Incubus: Live in Manila

It was a last minute decision when I decided to buy tickets for Incubus concert. I bought the ticket a day before the concert date. When I first heard they are going to perform again here in the Philippines for the 3rd time, I am eager and determined to watch them. I wanted to be at the front seat or at least near to it but the ticket prices were quite high. Many things have happened months before the concert date and I really need to tighten my budget. Even the cheapest ticket at the General Admission, I'm having seconds thought of buying it as this will affect the budget that I am holding. But nevertheless, I wouldn't want to pass this concert as this is already their 3rd time to visit the Philippines. I'm not sure if there will still be a 4th time. They've been in the music industry for years. We don't know if they can and still able to record albums in the succeeding years. So I thought, If Not Now, When? The same title of their newest album got me inspired to finally buy a ticket. I am so happy I did.

I was once again alone when I decided to watch the concert. Doesn't matter as this is already my nth time in watching concert alone. But it's quite different this time. I will be meeting a few people from Girltalk who share the same passion and who will also be watching the concert alone. At least soloist people will later be a company. It will be a sort of a small EB for us. I will only get to meet 3 new people. All of them are also fond of watching concerts.

I arrived at Araneta Coliseum at exactly 6pm. I immediately fall in line at the Gen Ad area. I just texted the people I am to meet of my whereabouts. With or without them, I must find a good seat. Unfortunately, the first person I texted left her ticket at home so she needs to go back. She was already in Araneta area when I arrived. So when its time to go in, I go in anyway and just texted the other two of my whereabouts. I was inside the Araneta at around 7pm. My seat was already in the 2nd to the last row but the view of the stage is directly in front of it. There are quite a number of people already in the free seating section at that early. At about quarter to 8pm, two other girls already met me at my seat. Finally, I'm no longer alone.

The concert started at 8:15pm with the front act, Franco. I don't know them but their music good. They're a good band on my first impression. And it seems their songs are good as well. They sang 4 songs as front act. After they performed, Incubus staff are still preparing the stage: sound check, mic test, musical instruments test, decor, etc. It took about 15-20 minutes to finish. Incubus' concert finally started at around 9:20 pm. It was a long wait, but worth it. First song, Megalomaniac. I can see from my seat that the expensive standing area in the front row are jumping uniformly while this song is being played. Quite a nice sight to see.

The songs in their concert are combination of old and new songs from different albums. That's a good thing as I am not quite familiar with the songs from their new album. I already googled the setlist of their concert based from previous country (Indonesia and Malaysia). At least somehow I know what songs will they be playing. It's unfortunate they will not be singing Are You In, Stellar, Dig, The Original (new album) and Thieves (new album). But I'm very much content with their setlist especially they sang my current favorite, In the Company of Wolves, at encore. Again, I don't know or memorize the lyrics of all of their song. Another mistake I should've already learned!

Here's their setlist:

Megalomaniac
Wish You Were Here
Consequence
Pardon Me
Anna Molly
Love Hurts
Circles
Look Alive
Promises, Promises
The Warmth
Drive
Sick Sad Little World
Isadore
Glass
Talk Shows On Mute
Adolescents
A Crow Left Of The Murder

Encore set:
I Miss You
In The Company of Wolves
Nice To Know You

They always have pause after each song and Brandon keeps on saying Thank You. This somehow bore some of the audience as some of the people at my surroundings sat if they don't know the song or if they're at pause.

I love how they ended the concert with the song, Nice to Know You. Really fits the situation. It was sad (at least for me) that Brandon didn't take off his shirt on his 3rd time concert in the Philippines. Although, he teases people by attempting to remove his shirt at the final encore set. But that's ok. At least they sang and perform really good even if they're quite old already. I feel like I was just listening to my mp3 player. That's how good they are. Brandon was still able to reach those high notes with ease and without difficulty. His voice is still the same. I'm really glad I was able to watch this concert. This is another one of the best concerts I have attended.

To Incubus, it's Nice to Know [Hear] You and I [Will] Miss You and will always Wish You Were Here.

Maroon 5 - Live in Manila

After ranting about the venue where Maroon 5's concert is to be held in my previous blog, I still bought a ticket in Gold B to watch the concert.  The ticket was on sale at that time at 50% off.  And so without hesitation, I bought the ticket.  I am very very glad I did.

I arrived at SMX at around 6:45pm already.  The queue for the entrance in Gold B is already long.  But everyone is allowed to enter the venue already so it isn't too crowded outside SMX.  As soon as I enter the SMX hall, most of the front rows were already occupied.  I found empty seats at row 8 already.  Not bad.  I can still see the drums from afar.  That's one advantage in watching concert alone (Yes, I watched it alone.  This is my 4th or 5th time to watch concert all by myself).  You only get to search for just one seat.  One disadvantage however, once you found a seat, you can no longer walk around to look for better seats, go to the restroom or even buy some food.  Else, you might come back with somebody occupying your seat already.  Good thing I had eaten snack at the office before I leave and I secretly brought some biscuits inside my bag so I can munch on something while waiting for the concert.

