It Is Simple Just Being...FREE!

We all have our reasons for why we love different stuff, but here's why I love concerts:

Because for approximately two hours, I get completely lost in the vibrations and lyrics and lights. For the price of a concert ticket, I am permitted to throw all caution to the hazy wind and jump as much as I want and scream my lungs out even if I sing out of key. It's videoke at a national anthem level (I am Pinoy after all), singing alongside kindred spirits, and for those two hours, there is no war, just peace, love, and an unspoken understanding that we are all here to have a good time -- and respect each other for it.

I'm only grateful that I was able to experience this on one unlikely evening in April, eighteen years after I experienced the same high with the same band.

I describe it as "unlikely" because there was nothing special about April at all.

First of all, like I said, this band's last gig in the country was eighteen years ago, so who would have anticipated that they would be in Manila that month? Secondly, I had been in some sort of concert drought, not having watched anything in a looooong time for various reasons, though one can easily blame how "life" and "priorities" have changed. Thirdly, due to the gig's de-prioritization in my supposedly-mature adult life, me and my supposed-concert date -- my best friend (let's call her Stevie) who I watched the concert with when we were 13 years old -- ended up buying a different concert ticket date from mine, so it wasn't exactly the ideal reunion scenario I had in mind.

Fast forward to April 8, Stevie watches the first gig and gives me a blow-by-blow SMS update pre-show. The concert starts and she's silent. The concert ends, and she just says, "No words."

Fast forward again to April 11. There were three bands to do the front act but we only entered when the third band was playing. The place was overly packed, people seemed pre-occupied with booze and cocktails; simply not the concert vibe that I know. Meanwhile, I counted down until M&C was up...

And then it started. Those butterflies as the band steps onto the stage. Those goosebumps that go with realizing that something you've wanted for so long is just within your grasp, and within seconds of unfolding right before your eyes. At ang pinaka nakaka kilig sa lahat -- the first strum, the first bass pluck, the first drumbeat, or the first echo. In this case, it was the drum intro to "Sundays".

Listen to how "Sundays" starts off and see what I mean! 

(Better yet, listen to the whole track and weep with me)

Immediately I understood why Stevie fell "silent" on her text messages to me.

From that moment, I time warped to when I was thirteen years old. I shocked myself that I still memorized most if not all of the lines from each song in the Lucky Dumpling album, and even Polyester from 12 Songs. I jumped up and down and up and down with a leather bag on my shoulder the whole time. I laughed at myself for forgetting that I'm NOT supposed to bring a bag to a concert! I shrieked and hooted and cheered at every chance, as if each additional decibel would yield a higher percentage chance of the band doing another gig in the next 24 hours. Oh, and did I say that I jumped up and down and up and down???

While each song seemed to carry an unexplained significance, my favorites for the night were "Koo Koo Koo", "Crazy Old World" and "Traveling Song".

Thinking more about it now, it was very liberating to sing-along to Koo Koo Koo's lines, which now strikes me as a very confident and cheerful way of saying "I'm my own self and I'm quirky and imperfect and I don't need to be like you and I'm aye-okay!" Slowing down to "Crazy Old World" in the middle of the super-energized night was an overwhelming reminder of how beautiful life and earth is, and to never forget to give due credit to its Creator. And "Traveling Song"? Can I just say I went crazy to how the band kept us hanging to the extended "I believeeeee..." and guitar strums so that we would go crazier once we all hit the chorus together: "...It is simple just being...FREE! Eeyow-eeyow-eeyow-ee-yee-ee-yow!"

There's no way possible I could recap the happiness of the night with mere words. Let me try to share my joy through some photos from camera phones ("unlikely" night, remember?) Much thanks to my sister for taking the pics and the whole group for waiting on me as I fan-girled after the gig. :)

Eeeeek, my view is blocked by camera phones!

Aaaaahhhhh finally, thank God, I see the guys :)

Stealing a shot of Jay-jay through all those videographers

Gugut! He looks much different without the long hair of the Lucky Dumpling photos ;)

Here we go!! Proudly showing off my memorabilia shirt from their 1997 concert.
They look amused, yiheeee!!!

My double-signed shirt! Bought and signed at the front and back in 1997;
signed again in 2014!

Check out my wide-eyed kilig smile even though no one is looking (yet)

Take two! Much better. HAPPINESS!!!

