I've been waiting for months for April 27, 2013. In fact, I thought I'd be waiting decades to see my favorite band. I always tell myself, the one band I won't ever miss seeing live if they come to the Philippines is Circa Survive and yes, I stayed true to my words.
Coming across a promotion picture of Pulp Summer Slam 13 in Facebook caught my attention when Circa Survive was right there being bold and sparkling (at least in my own vision). I thought they'd only be coming here to perform after a few more years or never ever. Seeing that little Safe Camp sign in the picture gave me chills-- they're coming to the Philippines! I told my friends who are also huge Circa fans and we bought concert tickets in a heartbeat... the rest is history.
On our way to Manila was a super dooper delayed flight and we got lost at the airport as to where to get a cab. We were so freakin' tired but we endured all these hassles just to see them and Coheed and Cambria.
04.27.13 -- 12:30 PM -- lining up for the gates. Beyond the gate was an intensive bag check. Good thing we came prepared, making sure to leave behind the sharp and pointed so we came through smoothly. Upon entrance, we were greeted by freebies! Yep, that's with an "s". Free beer, pizza, soda, bandana, sim card, and magazine. My friends and I were smiling the whole time talking about how our PhP 400 was way cheap for what we were getting at the concert. We were getting more than what we paid for.
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| Our coffin ticket |
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| Freebies stubs |
Local front acts were Chicosci, Philia-- with the very beautiful front woman, Arci (I went lesbo all of a sudden), and Mr. Bones (in the rain). It was pouring like hell but no rain could make us leave the most awesome spot we had. We were soaking but we didn't care because we came all the way from our little island to Quezon City just to get live musical high. We had to wait more than an hour before the international line up began since the Pulp crew had to patch things up because the rain messed up the stage.
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| Arci of Philia |
A Skylit Drive did an awesome performance. Although it was my first time to hear their songs, I enjoyed them a lot; we even jumped along with heads banging. They were throwing drumsticks and picks after their show and because of the biggest fan (electric) before us, the bassist's pick got swept by the wind at our spot. At least we had a little souvenir. Yay!
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| A Skylit Drive |
While A Skylit Drive was playing, we kept on hyper extending our necks to look at Anthony, Nick, Brendan, Colin, and Steve at the side of the stage getting all ready and pumped up to play.
Finally, Circa Survive live! We were in awe. I just couldn't believe my eyes and ears that they were right in front of us playing what I only used to listen to in my music player and watch in Youtube. I might sound cheesy but I don't care, it was a dream come true! Anthony kept telling the crowd, "Thanks for being nice to us, Manila!" I wanted to tell them I love them, actually I was screaming that a lot of times. We were so close to the stage that I could clearly see Anthony's blue eyes as he looked down at us as we were singing and screaming their songs. It was pure coincidence that at our spot by the stage were a lot of Circa Survive fans, making our singing more audible from the stage. Anthony kept coming back right at the area where we were, doing his signature moves. We were swept away! Woooooh! Thought they were only going to play a few songs, I only realized they played 10 when I counted them after their performance. It's cool that they played songs from all 4 albums. They opened with Act Appalled and ended with Get Out which is way too perfect. In between were Sharp Practice, Birth of the Economic Hitman, Glass Arrows, Strange Terrain, Living Together, In the Morning and Amazing, The Difference Between Medicine and Poison is the Dose, In Fear and Faith. I hoped for these songs to be played and yes, they were granted. I'm more than satisfied and happy, I'm in musical heaven! Seeing them live was way awesome it felt unreal, I felt like dreaming. I can't wait 'til they come back or where ever in the world I might see them again. I hope I could do a meet and greet with them soon. Whoah! I'm still in dream land by this time while writing this... seriously. Hah!
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| Circa Survive making the sunset more awesome |
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| Anthony and his signature moves |
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| Nick and Brendan making the best music |
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| I don't want excuses, I don't want apologies! |
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| Steve and Colin perfecting the sound |
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| Anthony and the green lights |
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| Finally, Circa Survive in the Philippines! |
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| Anthony! |
Up next was Dragonforce (I was still floating in CS dreams. Hah!). Whoah! The shredding, shredding, and some more shredding. These guys know how to handle their guitars, I swear it was more than some good handling. They were really good!
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| Shredding |
We waited about 30 to 45 minutes while Coheed and Cambria was setting up. I was already so tired, my feet and legs were almost giving up. Imagine standing up the whole time from 12 noon and by this time it was already around 9 pm. Never thought I could endure it that long. These are the joys and pains of major concerts. When C&C played... whoah! We were equally swept away! They were so good, I could eat their music. Hah! And Claudio's hair... it looks so soft it enchanted me there. Welcome Home ended their performance and my... it was the best! It was the only time they walked away from their gadgets. Finally, Claudio up close!
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| Bye bye beautiful! |
Right after C&C, we decided to finally take a seat at the bleachers. We would've wanted to stay at our spot until the end of the show but it was absolutely impossible, our feet were killing us already. When we turned around, I was amazed at how the stadium was packed with people. I didn't realize there were over 30,000 people watching. The bands kept saying that it was the biggest crowd they had to date, and I agreed after seeing the sea of people behind us. It was overwhelming to describe.
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| 30,000 people |
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| As I Lay Dying performing for the sea of people |
We had to watch the performance of As I Lay Dying and Cannibal Corpse from afar, but it was better than not seeing them at all live. They were both awesome! I even felt a bit jealous of the people in the crowd because they really looked like they had a lot of fun. Anyway, I had my fair share earlier. That should be enough.
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| Windmilling is the way to go! Yeah! |
On our way home, we were so tired but we could say all the hassle and costs were paid off by this great experience. It was my first time in a really huge crowd and first time to see international bands play live. Seven international bands at once, wow! What more can I ask for? I'm gonna ask for more awesome line ups like this next year and more!
At last I could scream... Yay! Finally saw Circa Survive! Amen to that!
