T5 Live In Iloilo City: Rock and Royal

Yes, ignore the title.

If you measure the excitement of me and my friends, it would be equal to the collective excitement of the whole audience.  The story was, we attended last year's T5 Live in Iloilo City and it became one of our most memorable concert experience.  Full story here.

Now that we have that established, I felt like we need to top that event.  We have secured tickets weeks before the event and at the same time scoured VIP's to hopefully recreate the last years event.  However, hours away from the show, all sources ran out of tickets that can get us an open bar and a huge possibility of photo ops. Then I remembered Miggy from At The Womb, announcing that they will be giving away VIP tickets.  I killed all my shame and texted him if he still has tickets he can spare for us.  Fortunately, he still had two tickets and I rushed passed the guards to get the tickets from him.  As soon I saw crowd of people on queue to get in, I was already freaking out because of excitement.

I was exited because of the following reasons:

I will be seeing Urbandub again, after a long time.

I will be seeing Urbandub with Franco on bass.

I will be seeing Urbandub and might get a chance to have a photo taken with them.

I will be seeing Urbandub with my friends who loves the band as much as they love me.

And most of all, I will be seeing  Urbandub.

When I entered the Iloilo Sports Complex the crowd was just building up.  The drinks at the backstage open bar was tempting but the energy of the crowd was even tempting so I decided I will join them.

When Wolfgang took the stage the crowd erupted, obviously glad that it was not raining this time, although it sort of rained because Basti was throwing cups of drink for the crowd to catch.  It also rained of freebies during their set.  My friend, the lucky bastard that he is, won a guitar! And all we could do was have our photos taken with it.  Wolfgang kicked ass.  Seeing them for the second time is like meeting an old friend. I dont know why when they performed their was a certain heaviness in the air that urges you to just bang your head and stomp your feet along to their music.  

Urbandub is by far the second band who has the most lyrics that fueled me to do things and write about them.  When they sung Soul Searching, yes that was exactly what we were doing.  Urbandub started their set with Alert the Armory and the crowd exploded, especially us.  We sung and shouted the lines with burning passion. It is different hearing a song live because it gives you a direct view of how the artist would carry the lines and hearing it along with other people that could relate makes it even more special.  Even if I could see the band right in front of me, I still felt like the audio I was listening to was recorded, that's how good they sound live.  Unfortunately Lalay was not playing with them that night but Franco was their to take over the bass and he did amazing.  When they sung Frailty, I was already out of voice.  They closed their set with A New Tattoo and right then and there our day was made.

When Kamikazee was about to take the stage, we knew we had to move out to the safest place, the VIP area.  Rock n roll results to too much thirst and drinks were just flooding the venue.  Kamikazee and alcohol is a deadly combination, especially on stage.  During the first line of their first song, rain poured down and half of the crowd ran for cover.  It was a bit like last year.  Kamikazee has that special ability to make the crowd go crazy along with them, it is impossible to dissect if it is because of Jay's antics or their music itself or maybe both.  It is also amazing how everyone knows every line of their songs.

I am in love with Rico Blanco.  I want to marry his voice and wake up listening to it every day of my life.  However, that is a fictional story. What was real was he took the stage and made the crowd fall in love.  Oh well, maybe just me and a hundred other girls.  He was so hot that the place became even hotter. I am groping for comprehensible sentences to describe how fun his performance was however I was mainly focusing on how charming his face and his voice was.  Again, if I could spend my lifetime loving his voice, I would.

Parokya ni Edgar closed the show along with all the artists jamming on the stage.  The magic behind Parokya's longevity as a band is that their music is catchy and easily relatable and it shows during their performances, especially that night while the crowd sung along with them.  With all respect to the other artists that night, Parokya owns almost more than half of that crowd.  They patiently waited for their idols to sing their favorite songs.  The brotherhood that their music has created is huge.  It is just amazing.

