So, it was the first time in more than a year that I watched a concert where I wasn’t part of the organizing team. It was kind of a strange feeling, but it felt a bit relaxing too, as I wasn’t in any stress and all I had to do was to sit back and watch the show.
But I do miss the perks. Meeting the artists from the moment they step in the country. Making sure the place was okay. Getting really good places to stand (because we can’t sit down) during the show and then congratulating the artists personally after their performance. But…like I said, it’s kind of a welcome break.
Oh, and one more thing: it sucks that I have no camera. :| Sure, Captain Tal did okay (see blurry pictures below), but my micro sd card is still 64MB because I totally forgot to buy a bigger one (okay, maybe I was a bit too lazy to do so)…plus I could’ve taken more photos and clearer videos if I had a camera with me. Next mission: buy that pink Canon Ixus 80 IS, ASAP!
Anyway, so last night, Tue, Happy and I trooped to Araneta Coliseum (exactly two months since Hillsong United, oy!) to watch Lifehouse. I’ve been excited for this since Happy told me she bought our tickets (Upper B is all we can afford) and for the past week I’ve been listening to their songs just so I’d be ready on concert night. And because I’m on constant Lifehouse mode for the week, I’ve made a playlist of songs I wish they’d sing on concert night:
Whatever It Takes
First Time
Blind
Breathing
Simon
Everything
Hanging By a Moment
Somewhere in Between
Undone
You and Me
Our view from where we sat (Upper B).
So the show starts, and even if we’re in Upper B, we had a pretty good view. Lots of people screaming (including us, of course!), and because we were well prepared, we sang along with the songs that we know. :D For a moment I wish we were at Patron or LowerBox…but after some time, I realized how relaxed we were at Upper B. I even sat down at some part of the concert. :P And who knew Araneta could be so cold?
The guys were amazing, and I swear, I love Jason Wade. I love his rocker voice on mp3s and CDs, but hearing his voice live is just…to die for. Love, love, love! He has an amazing stage presence too, and I love that he makes sure to look up at us people who were at the higher part of the coliseum. :D
This is the closest I could see of him…on projected screens, which conked out by “You and Me”. :|
The show wasn’t as fluid as the ones I’ve watched before (i.e. Switchfoot), because sometime in between the songs, the stage would darken and there would only be low guitar/bass riffs and not too many friendly chit-chat with the audience, not at least until the middle? There was even a time when Jason went offstage for some reason and then ran back up. But performance wise, they were really amazing, and I am even a more fan now than I ever was before. :)
The concert ended a bit too early too, and I can’t help but feel like it’s bitin. But then again, they sang more songs than the Switchfoot show, so maybe it’s only because I’m used to being backstage before the concert proper, which makes it feel longer. Haha. Or maybe it was only because not all songs from my wishlist were played. But, regardless of all those thoughts I just typed, I had fun, they were amazing, and the show was worth it. :D
Since I didn’t have access to the actual setlist after the show, I made sure to note all the songs they sang in my phone (titles in boldface are the songs I love):
Take Me Away — Tried calling my friend when they played this since this was one of her favorite songs but she didn’t answer. Oh well. :(
Somebody Else’s Song
From Where You Are — This is the part where we sat down, because we didn’t know the song. Who has a copy of this? :D
Bridges — Bryce sang this one, and it sounded a lot different from Jason’s version. I love the part where they shared one mic though.
Better Luck Next Time
Whatever It Takes - We screamed when they started playing the intro of the song :)
You and Me
First Time
(ENCORE) Disarray - After last night, I now love this song.
(ENCORE) Broken - I love the meaning of this song.
I still wish they sang Everything…but 6 out of 10 wished for songs isn’t bad. ;) I hope they’d go back (and can our team please handle them now? :D), and I will definitely be there again. :D Here’s to another bigger Lifehouse fan. *cheers*
So this review is a few days late, sorry about that. I had a very long week, which resulted in my blogging absence…but let’s not talk about that. :P
Last Saturday, Julie made me a Front Row Girl again by getting me and other friends to watch the show she’d been swooning over since last year, Avenue Q. Now I have to admit, after reading a lot about the show from Lauren and Sorsi last year when they watched during the first run, I was already curious, but I found the ticket prices too expensive. But after watching Altar Boyz and enjoying the experience so much, I decided to give theater another chance.