The concert started at exactly 8.30pm.  People were already standing on their seats.  Poor people from the silver area, I'm sure they no longer can see the stage as the Gold B people were already standing, like me.  This what makes the SMX venue undesirable.  They tend to watch the concert in the big screen instead.  The venue is, of course, smaller than Araneta Coliseum but I think it is still jam packed.  Because the venue is small, the sound was more desirable.  I appreciate Adam's live performance now than the last time they were here.  Well, maybe another reason is because I was in the bleachers then and so the sound were just coming from the speakers on the sides.  Unlike now, I was quite near the stage and so the sound travel is nearer.

The concert was great.  I really enjoyed it a lot.  And Adam was soooo handsome and hot! Even though I cannot see him up close and personal.  His close up shots at the big screen makes the girl beside me exclaimed: "oh my god, oh my god" many times as if she's going to faint.

Setlist: 

• Misery(8:30pm)
• If I Never See Your Face Again
• Harder To Breathe
• Give A Little More
• The Sun
• Won't Go Home Without You
• Never Gonna Leave This Bed
• If I Ain't Got You(Alicia Keys cover)
• She Will Be Loved
• Wake Up Call
• Shiver
• Stutter
• This Love
• Sweetest Goodbye

---BREAK---

Encore:

• Hands All Over
• Makes Me Wonder
• LAST SONG: Sunday Morning(10:10pm)

*set list c/o Manila Concert Scene official Fan Page 

I especially enjoyed it when the band sang She Will Be Loved.  I love how Adam encourages the audience's participation to sing with them.  The latter part of the song where one group of the audiences sang "she will be loved" and the other group sang "i don't mind spending everyday" in combination until it fades was really awesome.  Another performance that I enjoyed was the cover of "If I Ain't Got You".  A favorite song of mine sang by one of my favorite band.  Just perfect.  Adam and the rest of the band were total performers.  I love the sound of each guitars, drums and piano.  Really amazing concert.  I'm glad I pursue watching this.

All Concerts Should be Held in Araneta Coliseum

And nothing else.  Well, I haven't seen concerts in SM MOA concert grounds and SMX Convention Center but in my opinion, these two are not the best choice for concerts to be held.  Why?  Simply because their offer is not as convenient as that of Araneta Coliseum.  Let me state my 2 basic points:

1.  From side view, the seating arrangement of the venue in Araneta Coliseum is slope type.  So even if you're on the farthest area, you can still get a nice view of the performers even if they seem to be very  tiny people.  When I say performers, this includes the drummer (if it is a band) which is often situated at the back of the stage.  You can see what they're all doing.
2.  You get what you pay for if you're in Araneta.  That is, to get a good seat.  In Araneta, you can choose your choice of seat upon purchase of ticket up to the Lower Box Area.  That is about up to 2 or 3 levels starting from the ground.  You don't need to rush to the venue and line up to get a nice seat on a first come first serve scheme since you already paid for your chosen seat.  All you have to do is be at the venue at about 10-15 minutes before the show.

I have tried watching concerts in open fields and it wasn't good as well, especially if you're in the farthest area.  You're only chance to see what the performers are doing is through the wide screen or projector they're providing.  It is like just watching them on TV.

My rant came about when I learned that the 2nd expensive concert ticket price of Maroon 5 is just a free seating.  This is going to be held at SMX Convention Center.  Imagine, 2nd expensive and yet it can still be inconvenient for you especially if you still need to fall in line just to get a good seat?  What's more, the ticket is considered as "Gold" ticket but the treatment wouldn't be "royalty".  I'm really really pissed!  I also heard that the Justin Bieber concert initially have reserved seating for Gold tickets only but later on the organizers decided that the silver ticket holders shall also have reserved seating.  This is to be held at SM MOA concert grounds.

I can't understand why they can't provide reserved seating to those expensive tickets.  Can't they be a little bit considerate to those who paid a lot for the concert?  I was happy that now I can afford to be near the front seat for Maroon 5's concert with its price almost half than their previous concert here.  But if it isn't going to be reserved seating, I'm having second thoughts of buying it.  My major reason is that, the concert date falls on a Monday.  I will be coming from work in Makati.  I cannot tell how bad the traffic can be from Makati to SM MOA.  If I leave at 5:00pm in Makati, the latest time that I will be arriving MOA will be 7:00pm.  Concert starts at 8pm.  Do you think I can still get a nice seat if I arrived late?

I'm really really pissed.

The Script: My experience

Remember my previous blog when I say I won't be able to watch The Script's concert?  Well, here I am, blogging about my experience from the concert.

It wasn't really a planned activity for me.  I only decided that I wanted to watch the concert, 5 days before the concert date.  I got curious with all those reminders, announcements and advertisements of the concert from Facebook.  It was all publicized that made me think, this may be a good concert.