The show did not top last year, therefore I concluded that the first times are always special because of the excitement and surprise.  The second time around can be spoiled by great expectations.  There are few first times that happened that night and I realized those are the things that made that night special.  With that being said for tours like T5 Rock Royalty, there has to be something new every time to send the crowd home looking forward to the next tour.

And the bouncers should also be a lot nicer, especially to girls.

Overall, I was really happy to see Urbandub again and I went home looking at this photo for hours.

PS:  Thank you Miggy of At The Womb for the tickets.  

Markers Of Another Beautiful Memory: The Camerawalls Live In Iloilo City

This is a long overdue blog about the Iloilo leg of The Camerawalls' Pamagdoy: A Visasyan Tour.

Flashback:
February 11, 2011, it was one of those wondrous afternoons when the damp air doesn't dampen your spirit instead it whispers "something great is going to happen tonight".

Me and my friend sat there with nothing but conversation and intrigue about the indie bands that was scheduled to play that night.  Four hours after, we were taken back to the glory days of Britpop, only it was distinctly Filipino.  It might be the music, the beer or the atmosphere but everything felt surreal.  I am a fan of indie music and that night it was like being smack dab at the heart of indie music.  And The Camerawalls along with other bands who played that night, was able to take me to that special place.


Flashforward:
April 24, 2012, it was a humid night and is a good time to hear great songs that will chill you out.  It looked like a good night, except that I was on my own.  I came to a gig with the sole intention of having  a date with the band and their music.

Photo:  Antonetter Maniquis

I have been listening to Orange and Lemons, especially to their songs with lovely melodies on them and when I get to hear The Camerawalls singing "I Love You Natalie" I fell in love with their music.

Mellow Mangove is a pretty intimate place for a show.  The Camerawalls kicked the night away with cover songs and some of their original songs.  When they sung "Across the Universe"  I went "how did they know of all my favorite songs?" in my mind.  You know how you get so surprised and you barely can sing along in awe?  I consistently had that moment the whole two hours that they played.

When The Camerawalls had their show last year, we were able to get to know how nice they are.  And what's even nicer was Clem was able to recognize me and he even called out my name.  Little things like that completes a fan's story.

The Camerawalls music attracts me because of their subtle poetry and pleasant melodies.  And when they perform on the stage they remind me of The Smiths, The Cure, Belle and Sebastian and especially The Beatles.  I like to think of my self as a child lost on a different generation and being able to see them takes me home.

That night, they sung some Orange and Lemons song to the delight of some fans of the band they missed.

If you haven't listened to The Camerawalls yet, don't miss out on one of the best bands in the Philippines.  Their music is available on their website and you can follow them on Facebook for schedules of their upcoming gigs.

It was a night of friendship, fun and most of all music.  They played in front of a small crowd but what matters most was they were able to mark another beautiful memory on all of them.

Down Memory Lane: Franco Live in Iloilo City

Well this is sort of overdue. I was not supposed to squeeze my mind of reactions toward that show but this is sort of request.  So Nikko, whether you attended or not, this one’s for you.

You might know Franco as a rock band that plays heavy alternative rock songs with irie roots glorifying the Jah given herb. They are also known as a gathering of the five of the best band musicians, some sort of opm rock dream team. And girls love their long-haired cute guitarist.

The show opened with a handful of local bands from Iloilo Lokal which were relatively enjoyable. You put up a show with a variety of musical styles under the alternative genre, you will surely have something for everyone. Some of this guys I see often, The Liberty Jam got some energy that almost made the makeshift stage collapse, Godchild got the crowd singing along, Breach of Fate got the crowd hyped up, and some other bands which were also remarkably talented.