So again, I watched Avenue Q last Saturday. And it was fabulous.
Avenue Q is a quirky, cute Sesame Street-like play where Princeton, a 22-year-old BA English fresh grad moves in to Avenue Q, ready to start his life on his own. From there we meet his wacky neighbors: Kate Monster, a kindergarten teaching assistant who crushes on Princeton, Brian, an out of work comedian living with his fiance, Christmas Eve, a Japanese therapist with no clients; roommates Nicky and Rod, who are complete opposites; Trekkie Monster who lives upstairs from Princeton and is a porn addict and Gary Coleman, ex-child actor and superintendent of the apartment units in Avenue Q. Oh, and there are also the cute Bad Idea Bears who show up every now and then to influence Princeton to do something else that he shouldn’t do and Lucy T. Slut, a night club singer who sets her sights on innocent Princeton.
Yes, I’m still very busy, but I’m less stressed. Sort of. But still busy. I’m taking this weekend easy so as not to get sick and make use of my medicare advantage (but still planning lots of stuff at the back of my mind), but it’s still bound to be busy. Calm before the storm, yes? Like I said, I thrive on busy-ness, so…it’s time to thrive!
I’ve rediscovered this song, and it’s been helping me focus on some of the things I need to focus on, as well as reminding me Who really controls everything. It’s going to be a challenge for the next few weeks until July, but I’m not in control anyway. It’s God’s will above mine. :D
Control
Mute Math
Take control of the atmosphere
Take me far away from here
There is no better loss than to lose myself in you
In a parachute to glide, I am captive in your sky
Surrender has somehow become so beautiful
Take control of the atmosphere
Take control of the atmosphere
You can take my world you can fill the air
Take control, take control
It’s such a beautiful surrender
It’s such a beautiful surrender
It’s such a beautiful surrender
It’s such a beautiful surrender
Move me up through the darkest clouds
Till I’ve lost in the sun every shadow of doubt
There is no better find than to find myself with you
In a fog you are all I see
I’m inviting you closer with each time I breathe
Surrender has somehow become so beautiful
Take control of the atmosphere
Take control of the atmosphere
There is no reason I should breathe unless you’re in the air
Take control
Its such a beautiful surrender
Its such a beautiful surrender
And I’m calling out
would you take control
And I’m calling out
Yes, such a beautiful surrender. :) Love that line. By God’s grace I’ll get through the next few weeks. :)
Last night was Narnia night with some Street Team friends, and all afternoon I’ve been declaring to my teammates and Twitter and Plurk that I’d be off to Narnia in the afternoon. Excited much? Definitely.
Now, unlike everyone I know, I haven’t read any of The Chronicles of Narnia books yet. *insert incredulous gasp here* I know, even I am amazed that I haven’t. I’ve heard of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe way before because of all of its stageplays that I missed to watch, but I didn’t really know the story until I heard that it’s going to be made into a movie. Then I downloaded an audiobook, so I finally got to know the story and I have been wishing for a boxed set of the books since then (which I think I’ll end up buying for myself eventually, but let’s not get to that :D).
Anyway, so Prince Caspian. I watched the movie with little knowledge of the story, thanks to Wikipedia, but I have no idea how it goes, as opposed to my friends who were watching with me. Because I haven’t read the book, I had zero expectations in the movie, except maybe see how much William Moseley has grown up (yes, I crushed on Peter Pevensie in the first movie, heehee!).
So onto the formal review. Prince Caspian is an okay movie. By okay, I mean, I didn’t really get bored, but I didn’t get too excited about anything else too. I like the entire thing, although to be honest, it feels like such a long movie. The effects were great, as usual, and the battle scenes are okay, except there seems to be a lot of hesitation on both sides. Or maybe it’s just me. However, every battle scene in movies like these remind me so much of Lord of the Rings, it’s ridiculous. :|
Some notes on the movie:
The Pevensie kids all look so grown up already, especially Edmund and Lucy. Edmund had grown into such a good looking boy and Lucy looks more pretty instead of cute. :) The two older ones look…well, a bit more mature and probably more fit and less awkward than the last movie, which is good since it looked better for them during the battle scenes. They must’ve used pretty good fitness equipment to make them look a bit..buff. Heh.
