Rockestra was hot!!!

Literally and figuratively, hehehe.

Long post, hehe, sorry.


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Ok, rants na muna.

Walanghiyang Folk Arts Theater (Tanghalang Francisco Balagtas) yan! Ganun pala dun! Ang inet! :( Di tuloy na-appreciate fully ni Andrew yung gig kasi distracted siya sa init. And maganda sana kung yung seats pataas, kaso they were mostly on level ground. Gusto ko pa naman nakikita ko yung buong orchestra, bawat member sana, para ma-appreciate ko sila ng todo kasi kitang-kita ko mga ginagawa nila. I couldn't even sit straight to watch kasi ang tangkad nung nasa harap ko. Buti nalang wala akong katabi, so I was watching through the side of the person's head in front of me for the most part of the show.

Sayang din wala si Sam, had to cancel last minute because of family obligations. Sold her P630 ticket to a scalper outside for a measly P100 :(


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Now on to the raves. Mostly random thoughts na 'to ha :D


TWISTED HALO. Pucha ang ganda nung gig!!! Bad venue aside, it was one helluva show! The orchestral arrangements were superb, especially for Sugarfree's set, where the orchestra really did shine! But of course my love goes to Twisted Halo - Brad, Closed Captioned, #36. Grabe, that blew me away sobra! It was like those three songs, especially #36, were meant to be played with an orchestra.


PICKING SONGS. Got to talk to Joey (Halo guitarist) the day after, and he mentioned the songs they were choosing to play for Rockestra. Tig-tatlong kanta lang kasi, and it was quite a difficult task to pick just three. When he said that Hiram was a strong choice, medyo nanghinayang ako na hindi nila ginawa yun. I mean, the guitar parts at the end of the song are so powerful on their own - what more with violins and cellos to add to the intensity?! Tas astig kasi sabi ni Chino David (Silent Sanctuary/MSO guy who thought up this whole gig - props to Chino! Galing!) and ng MSO that any of Halo's songs were fit to be arranged for an orchestra. And Joey added that that was surprising, considering that Halo's songs are already full in the sense na nirecord yun with no less than three guitars already.


HALO'S VIN DANCEL. And of course, Vin's usual intense stage presence got that extra oomph when backed by the orchestra. He was the only vocalist who had to work the stage without a guitar strapped to his shoulder (at least for their first two songs), so he was totally free to just let it all out on stage that night. I wonder lang what was going through his mind as he was hopping around on the darkened stage as a vidclip was being shown before their performance, hehehe.


FASHOWYN! And yeah, all the bands were fashyown! Particularly loved Joey and Buddy's get-up. Joey had a black polo and a red tie, while Buddy had a red polo and a black tie (ay, did I remember that correctly?) Basta, blood red and brooding black go sooo well together (my batchmate PJ had the same get-up sa prom and it was astig). The ladies - Kris, Aia, Myrene - were friggin cool in their somewhat unique gowns, hehehe. Nakakagago yung suot ni Aia - Imeldific sleeve sa kaliwa pero sleeveless sa kanan, hehehe. And Myrene was so funky in a gown paired with Doc Martens (if I'm not mistaken - basta boots yun). Gwapings for the night were the mestizos - Tim of Imago and Diego of sandwich. Tim looked fine in that suit tas long rocker hair, eyecatching talaga hehe. And I haven't seen Diego in so long that his clean cut look stunned me was well. And, not since around 2004 I think, na-confuse ako ulit kay Ebe and Vin. Pareho kasi silang naka-black long sleeved shirts, and from a distance it was kinda hard to tell em apart, hehe.


IMAGO'S AKAP. And since Sam couldn't go because nagbantay siya ng bro sa hospital, and Akap was just sounding so damn good, I called Sam and let her listen to that awesome song. It was the least I could for a friend. Sayang lang talaga she didn't get to experience it in the flesh. Wala siyang masabi kundi "(Expletiiive)! Ang ganda! (Expletive)!!!" Hehehe.


SUGARFREE'S SET. I believe the most awesome set for the night belonged to Sugarfree. Sobrang ganda ng arrangements nung orchestra for Prom, Tulog Na, and Burnout. Halos maluha ako sa intro ng Prom - I couldn't really guess the song just then - it was sooo sweet! And then when Tulog Na started playing, I was just brimming with happiness that they picked that beautiful song. And Ebe's intro to Burnout - "Hindi man kita mahanap, para sa 'yo ito." - was just uber heartbreaking. I have no idea though what he meant when he said that. Di rin naman kasi ako privy sa lovelife ni Ebebebe hehehe.


HOW IT ALL ENDED. Siyempre, with an explosive set from sandwich. Props to Raimund for getting folks on their feet! I mean, hindi ka ba naman talaga mapapatayo niyan sa astig na violin-infused Humanda Ka. After sandwich's set, the vocalists and most of the band members went back onstage for a stunning rendition of Banyuhay ni Heber's "Tayo'y Mga Pinoy". Later on, the MSO played the song on their own to cap off a night of pure wonder and awe.


CONCLUSION. Tulad nga ng tinext ko kay Vin right after their set, "It was beautiful beyond words." So yeah, all these words written here can't even start to describe the beauty that was Rockestra.


SETLIST. So these are what the rest of the bands played that night:

Cambio - DV, Lihim, Patlang
Silent Sanctuary - Ok, my bad. I'm not familiar with their songs, so I can't list what they played here :P
Imago - Anino, Taning, Akap
Twisted Halo - Brad, Closed Captioned, #36
Sugarfree - Prom, Tulog Na, Burnout
sandwich - Humanda Ka, Masilungan, Two Trick Pony

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Special shoutouts to the Pisay seniors that made it to Rockestra last Friday night - Nikki, JC, Beng, Albert, Katya, and alam ko may kasama pa sila but I can't remember who na (sorry!) hehe. Thanks guys for going kahit onti kayo. Sulit naman diba? :P