Before anyone gets any bright ideas, let me explain... I've been playing since I was 13 and have always been a fan of music, having been raised on FM radio (besides Reader's Digest and Sesame Street). I love every kind of music, every genre, but I've always found that I'm partial to anything which touches on rock. I'd been listening to radio all my school life, but hardly found time when I started working. It was during this time when the only music I chanced upon hearing was predominantly pop FM radio programming, while fringe rock stations (like NU 107) had too much juice for me to listen to at a sustained duration. Medyo nakakapagod, ika nga. So ever since, I've only had my fill of hard driving rock as seldom as it rains in the Sahara... well, I wouldn't know but it's a wise guess. Suffice it to say that it's been a while since I've had a good fix...
Which brings me back to last night.
What better way to try and get the juices flowing by watching and hearing adrenaline-pumping rock the best way you can experience it... live. It was the Folk Arts Theatre, and damn, it was HOOBASTANK! Being a bit detached lately, I only knew Hoobastank by name and by their new radio-friendly hit "The Reason" but knew little about their other stuff. There was this strange, curdling feeling in my gut, however, that I was about to get blown away. And I got it the moment I stepped into the theater...
There I was, a 33 year old in a shirt and tie getting weird looks from teenage girls with their boyfriends arms around their necks, almost telling me "ano'ng ginagawa mo dito?" without opening their lips. And a large number of jologs kids wearing snow caps in a climate that doesn't snow, walking around in groups casing the other girls more than they were interested in watching a rock concert.
I'm not a big fan of Rivermaya, but they opened the show with their usual high energy. I wasn't here for them anyway, let's be honest. After that, a dim-lit sound check and Hoobastank was on! The first low-burring sound of guitars brought the entire audience to their feet and they never let off until the entire set was through. It was a highly-charged performance from start to finish featuring about 5 or 6 turning leaps from guitar player Dan Estrin, solid bass playing from bassist Markku Lappalainen, drummer Chris Hesse's serious pounding (his hair was much less serious, but entertaining to see), and some strong singing and endearing antics from singer Doug Robb. They were pleasantly surprised at the initial reaction and raucous welcome they got that it prompted Doug to say "Manila, you kick ass!" after the very first song. He then asked the crew to turn the lights on the audience, then pulled out a camera and took pictures of the crowd, asking everyone to put their hands up while taking a number of shots. In the middle of the show, he asked, "you guys thirsty?" Doug and Dan proceeded to hand out mineral water bottles to the audience. Then toward the end of the show, Doug said, "I know I already said thanks, but THANK YOU Manila... you've been great!" which was met with a loud ovation from the crowd. They then played "The Reason" and asked the people to "sing it ten times louder than when you sang at the early part of the show." They even played "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" (!) before closing out the show, and by then everyone was dead tired but well pleased.
My faith in rock was restored last night... now I'm thinking of passing by the record store later to get me a Hoobastank album. It was my first time to watch a full-on rock concert, and the start-to-finish high-energy show knocked me out of my shoes. I wonder who's gonna come over next?