When I called up Ticketnet, the concert tickets are already sold out.  Well, 5 days before the event, where else will I get tickets? So my friend and I sourced out "connections" just to get tickets.  General admission is ok with us as we're not really die hard fans of them, well at least for me.  As I've mentioned in my previous blog, I just like their songs and I just want to hear them perform live.  Good thing, the Manila Concert Scene fan page from Facebook announced that they'll be having a contest about The Script concert and the prize is free ticket for 2.  Without hesitation, I joined that contest.  Also, the fan page mentioned that Araneta Coliseum, the venue of the concert, will be selling Standing Room Only (SRO) tickets for the upper box A, B and General Admission on the event day iteself.

Unfortunately, our connections don't have any tickets for sale.  I didn't win the contest as well from the fan page.  So my last option is the SRO ticket.  Even if its "standing room", the area are all free seating.  And so you have to be there early if you want to be seated.  First come first serve.

The fan page announce that tickets will be sold by 3pm.  So my friend and I decided to be there around 2pm.  My friend arrived earlier than me that's why she was able to fall in line with only a few people in queue.  By the time I got there, people are already piling up.  We waited in line until about 4pm and no ticket is being sold yet.  There were rumors that only tickets for upper box A and B are to be sold.  We're already quite hesitant as we are only after the Gen Ad tickets.  But we still waited.  When the security asked us to line up properly and direct people to line in front of the ticketing window, that's the time we asked and confirm the rumors.  Well, the rumors are quite true, considering we're in the queue for upper box ticket selling!  The queue for Gen Ad ticket selling is on the other side of the coliseum.  The security informed us there are only less than 100 people in line.  So we hurriedly went to that Gen Ad ticket booth and luckily the line is quite short.  Then within seconds, people are also lining up behind us.  These are the same people from the upper box ticket booth.  I guess we all got confused as to where to line up.  When we got there, there's already a line going to the Gen Ad entrance.  People are really excited about this concert.

They started selling the tickets at past 5:30pm already.  Upon receipt of ticket, we immediately went up to line to the entrance of Gen Ad area.  Another line.  We've been falling in line since 2pm!  By around past 6:30pm, gates were already open.  But still, we have to fall in line again on the last door at the entrance of the coliseum itself.  One last line and this is it!  We got in by around a little past 7pm.  Whew!  What a long journey!  And finally this is it.  Lights closed at about 8:30pm and The Script were already on stage.

It was an entertaining concert.  I can feel that The Script is very happy with the Filipino's appreciation of them.  It was fun that the band even took pictures of them with the audience.  The Script also mentioned how the Filipinos love to sing along.  I thought they will flash the lyrics "The Man Who Can't Be Moved" from their huge screen background.  But instead, Danny let the audience sing some parts of the song.  With sold out tickets and standing room tickets, the whole Araneta Coliseum is occupied.  People are all singing to almost all of their songs.  This is what I've learned from the concert.  It's SOP to memorize the lyrics of at least 3 songs of the artist/band so you wouldn't be left out!  As for me, I just hum as I don't know the lyrics :)

Here's the setlist from the concert:

You Won't Feel A Thing
Talk You Down
We Cry
If You Ever Come Back
Before the Worst
If You See Kay
The End Where I Begin
Science and Faith
The Man Who Can't Be Moved
I'm Yours
Nothing
Dead Man Walking
Rusty Halo

The band bid goodbye but of course we haven't heard their famous songs yet.  And so "the script" is people will shout "more" and the band will come out again and play.

Encore:
For the First Time
Breakeven

Of these, my favorites are For the First Time, Nothing, Breakeven and The Man Who Can't Be Moved.  I didn't have much pictures and I didn't even bother to take videos as we're seated on the top of the world.  Overall, I enjoyed the concert.  It may not be the perfect concert I've seen (with a pause of about 10-15 seconds before the next song is played) and Danny has a little difficulty performing live but it was entertaining.  The long queue was worth it for just Php 850 :)
  

Concerts / Foreign Performers

What have I been doing?! I'm already missing concerts! I missed out the concerts of Stone Temple Pilots, Chippendales (haha!), Yellowcard, Anberlin and Far East Movement.  And now, I think I won't be able to catch the concerts of Bruno Mars (April 8), The Script (April 16), Switchfoot (April 30) and Maroon 5 (May 23).

I'm not a big fan of Bruno Mars but I like some of his songs.  So missing this out will not be too painful for me.  For The Script, I'd like to hear them play live but unfortunately I might have an out of town trip by that time.  I still can't decide.  I might ran out of tickets for this.  For Switchfoot, I think this will be their 3rd visit to the country and I'm gonna miss it again! Well, I'm not yet so sure but Phil. Sports Arena is way to far (and inconvenient) for me.  Maroon 5... At first I thought I can miss their concert this time since I was able to hear them last time they were here.  But on second thought, I wanna see Adam Levine up close and personal!  But the ticket might be sky rocket high again.  I remember their last concert here, ticket prices was as high as 10k.  I think I wouldn't spend that much just to see them.  And also, I don't like the venue for their concert this time.  I read somewhere that only VIP and Gold ticket holders have seats, correct me if I'm wrong.

 Sigh.  Expensive.  Oh well.

Maybe I'll just check out Cirque De Soleil instead?  I heard they're amazing performers.  But I'm sure its also expensive.  They'll be here sometime end June to July.

Care to join me in any of these concerts? :)