A MONTH, A NIGHT

On a lighter, happier note, I had a great time last weekend!:)

Last Friday after class, Mark, Len, Lorenzo, Ricky and I went to Bahay ng Alumni to watch Hale in concert. Finally! I had passed up too many chances to watch the-band-that-helped-me-fall-in-love-again (Hah! Betcha didn't know that.), plus I haven't been to a concert in such a looooong time, that I can't let this pass me by again.

We decided to eat at Chocolate Kiss before going to the concert. It was just above the concert venue so it seemed convenient. Not so, as the place was packed to the brim that night. So many had turned up at Chokiss, but was it to eat or to lean over the balcony railing and watch?

Hmm, time wasted waiting for a table: 20 minutes. No matter. UP bands were still playing anyway. We got a table several songs later. Good enough. Still got time to eat before Hale pops out at 11 pm, according to Len. All good.

Caesar's Salad, Chicken a la Kiev, iced tea and my bebe beside me. Ah, this is the life. Mark experimented with some beef dish. Len contented herself with ordering cake and running out the restaurant every now and then to check the bands. Lorenzo ordered more than he can handle,:D and Ricky slowly but surely attacked his plate. I was famished; I ate with relish.

About an hour later, we walked out and quietly peered at the band playing in the hall below. We still haven't bought our tickets. Oh, but where are the ticket-sellers? I pretended to ask myself. We decided they were nowhere to be found, so we just stood there, free-riders all. Yes, bad indeed.

When the guard finally realized we were opportunists (ouch), he shooed us away, and we ended up on the other side Bahay ng Alumni, peering over the balcony, watching bands play, free-riders still. Nyehehe. Very bad.

Half expecting karma to roll by on a giant wheel and flatten our shameless souls out, I watched the concert. Watched and complained (tsk3, the nerve. Very bad indeed.). I don't really like it when concert organizers intersperse bands on the main lineup with other, hmm, minor bands. No offense to fledgling musical groups. I mean, I strongly support OPM, and cheer on whenever I see promising local artists. I go by my principle of buying only original albums - IF they're by local groups (otherwise, kudos to piracy! hehe). Okay lang din yung front acts, for their exposure, at okay na rin yung pasingit-singit minsan sa gitna ng concert, pero OA talaga pag marami na. OA. Lalo na pag walang kwenta. True, there is an abundance of good, independent, undiscovered bands and singers out there, but the one playing in front was not one of them. Salindiwa was pure torture, man. Torture. Useless band. I'm sorry. I'm sure glad I didn't pay.

Kainis din yung mga hosts. I felt sorry for them in a way. It was their job to talk, who could blame them if nobody wanted to listen?

Anyway, we stood there, sat sometimes, wanted to sleep through the other performances, couldn't, settled on the railings, and waited.

Past 11. The guard was walking towards us again, and I could feel a battle of wills emerging. Mark was all set to kill the guy--in his world where he is an assasin, of course.

Minutes to Hale. The guard approached us. I knew it. As much as I wanted to be bad at that very moment, I knew I had no right, so we went down like he told us to. In my mind I was digging for a perfect justification as to why we were where we were. Pero wala talagang lusot. Left and right, organizers were shoving us in the direction far, far away from Hale.

I was ready to concede, admit to our sin of not looking for the ticket sellers. But no. No no no no. This was not gonna happen. I didn't stay out this late to stare at the walls of the makeshift backstage just because nobody sold or asked for our tickets. I stood there, feeling a tantrum about to explode.

Ah, there it was.

"I cannot believe this! This is not happening. I managed to watch an F4 concert (and everybody knows the hell I went through for that) tapos Hale hindi ko mapapanood?!?!" Yep, like a bratty child I was wailing.

While I was behaving like a lunatic I caught a glimpse of a guy on the floor, silently fixing his stuff, drinking bottled water. Looks familar. Looks strangely, famously familiar. My vision suddenly expanded and I noticed every little detail around me, realizing at the same instant that I was, true enough, in the BACKSTAGE. Dingdingding. I whirled around and dragged Len to the wall. As I did, I caught Mark and Ricky snickering, and I knew my life was over.

BecauseShetLensiChampyungleadsingernyungnasalikodnatin!NakauposasahigIcannotbelievethisnarinigkayayungmgapinagsasasabinatin?omigosh!

I clung to her arm for dear life and stomped--as quietly as I could do that--over to Mark and Ricky. Such utter humiliation. And nobody even told us! Nobody pinched us or slapped or hissed at us to keep our voices and embarrassment level down. Horrible.

Down to the size of an ant, I scampered to the stairs and sat stoically. What was I to do? I wanted to get Champ's autograph, what was I to say? Hey Champ you're great I just pulled my most shameful brat act two feet away from you and hey can I get your signature? And by the way you write beautiful songs. Aaauuughh.

He was standing already, guitar in hand, leaning on the wall. Dammit!

12.02 am. Still on the stairs. I showed bebe the time, and we quietly acknowledged the one month that flew by. Mwah baby!;p But I'll die if I spend our first month listening to mere echoes of a concert.

Shrieks. Thunderous clapping. They were out of our sight and on the stage.

WAAAAAAHH!!!

Mark stood up and strode to spot where the band stood moments before they went up. He talked to an organizer, went back and led us all through the crowd. I can't remember what he told the organizer. All I know was that minutes later I found myself just a few meters from the stage, watching Hale live for the first time, in my baby's arms, all my worries gone.

Whew.

"Ok bang pang-1st monthsary?" bebe asked. Smile. Yup baby, 'tis good enough.:D


Postscript. Weird, I'm both slightly ashamed and proud of what we've done, but overall I'm just really happy. Hehe. Happy one month baby!