July 28, 2011 aka THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE (Incubus Live in Manila)

In my bucketlist, "Meet Brandon Boyd in person." has always been included. I don't know how it'll happen but I have always believed that it will. 

When I heard that Incubus will once again visit the Philippines, I was ecstatic. I have blogged earlier that I wasn't able to watch their two previous concerts here. I told myself that I have no excuse to not watch their third one. I checked the ticket prices and was disappointed to see that the patron seats were too pricey. I paid P5k for the Deftones concert and I was at the area nearest to the stage, able to hold Chino Moreno's hand at one point. But for almost P7k, I won't gamble that much money for a seat/spot, knowing that the band doesn't really interact with the crowd. From the YouTube videos that I have watched over the years, I haven't seen Brandon hold a fan's hand or go near the crowd while performing on stage.

June came and I decided to buy the P3k ticket. Upper Box A, not bad. I gave up the idea of watching them from the moshpit and was telling myself the whole time that fans in that area might see them but they won't be able to talk to them, something that lessened my deadly mix of envy and jealousy. But boy was I jealous. I thought of joining contests but was too busy/lazy to make a move about it. I resigned to the idea that as long as I'll be able to see them play live, I'm okay for the rest of my life.

Weeks before the concert date, I started posting Incubus stuff on my Facebook wall, mostly YouTube videos. My form of release, I guess, from all the excitement. 

A day before the concert, PAGASA announced that a typhoon will hit Manila. I was like FUCK IT WHY NOW? The band was still in Singapore and there's no news if the concert will push through. 

July 28, 2011: Day of the concert. 

I heard from the news that the band has arrived. I was excited to go the office and finish all my work that day. On my way to Ortigas, I was really emotional. I never thought I could be this emotional over a band. I was really happy and excited that after the long wait, I'm gonna see them live. I'm gonna watch Brandon Boyd rape the stage. The guy I have been in love with since I was in grade school. I joked that I when I started crushing on him, I was an awkward "sando bra"-wearing kid, and until now, all grown up and shit, I still feel giddy whenever I hear his voice. I guess I'm not a fan of moving on. 

As much as I have wanted to leave the office early, I decided not to because I told myself that a concert of my favorite band was not a valid excuse for an early out. So yes, I stayed.

Around 2PM, Yaps, my officemate showed me this tweet from Odysseylive.net. A contest for a meet and greet with Incubus. All interested participants have to do is come to the Odyssey main office and bring the latest Incubus album, its receipt and the Incubus concert ticket. My officemates started urging me join but CRAP I DIDN'T HAVE THE ALBUM. I started breaking down. I cried because of the frustration. The Odyssey office is just a street away from my office but I couldn’t join because I didn't have the fucking album. Good thing my boss told me that I should go buy the album and come to the Odyssey office. At first I really didn't want to but they told me that I got nothing to lose. So hell yeah I went.

I rushed to Megamall to buy the album then headed so Strata 2000 for the contest. I arrived there out of breath because I was running the whole time. I almost broke down again when the people from Odyssey told me that I won because the whole time I was telling myself that I didn’t have a shot on winning this thing. I was the second one to come. Para akong nanalo sa lotto. Natupad na yung isa sa mga pangarap ko sa buhay, gaano man siya kababaw.

I started texting people that I'll be meeting Brandon Boyd and the rest of Incubus. I got funny replies. My sister's reaction was the funniest. She didn't believe me.

I went running back to the office and started crying again. It was too good to be true. What started to be an ordinary day ended up to be an extraordinary one. I just couldn't believe my luck.

THE MEET AND GREET

We were told to wait at the West gate of Araneta for the meet and greet. My co-winners and I waited for about an hour before they let us in. The security was tight and annoying. 

They dumped all the winners in a room with lots of mirrors, I don't know, maybe to remind us that we have to be really presentable before meeting the band.

I was on the second group, first in line.

My hand was trembling when I shook hands with Jose. I’m not saying that he’s a snob but he’s not as friendly as the four other members. Yes, he did smile but with less warmth.

Sitting next to Jose and the second member that I met was Ben Kenney. He’s kind of reserved and quiet, soft-spoken but really nice. He asked how I was doing and continued signing my album. Organizers allowed only one item to be signed. And no personal cameras were allowed.

Sitting in the middle was of course, Brandon Boyd. I was so nervous I started blabbing on how grateful I was that they came again and how long I’ve waited to see them live. He smiled and asked for my name so he can put it in his autograph. He wrote “Hi Joaz”. Before leaving, I asked if I could shake his hand again. Creep.

Next was Mike who like Ben asked how I was doing. Maybe they have a script, I don’t know. He was nice and child-like playing a mini-flute a fan gave him.

Probably the nicest one was Kilmore. He shook my hand, asked how I was doing and told me that he hopes I enjoy the concert. What a really nice dude.

After the signing, they told us that we have to stay behind the band for photos. I chose to stand behind Brandon, of course. I was staring at his back like an idiot, memorizing all the details that I can store inside my still shocked mind.

A trio of girls came and asked Brandon for a kiss. He gave them besos and I died of envy. When they left, I shamelessly called Brandon and asked if I could also kiss him. He said of course and turned his cheek on me (funny I can still remember this stuff, almost two weeks have passed), I then kissed him. Yes, not beso. Kissed him on his right cheek. Fuck besos.

After all the fans got their albums signed, the photo shoot started. I wasn’t able to smile out of nervousness. Loser.

Can’t post the photo here because of some copyright issues and I don’t wanna get sued.

Before leaving the band, I asked Brandon if I could hug him and as usual, he obliged. I wasn’t able to stop myself from uttering a very audible “oh my god” while hugging him. DOUBLE CREEP.

I was screaming after the meet and greet. Running and screaming with one of my co-winners on our way to the concert.

THE CONCERT

The concert didn’t start on time. My seat was shitty but my annoyance was easily overshadowed by the fact that I met the band. Everything was rainbows and unicorns that time.

Franco opened for the band and played four or five songs. I can’t really remember. I love them but I wanted to throw them out of Araneta because Incubus was the only band I wanted to watch live that night.

Franco’s set ended and the crowd went wild. Everyone was screaming, me included, except the fucking people sitting beside me. Boring farts. They didn't even try singing along to the songs. I was the only one singing my lungs out. Ugh. What were they doing there?

They played mostly old songs and fan favorites and inserted few new ones. Brandon Boyd’s voice was gold. GOLD. Plakado, tsong. No disappointments here. None.

Was really happy that they played 17 songs with 3 encores. Couldn't really ask for more.

The Aftermath

Still in cloud 9 until now -- the aftermath.