I woke at around 4pm.
I sent an SMS message to the people I'd be watching the concert with. They've been hanging out all this time just to make sure they get the best seats we could. The concert starts at 8pm according to the ticket. I took the MRT, slightly sleepy from a rude awakening from my alarm clock & arrived at around 6:03pm. Just about 12 minutes before the set time we were to meet at Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, Gateway mall. The trip was quite fast. I expected to hit rush hour once the bus I rode left Alabang.
I'm glad I didn't encounter such.
We were waiting for the others to arrive & got in around 6:24pm. The coliseum hasn't changed much. Old & crickety covered up by new construction did not improve its look. Nevertheless, the climate has at least greatly improved & battled the harsh warm air outside which was a welcome change. We got seated around 7:30. The seats we were on have never changed since the '70s I bet. Thin foam & small chairs were a tad uncomfortable. I had my dinner inside, 2 slices of Pizza Hut's super supreme held my hunger at bay. I forgot to mention when I bought a small bottle of water that they had to take the cap. They must have had bad situations which turned the concert into a cap-flinging war among the audience. Kind of reminds me of the last time I was here. The Metallica concert was really rowdy but being in highschool, it was such a blast! I would have wanted to buy a complete meal, yet this would suffice.
We waited through several reruns of the sponsors. I think they mentioned at least half of the radio stations. I would have given them a piece of my mind by just advertising "almost all radio stations, in almost all frequencies sponsored this event!" Oh god, they even showed the future concerts to be held at the coliseum inf future dates. Now, it would be interesting to note that Burt Bacharach would be here with a certain Steve Tyrell. I tend to think he is a so and so lounge singer from Las Vegas. In another minor interesting note, Frank Sinatra's junior has also subjected himself to singing American contemporaries & should also be here soon. I'm glad I won't be there. It would have been much more profitable to do this in a hotel setting with dinner & all that jazz. I don't know much about music but spending my coin in an old foggies son aint particularly my cup of lattè.
Anyhoo, back to the concert proper. There is apparently a front act. A woman who has huge arms & probably related to political wife-cum-actress-cum-singer Sharon Cuneta. Faith Cuneta is her name. I think I saw her in a hotel Ad once. I'm not impressed with her singing or her performance. She could have opted to whet are appetites by singing something upbeat, saldy she went for singing what she thought was best for her. Promoting her album & all that. It was a gruelling 45mins, in my opinion. It pissed off a lot of people who had been waiting for what seemed like hours now. Faith mentioned that the band was still eating backstage. "Sure..." I thought while rolling the eyes in my head. They probably took the MRT or a cab ride at rush hour traffic from the hotel they were staying at.
30 minutes after the lights dimmed & only an opaque light illuminated the stage. The song from Rocky kicked in & a few people with towel in their heads started walking doing practice punches in the air....then there they were Swing Out Sister! The front man (or woman, for the sake of political correctness) started the concert. They were a 5 piece band, vocalist, backup singer, drums, keyboards, bassist, & guitar. I was disappointed that the brass section (I kept refferring to them as the trumpet but was corrected) is not part of the current line up. They sang a few songs from the new album. You should have seen Adrienne. despite her age, she hasn't change from what I saw. She moved as graceful as ever (Basically waving arms like a marionette) & kept her movements undistracting as she sang songs from Beautiful Mess. In the middle, they sang old songs like Twilight Zone, You On My Mind. The latter which majority knew started standing & waving through the rhythm of the song. A jam session ensued & since they've been together for so long you knew everything was well rehearsed! It was amazing! The band itself even did some solos & my being a fan of bass, the black guy was as impressive. I just wish I could afford a bass guitar & an amplifier of my own. The slaps on the string with a crunchy tone was just absolutely mesmerizing. The person next to me even commented that the bassist ran his fingers on the string like Jaco Pastorius, I politely agreed but of course, Jaco liked smooth bass lines playing part of rhythm than standing out in a song. I was still impressed though. Then after an hour, the band left the stage. As expected, everyone started clamoring for "Breakout". I thought that the concert ended but deep inside I knew that more was still to come. In a few minutes the band came out again & Adrienne changed costume apparently. She was now wearing a long dress shirt made from "barong" material. She says she had it made. She knew how to handle herself well, I imagine! I liked her better in the first costume she wore because she really stood out on that one. They started another song & then the climax of the second set, BREAKOUT!!! Everyone knew the lyrics & started to sing along, it wasn't as intense as the original recording without the brass section but still satisfying for a die hard fan. I can't seem to get over the fact that the backup singer reminded me of Chaka Khan! Then a few more songs & the concert ended in a good way. A thousand bucks for 2 hours weren't too bad. I joked to my colleagues that I felt a bit swinged out after waiting than the concert itself but I can't complain. Watching Swing Out Sister live was the best thousand bucks I've spent this year. Overall, I'd give the concert 3 1/2 stars. It was satisfying but I expected more.
Kudos to Swing Out Sister & hopefully they get back to their former glory. I wish them luck!
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