with a smile

the first time i heard about it, i doubted if its gonna push through. but still, i wished that it really will. all the gossips, which kept on changing every now and then, were dealth with cynicism but still, i kept hoping. i even registered in the marloboro redlist even if i wasnt a smoker.

then aug 30 came.

a few minutes after 8pm, the numbers 10:00 were flashed on the screen, ticking. countdown na! sigawan ang mga tao, akala 10 seconds pero putik, 10 minutes pala to. ang tagal! haha ganunpaman, sinakyan na din ng mga tao. what is 10 minutes compared to 6 long years of waiting for the fab four este eheads to perform together on one stage. pagdating ng last 10 seconds on the 7th minute, sinabayan ang countdown. 10...9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2...1...zero woohooo pero syempre after nun, 6 minutes pa. at pagdating ulit ng last 10 seconds for that minute, chant na naman ang mga tao. that thing went on until finally, on the last minute, on the last second, pagdating ng zero, nagdilim ang stage. wooooooo wala kang makikita kundi ilaw ng mga cellphone, video, camera at kung anu-ano pang tech gadgets na dala dala ng mga panatiko para marecord ang kung anumang mangyayari sa gabing yun.

tapos biglang may lumabasa sa screen. ang mga katagang SA WAKAS (pasintabi sa sugarfree) and a flash of eheads images after that. maya maya, nagliwanag ang stage, putik, andun ang apat! lahat ng tao sumisigaw, nakataas ang mga kamay, nakatawa, nakangiti, ewan ko lang kung may naiiyak. i was shouting at the top of my lungs! its true! its true! haha hindi pa rin makapaniwala eh.

si ely syempre nasa gitna. nakaputi. may sukbit na gitara sa balikat. naka aviator shades. ang ayos ayos ng itsura. medyo pumayat. pero ang ayos ayos! si buddy, nakawhite coat din. pag nakaharap ka sa stage, nasa bandang kanan si buddy. ganun pa din ang itsura, hindi ngumingiti haha. si rayms, nasa likod, with the drums, naka-itim na shirt. syempre hindi suot yung red-rimmed nyang shades. im not sure pero im assuming naka chucks sya. ayos! si marcus, nasa left side ni ely. syempre ang haba na ng buhok, naka itim din. at hindi ko din alam kung naka boots ba sya or sneakers. isa sa mga naiwang palaisipan sa kin ng concert na yun.

first song was alapaap. syempre intro pa lang, wala ng ginawa mga tao kundi sumigaw. when ely went,

"may isang umaga, na tayo'y magsasama"

the crowd went wild. as in deafening noise from everyone and everywhere. the group is performing! walang makakatalo dito! except for the great april boys of course na muntik nang maging isa sa mga dahilan para hindi matuloy ang concert because the 4 just cant let the opportunity of seeing the april boys reunion concert pass. (sowee.bad girl)

going back. after the first line, naging chorus na ang kabuuan ng kanta. nung chorus na, biglang may fireworks sa stage. sosyal! pagbanggit ng huling linya at huling nota mula sa gitara at keyboards (jazz nicolas shared the stage with them)may fireworks ulit! sosyal ulit! pagkatapos ng fireworks, sigawan ulit ang mga tao. nag-aantay kung anong sasabihin ni ely. mangungumusta ba. magha hi. pero wala talaga. mga tao na nangungumusta sa kanila. sumisigaw. nagchachant ng "group hug. group hug, group hug" pero wala talaga. walang ad lib. tugtog lang talaga.

sumunod ang ligaya. sembreak. hey jay. kamasupra. harana. in between the songs, habang sila nagpapalit ng gitara (after every song sila kung magpalit ng gitara), ang crowd sumisigaw ng group hug, group hug, group hug. pagdating sa fruitcake, nag adlib si ely. ang sabi, "dahil malapit na ang pasko", sabay banat ng, there's a fruitcake for everybody, tapos kanta na ulit. with the crowd. lahat naman ng songs nila, kinanta with the crowd. haha

pagdating sa toyang, nag adlib ulit. ang sabi, kumusta?
tapos kanta ng, they try...
crowd: to tell us we're too young
ely: they try...
crowd: to tell us we're too young
ely: they really tried
crowd: *laughter*
ely: to tell us we're too old
crowd: *more laughter*
ely: to old..to really..be bold
crowd: woooooo
ely: bahay namin, maliit lamang
crowd + ely: pero pero pero malinis to, pati sa kusina.
hanggang natapos ang kanta.

sumunod ulit ang kailan. wag kang matakot. kaliwete. shake yer head. wag mo ng itanong. with a smile. (sorry hindi ako sigurado sa pagkakasunod sunod)

after the 2nd to the last song. sigaw ulit ng group hug ang audience. si ely, napatigil. akala namin may ihihirit. pero wala pala haha kanta lang ulit.