Let me go back to Sundays as I close this post. :)

I've lost once before / I'm older now
Sometimes I cannot remember / Sometimes I cannot forget how
I've lost once before / I'm older now
But sometimes I forget my age
Is there a yearning inside / that keeps the spirit free
Is there a yearning inside / that reminds us we'll succeed
- Sundays / Moonpools & Caterpillars

*****

If you got curious about Moonpools & Caterpillars from all my gushing, check out my favorite coverage of their recent visit:

• Inquirer Lifestyle Article by Pam Pastor
• Yahoo! Entertainment Article by Francis Reyes
• Lucky Dumpling Album Review by Ren Aguila
• YouTube videos of the April 11 concert (which I watched) by user deminfinitus8 (thank you, whoever you are!)

the concert that might have been

CAN. NOT. GET. OVER. it was such a beautiful night. sad. but happy that i saw at least 1/3 of it. kahit imagination na lang ang ginagamit ko para mabuo ang gabing yon, ok lang. like i said before -- everything happens for a reason. there's sunshine after the rain. there's light at the end of the tunnel. something bigget will come. hahahaha.

repost from http://thinair23.multiply.com who reposted it from http://www.candymag.com/teentalk/index.php/topic,175472.msg4108473.html#msg4108473. kebs lang. may hangover pa din ako eh. tsaka ganda i-share to.

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We were all supposed to dance the Huling El Bimbo with a fantastic fireworks display. It was going to be the perfect song to end a perfect concert. I know because my sister said so. She was one of the band's PAs (guess which one!) and was there during the production meetings. On Sunday morning, as we gathered for our family lunch, she told us what was supposed to go down during the Eheads concert. The first set went exactly as planned, except of course for Ely's collapse. To refresh your memory, these are the songs we heard:

1. Alapaap
2. Ligaya
3. Sembreak
4. Hey Jay
5. Harana
6. Fruitcake
7. Toyang
8. Kama Supra
9. Kailan
10. Wag Kang Matakot
11. Kaliwete
12. With A Smile
13. Shake Yer Head
14. Wag Mo Nang Itanong
15. Lightyears

During the second set, the band was to sing ten more songs, in this order:

1. Maskara
2. Poor Man's Grave
3. Torpedo
4. Trip to Jerusalem
5. Back To Me
6. walang Nagbago
7. Maling Akala
8. Tikman
9. Spoliarium
10.Magasin

When Magasin was to be played, the screen behind them would have montages of various news and magazine clippings of them. It would flash alternately with shots of the band and audience until the song reached the coda where Ely sings "...ay centerfold ka naaaa...woo hoo-hoo, haaa-haaa" part of the song. Then there would be fire works and a fountain of sparks, going on til the last note of the song. Then the hydraulic stage would be lowered and the band would make a "fake ending". The lights would then go out. My sister said the band would wait til the crowd chanted "more". "It would take two beers' worth of chanting "more" she said. Then in the darkness, a very dramatic keyboard solo would be heard, and it would be the opening chords of Para Sa Masa. The hydraulic stage would rise again and there they would be. After Para Sa Masa, they'd switch into Overdrive. With the crowd pumped within an inch of insanity they were to hit us with Pare Ko. And then we would slow down and reminisce with Minsan. Finally, they would perform Huling El Bimbo. Again, after the last refrain, at the coda (la la la laaa...) the grand fireworks display would go off, fountains of light surrounding the stage. The next la-la-la parts would see fireworks from behind the general admissions section, and as the song ended there would be a burst of confetti all over the audience. Then the hydraulic stage would be lowered for the final exit.

Those were the plans for the Ultraelectromagnetic night. It may not have happened as planned but at least we knew they were going to give us a show we would never forget!

We asked my sister if the band knew about all these  plans and she said they did. In fact they were so excited about all the gimmicks and couldn't wait to party with the audience. "Nag-usap pa nga sila kung may mga kailangang saluhin na kanta just in case (di na kaya ni Ely)," she said. "And Ely said, hindi, Kakanta ako!"

I'm putting out an order to the Universe that we all get to watch the second set!"

my elliott post

It started out as a typical Friday for me. Alarm rang at 6, I shut it off, procrastinated a bit, got out of the bed after 10 minutes or so, and quickly gobbled down breakfast. But as I walked towards the shower, I couldn't help but think if I should continue in my morning rush. It was, after all, the 21st of September. And Pamy mentioned the day before how her 21st was all planned out. And I have given my word, not just to Pamy but to myself, that I WILL watch our Idol. And weighing my chances of watching him on Friday or Saturday, knowing just how lazy my lazy ass can get, I was 99.9% sure that I'd end up sleeping through my Saturday morning rather than lining up for tickets in Glorietta.

