songwriting pop,” answered Marion, while as for Marit, she said, “I think our vocal blend is like the sound of the M2M, it’s really fun to rediscover (it)… when we’re playing it together again. I sound like me, you sound like you, but nothing else really sounds like M2M. It’s really fun, it’s magic.”
According to Marion, they both have successful solo careers, released many albums and done tours as well. “You know, of course, we sound different, but in the same way, we also grew up together and come from the same band. We’re both, you know, pop music still,” said she.
Marit added that they have different musical influences, but around the time when they went their different ways, Marion was going into the rock genre direction. Marit, on the other hand, was discovering Joni Mitchell. Marion was also listening to Alanis Morissette.
Marit continued by stating that “we’ve been influenced by so many different things, but we also, yeah, like what I said, we always sounded like us and that’s also what’s fun on this tour because we’re playing so many M2M songs and we’re also including a few songs from each of our careers.
“And when we play them together now as a band, it almost feels like they were all M2M songs all along, we were just on different planets when we wrote them. And I think it’s very poetic.”
With that, it’s safe to say that Pretty Boy, The Day You Went Away, Don’t Say You Love Me and Mirror, Mirror are in their concert repertoire, and also Everything You Do.
“We had so much fun rehearsing it last week,” said Marit. “We have big plans for that song.”
Fans and music enthusiasts, secure your tickets to the Cebu and Davao shows via SMTickets.com and SM Tickets outlets.
