Urbandub and Rivermaya at Petron, San Pedro Laguna

It was a lazy afternoon on the 30th of October. I was just hangin in my room, listening to NU107, when they announced that Sydney was over at the Petron Gas Station along South Super Highway in San Pedro Laguna. Turns out there was an NU event there featuring Rivermaya and Urbandub. And so on a seemingly non-eventful Saturday afternoon I found myself an instant gig :)

Drove over to Petron, met up with Sydney before she and Dylan went onstage to host some games before the bands started playing. After a while, Urbandub started their set, and to my delight I was allowed to take pics from the stage (thanks Sydney and NU's photographer guy whose name I forgot, so sorry!). Was glad to see John Dinopol back again to do his guitar thing with Urbandub. His left hand was still bandaged though so he only played certain songs in Urbandub's setlist, the rest of the guitar duties were handled by a friend.



Next up was Rivermaya. And I never thought I would say this, but Rico Blanco actually looks good in person. Hehehe. I never understood why girls would swoon over Rico, but when I saw him in person during their set at Petron, I thought to myself, "Well, he has some charm about him naman pala." I also changed my mind about Danica Sotto, who I found out was Mark Escueta's girl that's why she was there watching Rivermaya's Petron gig. Seeing her on TV, I really didn't find her pretty at all, but when I saw her there offstage I realized she didn't look that bad at all. Dami pang nagpapapicture with her during Maya's set, hehe. Little by little, fans watching Rivermaya realized there was an artista in their midst, so they took a break from watching the band rock it out onstage and grabbed their camera-phones to have a little snapshot with Ms. Sotto, and the lady gladly obliged. At least she wasn't a b*tch, like many artistas are rumored to be.

So there I was, listening to Rivermaya, feeling extra senti when they started to play old songs by the original lineup. Then Sydney goes, "Di mo sila trip noh? You're not taking pictures eh." I simply explained that I preferred the original Maya. Maybe because they were around when I was highschool, a time that never fails to send waves of sweet nostalgia through me. Somehow, this time around, I can't seem to fully appreciate the new and revived Rivermaya. They don't seem to connect with me. La lang, di ko sila feel. I do admit they churn out good songs though. I just don't find any special connection with the songs, that's it.

Anyway, I did end up taking a few shots of the band - offstage na nga lang - and luckily I was able to get a few good photos. Was especially amused by the guitarist's light-up-sungays; the guy was really into the spirit of Halloween I guess.



After the gig, I got to meet the members of Urbandub (and Phat Boy Lim, too) and have my Birth and Influence CDs signed - what better way to end my instant gimik :)

Shots from that Petron gig here.