Ang Ikalawang Rockestra

I'm making up for lost blogtime here, so bear with me if these posts sound outdated already :P

These are my thoughts on Rockestra II, held at the Tanghalang Francisco Balagtas in Manila on 18 August 2006.

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THE VENUE
It wasn't as hot inside TFB this time because there was a constant breeze blowing through the venue, thank God.

THE PERFORMERS

I've got here some vidclips of my fave performances. They're just parts of the song, so if you wanna view complete performances, just visit YouTube.com and search for "Rockestra" :)

6cyclemind
Not a fan but I still liked their set. Hated it though that they opened the show with "Alapaap". Couldn't help but wish that it were the Eheads instead that were onstage with the MSO. They should've just done their own song, like their first single.

Hale
If you like Hale, you would've loved their set with the MSO. Ang ganda ng orchestra parts, bagay na bagay sa love songs nila. If you don't like Hale, you probably would've been ok with sitting through their set since the orchestra parts were nice and Champ didn't lose his voice or anything.

Urbandub
I looove Urbandub! Wonderful! Though I was disappointed that their whole set consisted of songs from "Embrace", when they've got two other albums worth of awesome songs. "Quiet Poetic" would've probably sounded great with an orchestra. At saka nabitin ako sa intro ng "Endless, A Silent Whisper". I expected the lights to go crazy dun sa biglang ingay na pasok ng guitars. Nevertheless, I looove Urbandub! I just realized that I accidentally erased (I don't even know when) the vid clips I recorded with Empi (Empi = M.P. = My Precious, my digicam) :(

Up Dharma Down
Beautiful music even made more beautiful by the MSO.

Itchyworms
Panalo sa audience impact - the whole TFB was singing along to "Akin Ka Na Lang". Panalo sa intro - the MSO did a wonderful job starting off "Salapi". They didn't do "Beer", but "Theme from Noon Time Show" was great, especially since they included a part of "Production Number" towards the end. Galing! Ganda!


Salapi (awesome intro til mid portion)


Theme from Noon Time Show/Production Number ("Lahat ng ito'y kasalanan namin...")

Jon Santos as "Armida Siguion-Makareyna"
The ultimate laugh trip! Does he still do shows? I wanna watch! Let's watch! Let's watch!


Just a snippet from his hilarious intermission. Laklak!

The Dawn
Even if Jett's vocals were a bit too loud and Francis Brew's guitar a bit drowned out, The Dawn's set still rocked the foundations of the TFB. Couldn't help but think of how those who actually grew up rocking out to the early sounds of The Dawn ("Enveloped Ideas", "Salamat") were feeling when the MSO added a whole new breathtaking dimension to the songs. I hope the younger folks appreciated it as much as us quite older folks did (I wasn't old enough to have them as my highschool soundtrack, but I'm old enough to remember when those songs were the hottest thing on radio). I don't care if they've gone from beer-ad-jingle to pain-reliever-ad-jingle. The Dawn can rock my socks off any darn time!


Tulad ng Dati (intro til mid portion)


Salamat (guitar solo til end)

***More vids (up close and complete even) at YouTube.com (just search for "Rockestra").

THE VERDICT
Will definitely catch Rockestra 2007. Can't wait to find out which bands are included.

Which did I like better? I think I'm biased, but I'd still say Rockestra 1. Honestly, it's hard to choose because they both had their moments. Bottomline, this Rockestra thing is a really swell idea. I love it.