NIN Facaderato feature

I may have been severely displaced at the NIN concert last night but that didn't stop me from "capturing the cusses" (hahaha)

Check out Facaderato to view more images from the show.

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Craig David (Comp. Tickets Series)

Craig David! His show at the Big Dome rocked! This time I blog as a fan. We have his CDs-- love, love, love his music.

We were given a difficult time by the coliseum people though:

• First, some of our group's names weren't on the guest list for ID passes. Coliseum staff's fault (some brilliant girl FORGOT to give the names to the south gate people).
• Next, a painfully dull employee manned the list of incoming guests at that dreadful south gate. She decided she should be "strict" that night and 'question' if DIRECTORS of a multinational company (queued at her table) were actual employees of the company after IDs were presented to her.
• She DID NOT have the means to contact her superior in case head honchos of certain organizations entered her gate and she is confronted with the brain numbing decision to let ONE unlisted name in, even after seeing that all the other directors accompanying that one name were already on her sad, sad "list"
• She had to get word from her supervisor whom OUR GROUP HAD TO CALL USING ONE OF OUR CELLPHONES before she started believing that we were all issued complimentary passes.

... duh to forever and the tenth of never!!! I swear those people are so tragically disorganized and slow. Shame, shame, shame on that evening's AC staff. Well, a sensible "course of action" comes to mind. Change your people to a less dim-witted set. That might lessen the blow on the venue's reputation.

But the concert was GREAT. Craig David was GREAT. GREATER still is the fact that I saw the show on complimentary passes.

My favorite consolation: Hot Pot at David's Tea House.

Yummm like there's no tomorrow!

The promoters should've held the concert at the Fort or the MOA concert grounds instead ;-)

...here are some shots from his album signing gig at the Greenbelt 5

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John Legend in Concert (comp tickets series)

We headed back to the Coliseum on the 26th, Thursday, this time to see John Legend. While waiting for my hubby by the Patron 101 Door 7, the event's security guys started asking the crowd (meaning a couple of popcorn people and myself) to stand away from the door as the artist was to use that entrance to enter the venue. I didn't get it at first because the huge muscle clad men were talking more in codes than in english so I continued to stare blankly at the hallway, waiting for my date. Only a few minutes later did I realize that what they meant was John Legend himself was to use that very door for his surprise entrance. So lo and behold, there he stood, John Legend, about four feet away from me, vocalizing!

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I was in shock for about a full minute until I decided to evolve into severely 'duh' right after. People started gathering behind me, naturally, holding up their cameras and cellphones to record the surreal encounter. I was too duh-oh to get my phone out of my bag. Well, duh.

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But my luck didn't end there. I followed John (Legend. Yeah, we stood that close to each other I'm going for first name basis now) into the coliseum and had an usher escort me to my seat (forgetting completely about the husband I was waiting for outside. heheh). Enter my second "Lo & behold" -- I held a ticket to a seat on the second row from the stage! Yep. VIP seats they were. I was among beautiful looking showbiz personalities of rival networks, it was hard to take sides, so focus I did on the concert instead of them :)

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My hubby and his office mate found me eventually, and needless to say, we had a brilliant time! John Legend was awesome X 10 and the show would've been worth every penny had we actually paid for the seats. But we didn't and that amped the fantastic experience by a hundred times! It was, hands down, a really, really good show.
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There was one thing that pestered us though -- a VERY young teenage couple who stood directly in front of us endeavored to stay standing, with arms locked around each other during most of the show. They were at the front row already and yet...! Kids! It's been four days since the show and I STILL want to slap both of you senseless. Be grateful that I'm not mom to either of you!

My husband was even able to get the set list after the show! Coolness. And it had all been possible because of complimentary tickets.

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Journey (comp tickets series)

That JOURNEY concert was quite an experience. The SM Mall of Asia was packed last Saturday with people who knew the lyrics to most of the iconic band's songs. While I wasn't one of them, my husband knew the words to at least four full songs by heart (i.e., Don't Stop Believin', Faithfully, Separate Ways (Worlds Apart), Open Arms, etc). Needless to say, we had a blast.
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Initially, I was even hesitant to watch the show because I feared it would be too crowded. It was crowded, alright-- but everybody remained orderly, the place brimmed with positive energy. We were among well-behaved fans with what appeared to be delicious looking beer on hand. We didn't drink though (because we don't). I did have some dried mangoes with me, thinking I'd need them to keep me occupied.
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Turns out I didn't really need the diversion. Arnel Pineda was awesome and upbeat, watching him live made me proud to be sharing the title of "Filipino" with him. The dude breathes talent!

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We fare thee well, Steve Perry. We are aware that Arnel Pineda can never replace you but does he really need to? We think not.

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Arnel Pineda's no Steve Perry but Steve Perry's no Arnel Pineda either.

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SP or AP? Journey rocks with either one of them there... and I'm not even a fan!

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...Just a fortunate kibitzer with complimentary tickets :)

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Natalie Cole (comp tickets series)

The show had started when we entered the Araneta Coliseum. There she stood, the stately Ms. Natalie Cole (seemingly weakened by her life-threatening bout with Hepatitis C just last year), sternly asking members of her paying audience to not record any part of the evening's concert. She repeated herself several times throughout the first half of her performance. Several times in between songs. The lady's voice was beautiful, I can still hear her so clearly, saying "stop recording the show, you know that's not allowed..." followed by "I don't know how to make you stop. You up there! you can't do that, you know who you are...stop recording...Stop. It."

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I so wish this third world country's concert-watching populace/video pirates (--this seemed to be the notion) had STOPPED RECORDING sooner (if they were recording at all) so the rest of us had the chance to enjoy Ms. Cole's timeless classics and not just her ill-timed comments. Fade out.

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Fade in to post-mortem fingers quietly typing:
Answering crass with class might have allowed us an awesome night with the globally acclaimed star. Instead, we got to listen to beautifully written songs in between short sermons on how not to act like under-educated and overly abusive fans during big-name concerts. Simply (& not sadly) put, "class" went m.i.a. that lovely evening.

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It was a lovely evening, just the same. We had complimentary tickets.

We have all her Cd's. They're packed with unforgettables that could effectively dim any forgettable live experience.

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