When Franco took the stage they owned it. A few highlights were: Ocho setting up the mic, Franco talking to the crowd in twanged Cebuano thinking we understood him, the crowd clapping their hands in the air to the bridge of Song for the Suspects and the whole five minutes of This Gathering. It was an intimate show and people were on a sort of collective musical high and I am smacked in the middle of them. There was smoke and sweat exchange which were just plain crazy and fun at the same time. Guys were screaming guy’s names. I tried to sing, more like shout, but the speakers beside us muted the sound of my voice. For the whole five hours, I might have smoked a pack of cigarette all secondhandedly. My feet and back ached but fuck it, this is rock n’ roll.

There is actually a back story to this whole “dying to watch Franco” thing.  Rewind to July 28, 2011, they opened for Incubus in Manila and unfortunately we were not able to catch perform because of a serendipitous disaster.  To read the whole plight, click here.  So it was kind of, here’s the chance of making up a prequel to that.  And we get to hear not just five but eight songs.

Franco didn’t play For My Dearly Departed which might dissolve the crowd’s exuberance.  I didn’t get to see Buwi Menesis (Tuts Calinawan of Queso was taking care of the bass for him).  No shirts were thrown or stripped.  I did not have a photo taken with the band.  Still, for a fan, just being there is worth it.  Music will always be worth it.

Franco Live in Iloilo City - November 25, 2011

Original link.

Photos: Kristian Guanco

The Rough Drive to Incubus Live in Manila 2011

How far will you go for your favorite band?

Your answer to that question wont matter.  I bet you a ticket for the next Incubus Live in Manila concert.  When you find yourself in the situation that question wont even cross your mind.

It is safe to say that Incubus is one of my top one favorite bands, along with Nirvana and The Beatles (both stand no chance of touring).  I grew up along with their sound.  When they were nu metal, I loved loud music.  When they were funk, I was tasting other kinds of music.  When they were singing about positivity I was trying to make myself.  Their songs are a huge part of my existential evolution.

I first heard about their If Not Now, When? tour from a friend. Without confirming it on their website, I am already set to attend.

The first and the major bump on the road is the road itself.  Iloilo City is a fourty five minute plane ride away from Manila.  I was jobless and of course pennyless too.  We have to book a hotel room and we cant just starve in a city so overwhelmingly different from home.  Despite all of these, the journey to the Incubus concert is definitely going to happen.  Even Rapture has to be rescheduled to make way for us.

By the end of April we already have an iterinary.  It took us three months of preparation.  We even had to upgrade tickets since General Admission were already sold out just three weeks after availability.

My boring days are suddenly filled with excitement.  Every time I hear an Incubus song, I imagine myself jumping along to the Araneta Colliseum crowd.  I was seeing the sun that was invisible to others.

Two days before the concert, the weather was evil.  We were expected to land in Manila along with a superstorm.  Think fiction movies with plane slicing a dark sky, cruising past the lightning and dancing along to thunders.  It is almost like suicide.  But the airline thinks they are angels, so they rescheduled the flight, an hour before the concert.

We have to gamble and hope for the best.  The adrenaline rush has killed my humanly fears.  Plus, I have discovered the secret to flying during a bad weather, meditation.

It was a huge, “If Not Now, When?” moment.

We were able to land safely in Manila but we have to travel an hour to get to the venue.  We took the fastest route, but halfway thru the ride the train went to a halt because of power outage.  Our next option was a taxi ride, the problem is we dont know where the nearest taxi bay is.  We were running late, badly.  I could wish on a star, but there was none on the building covered sky. I was already frustrated and ready to give up.

It was the most heart breaking taxi ride I have ever experienced. The what ifs in my mind were frustrating. It was like the universe conspired against us.

When we arrived at the Araneta Colliseum, the crowd was more of screaming than singing. I saw Brandon Boyd,  Mike Einzinger,  Ben Kenny, DJ Killmore and Jose Pasillas on the stage.  Suddenly, the hardships evaporated.

Brandon vowed and kneeled at the end, it was as if he knew what we just went through.

Posted: August 2, 2011 (http://justanotherinsomniac.wordpress.com/)