pagkatapos ng lightyears, umupo si ely. yumuko habang nakahawak sa nakatukod na gitara. ang audience hindi alam kung pano magrereact. i was thinking if he did that because he got so emotional because of the things happening to his life lately? was that in remembrance of his mother? naiiyak ba sya? or just a prelude to a punchline? tapos bago makapag react ang audience. nagdilim ang stage. at nagflash ng 20:00 sa screen. ok, 20-min break.

syempre ang audience, reklamo na naman haha 20 minutes, ang tagal! pero ok lang. sige lang. masaya naman ang first set. parang sa kanilang apat, si raymund yung pinakamasaya. sya yung pinaka energetic. nagtataas ng kamay para pumalakpak. nambato ng drumstick. nambato ng bote ng tubig. tayo ng tayo. bigay todo sa paghampas. mabuhay ka raymund! ely at one point shook his head so hard kaya natanggal yung shades at napunta sa audience. ely looked so haggard.

after 20 minutes, the crowd was getting impatient. ang tagal naman ng 20 minutes! tapos a few minutes more, people went to the stage. and you could hear people asking, bat may babae? bat may babae? then somebody talked,

"ako nga po pala si buddy, sya po si raymund at yun pa si marcus. kasama po namin mga organizers and ely's sister, si lally". that time i was wondering if this is a comedy act and if these people were impersonators. when i saw them on screen, i thought, wow, that guy really looked like buddy. and then he said that theyre asking the crowd to listen to what the organizers have to say.

then ely's sister talked with a quivering voice. thanking the crowd and explaining that because of his brother's poor health compounded with the death of their mother and the many things happening lately, they had to rush him to the hospital. he was asking for the audience's understanding and bidding everyone to have safe trip home.

the organizer took the mic after and thanked the crowd and again asked the crowd to understand that because of what happened, they had to cut the concert short. he also enjoined everyone to pray for ely and allot a few minutes of silence. and the crowd really went silent. as in silent. maybe that went for about 2 or 3 minutes. nobody was talking. it was just pure silence.

then the organizer again thanked the audience. And wished everyone to travel and drive home safe. Tapos bumaba na sila sa stage. And everyone just clapped. Syempre may mga humihirt pa ng, “kayong 3 na lang! tugtog pa kayo!”

it was a bit surreal. the entire concert was really, how would you call it, one-helluva-night? A drama. One moment youre so happy, the next moment youre sad. Parang linya ng heartbeat sa ECG machine. Ang emosyon ng tao minsan nasa peak, tapos pagkatapos ng ilang sandali, nasa baba na. From the very start until the end. Mula sa mga bali-balita na hindi maconfirm. Tapos nung maconfirm, biglang nagback-out. Nung may sumalong sponsor at nagbenta na ng ticket at nung turn ko na sa pila, biglang nagdown ang server at hindi ako nabentahan. Nung may ticket na ko at araw na ng concert, biglang umulan sa QC at nag-overtime pa klase ko. Paglabas ko ng klase ng 430 ng hapon, parang bagyo sa lakas ang ulan. Pagdating ko sa Ayala, wala akong makitang taxi. Pagkasakay ko ng taxi, ang traffic naman. At nung sa wakas mapanood ko sila, hindi natapos.

Lalo tuloy nabitin ang tao. An hour after that, we were talking about what could have been the perfect finale for that. Magpapadala kaya sila sa "group hug" chant? o sabay sabay silang magbabow at magwewave goodbye? O basta bigla na lang magdidilim ang stage at magfaflash ng salamat sa screen? Ano kaya last song nila, minsan o para sa masa o pare ko? Ano pa kaya yung mga kakantahin nila? Another 15 songs pa kaya o onti na lang? Ang dami pa nilang hindi nakakanta!

And with the fact na hindi natapos ang concert, magkakaroon pa kaya ng part 2? Hope not for that would be an overkill. Or pag nagkaroon, same tickets pa rin hehe kantahin nalang nila kung ano yung hindi nila natapos.

anyway, whatever happens or will not happen, sapat na sa kin ang mapanood ko silang muli na magkakasamang tumutugtog. anyway, 15 songs na din yun. Kinantana nila ang with a smile at narecord ko pa.

it was all worth it. kahit na hindi ko nadala ang camera ko to document the event. the 1,339 patron ticket was soo cheap compared to the happiness that one great night gave me. kahit siguro murahin ako in the face ng mga taong nang-aaway sa kin on that night, ngingiti pa rin ako at sasabihan ko ng peace! i havent been to an open air concert (except for the up fair) and im glad that the first one is just so great. the sound. the lights. the fireworks. the quality of the video on screen. the crowd. and the BAND. just right. no exaggerations. just music.

salamat incubus na nagfront act haha

salamat ERASERHEADS!