AND SO. I made my decision.

With one text message, my whole morning, whole day, whole image and whole being was changed.

Haha! Do I sound whacked? You haven't heard the rest of the story. (Or rather, how much energy I have to write this length of an entry!)

The plan was to be at Trinoma in time for its 10:00 AM opening in order to secure Elliott Yamin concert tickets at the Activity Center concierge. Sounds simple enought, right? Little did I know that my morning would end up having Twists and Turns.

T&T #1
I had no way out of the house. All our cars were coding and, though I texted Pamy to try and hitch with her, she called me up to say that she couldn't. So suddenly, I had to figure out another way out. I panicked a bit. But then Pamy calls again to say that I can ride with her after all. Even better, she can pick me up! So in the end, I met her halfway inside one of the villages so that we (Pamy, Patty and I) were on our way to Trinoma by 9:30 AM.

T&T #2
While walking from the parking lot around 9:45 AM, the three of us were talking about how many people can possibly be lining up for this gig. Alas, when we caught sight of the entrance, there was actually a "competitive" line of people, a snake of potential rivals in getting tickets. We calmly went in line, but couldn't help but stare hard and gossip about those people who, in turn, gave us steely looks as if they were out to get us. (Of course, it could also just be paranoia, pero hindi, yung isa talagang nasa pinakaharap ng pila na tingin ng tingin sa'min...HE WATCHED THE CONCERT!!! Okay I'm preempting myself...)

T&T #3
Paranoid or not, it WAS a long line. But still, we tried to be more optimistic, more "realistic". The profile of the people was just too varied to ALL be Elliott fans. Young, teeny boppers, old, guys, girls, C1's, C2's...it was just a mix of people and we just thought, they can't possibly all be here for Elliott. In my head I thought, at most, maybe 50% are here to grab those tickets with us. But as the doors opened, and after each person stepped in to have the guards check his/her bag...each person just RAN. Not pick up the pace, not jog, but RAN. They were RUNNING towards the concierge to get the tickets!!! Naturally, this caused a surge of panic in the three of us and Patty, being the first one to get it, just sprinted the moment she was past the guard. And me and Pamy? We just chased her down. So there we were, running through the clean, shiny and fresh hallways of Trinoma at 10:10 in the morning.

T&T #4
As if running wasn't enough to get our adrenalines pumping, we arrived at the concierge to find ANOTHER long line of people waiting to get tickets to the show! LONGER than the line in the entrance! We were just blown away. Who thought Elliott had this much of a following?? Thankfully, our anxiety over whether there'll be enough tickets for us quickly went away when we found a flier saying that they're giving away 400 tickets. Phew. Cos we were definitely NOT past 400th in the line. Thank God.

T&T #5
But, as quickly as we were appeased, yet another reason for panic emerged: A lady announces that apart from giving away stubs to the first 400 people in line, they are ALSO giving away AUTOGRAPH-SIGNING STUBS to the FIRST FIFTY (50) people to buy his CDs in a nearby Odyssey booth! Shit! SHIT! We couldn’t get out of our line because we still had to get our seat stubs…so there we were, all fidgety and panicky until we got our stubs, and the moment we did, we dashed to the Odyssey booth and quickly checked if we still made it to the top fifty. And with our determination and speed, we, of course, did :D

T&T #6
The line was in its usual sad state. Some attempted to line jump, to “reserve” slots in the line, to buy an X number of CDs to earn an X number of autograph-signing stubs. Thank goodness there were Ayala Mall staff members to guard the line (and to make sumbong to) so that our spot was secure. They even gave us our line number (20, 21 and 22) to make sure that the first 50 are assured of their stubs. But best of all, it turned out that aside from getting an autograph-signing stub, we were also going to get a RESERVED SEAT stub. HOORAY!!! So that, by the end of the morning, Patty, Pamy and I were holding onto a regular seat stub, a reserved seat stub, an autograph-signing stub, a CD and a poster!

T&T #7
The adventure of the morning had me and Pamy arriving at the office past 11:30 AM. For me, this was a MAJOR twist as I didn’t even tell my boss I was going to arrive late!