It feels pretty weird that Narnia is so dark after everything is so white in the first movie. I miss the old characters too, like the Beavers and Mr. Tumnus. Although everything is darker, I like how everyone has sort of joined forces. Oh and the kid centaur = hilarious. :)
Trufflehunter, the Badger. I love him! He’s so…cute. :P He reminds me of Mr. Beaver in the first movie. At first I thought he was a skunk, after him saying, “Or do I have to sit on your head again?” but then the markings were wrong. Too bad he only had little airtime in the movie.
Reepicheep, the Mouse. This character, too, is very endearing. :) He kind of reminds me of Puss in Boots, probably because of his very gallant and knightly posture.
There were a lot of amazing and witty exchange of lines in all of the movie, especially Trumpkin’s. For example:
Peter Pevensie: [looking down a cliff over the water] Is there a way down?
Trumpkin: Yes. Falling.
Winner!
The clash of Caspian’s and Peter’s egos were believable, and I wanted to bonk Peter on the head for being so hardheaded. Susan’s line during one of the battle was definitely something that should be asked to everyone: “Who exactly are you doing this for, Peter?“
As for Susan and Caspian’s attraction…I kind of saw it coming, but I didn’t know it wasn’t in the book, so I couldn’t comment. Heh. It has to be placed there I guess; this is Hollywood after all.
I think I’d probably need to watch it again to fully appreciate it. I don’t know if I was a bit too distracted while watching the movie, or because I haven’t read the book yet which made me not really take in all the details.
Oh and before I forget, my most favorite part of the film is when Aslan finally showed up. My friends could all be enamored with Pevensie kids of Caspian, but the bright spot of the film for me would always be whenever Aslan appears. :) I don’t know if it’s because he’s the representation of God in the movie and books or because of the fact that he’s portrayed by a big cat or because his voice (Liam Neeson), but he is my favorite part of both movies. :D When the Narnians stopped yelling “For Narnia” and started yelling “For Aslan”, it felt like they were finally right on track. :)
Thanks to Yam, I found out about Lifehouse’s upcoming visit to Manila on July 26, 2008. Talk about big thing! My fellow Street Team friends and I were just talking about it! I was kind of hoping our team would handle Lifehouse’s first visit to Manila…but oh well. Too bad. It would’ve been amazing, though, hanging out with them and all. But oh well.
Anyway, YES, Lifehouse is coming, and here are the ticket prices:
No general admission? Hm, is it because they’re not expecting a full coliseum? And the price for LowerBox seems wrong, because even if the same priced Patron is elevated, it’s still not the same as Lowerbox.
But anyway. At least it’s cheaper than Maroon 5, and way cheaper than gps fleet tracking devices. More expensive than Switchfoot or Hillsong United, but then again, that’s us. Because I’m sort of a cheapskate (and because I predict that I’ll be sort of bankrupt by then), I’m eyeing Upper A or Upper B tickets. It’s enough if I hear them, yes?
Our view from where we sat (Upper B).
This is the closest I could see of him…on projected screens, which conked out by “You and Me”. :| 
Last night was Narnia night with some Street Team friends, and all afternoon I’ve been declaring to my teammates and Twitter and 
Oh and before I forget, my most favorite part of the film is when Aslan finally showed up. My friends could all be enamored with Pevensie kids of Caspian, but the bright spot of the film for me would always be whenever Aslan appears. :) I don’t know if it’s because he’s the representation of God in the movie and books or because of the fact that he’s portrayed by a big cat or because his voice (Liam Neeson), but he is my favorite part of both movies. :D When the Narnians stopped yelling “For Narnia” and started yelling “For Aslan”, it felt like they were finally right on track. :)