During the concert, I can’t say there were MANY twist and turns. Seeing Elliott made me scream and screech and left me with a grin as wide as the distance between Fairview and Sucat. Expected. I couldn’t sing along to his songs but I ended up bopping along and screaming wildly. Expected. Elliott sang beautifully, and with the acoustic setup, his voice just came out clear and strong and pristine and PERFECT. Expected.

Now for twist and turn #7.

I love Elliott for his Idol performances. So I thought it fitting for him to choose “A Song For You” as a final song. What I had NO idea would happen was what would come over me when I actually hear him sing it.

I swear, I cried. I quickly wiped my tears before they rolled down my red, hot cheeks, but I promise, I just got goosebumps all over and I didn’t know what to do with my hands (I wanted to use them to throw something or squeeze something or maybe pull my hair—just do SOMETHING with them!) and this warm feeling just rushed from my toes to my head and tears just came out of my eyes! I just couldn’t believe he was there, singing, and I felt all the joy he felt when he got to where he was in Idol. And all the sadness/happiness I saw in his exit video when he was singing the same song in a stadium packed with fans just came over me. It was exhilarating. It made me feel high.

And when the song ended, we clapped and cheered and shouted even more crazily.

Then it was time for the encore. All of his musicians have the left the stage. He suggested doing an acapella. And, instinctively, and as if on cue, the three of us again shouted in unison: “MOODY’S MOOD! MOODY’S MOOD!”

And for some reason, our prayers were quickly answered, and Elliott, generously, lovingly, and to our ears’ and eyes’ and hearts’ pleasure, sang Moody’s Mood for Love in acapella. FABULOUS.

From that point on, the evening was a surreal. What followed was the traditional meet and greet, photo-taking, autograph signing sessions. The crowd was a riot, the marshals in their typical most-masungit selves. And while, at the end of it all, we also got our share of Elliott-signed CDs and “private one-on-one conversations” and HUGS with the man himself, I am left with no more words to describe how it all felt. Well, except maybe, this One Word: AMAZING.

Thank you, Pamy and Patty, for letting me become part of this adventure. No other pair can do fangirlism like the Lazatins do!

friday, i'm in love...

...with life!

hay, baduy ni ina, pero ano bang madadahilan ko -- masaya talaga kapag friday!

september 14

opismates decide to take advantage of my duty free benefits, so after work, nagsiksikan kami sa kotse ni mai at nagtungo sa PARANAQUE para magshapping!
discoveries for the evening include:
- duty free closes STRICTLY at 9pm (!!!!!!!)- havaianas craze
- peer pressure-prone ina and francis
- how duty free disrespectfully makes its shoppers stop shopping! (pinapatayan ba naman ng ilaw without any warning!)- distance between duty free and sm sucat
- "air force one"- jody and jeeps
some evidence from the night's shopping (sayang hindi namin na-achieve ang 2-cart goal --> 1 cart for jody and another cart for the rest of us!)




as if a 10:30 pm dinner in a 24 hour mcdo near sm sucat wasn't enough, i met up with miel in greenbelt around midnight to find out that his balikbayan cousins want their last night spent at red box! susmio, hindi ko akalaing babalik na naman ako sa lugar na 'yon!

check out miel belting it out. go miel!



many beers and songs later...ahem....just check out the videos :)
- ute's impersonation
- amar, miel and ute singing "i want it that way"

september 21 --> to be continued...but here's a preview:

the short of it: ELLIOTT YAMIN IS

rock concerts

i miss my rock n roll student days.

heading out to concerts. lining up for tickets. getting a stamp on my wrist (and not getting it off in the next 5 days). running towards the crowd. squeezing into the closest, nicest, sweetest spot at the bottom of the stage. bright lights swooping. speakers deafeningly loud. yung tipong sabog na ang tunog pero wala kang pakialam kasi masaya lang makipagsiksikan at makiisa sa gulo. singing along to every word. head banging. jumping to the beat. and jumping some more. pagpapawisan. magaamoy yosi at pawis. jumping some more. kakanta, kahit wala sa tono at mali-mali ang lyrics. hanggang mapaos. hanggang mapagod ang legs at matuyo ang lalamunan. nakakawala sa sarili. nakak-high, kahit walang drugs o alcohol. puros tunog at vibrations.

sarap.