Bazooka Rocks 4: Royal Rumble [Top 10 Rocking Moments]
Pulp Live World is apparently not joking when they said that this year’s Bazooka Rocks (BRF) will be more of an intimate experience for the fans. There may have been plenty of unexpected changes and mishaps with the date being pushed back from August to November and the underwhelming lineup (to some) but it has proven to be still such a hit. Here’s what went down at Bazooka Rocks 4: Royal Rumble, the Philippines’ first ever indoor music festival (or what I have experienced, at least.)
The free tickets!
“What’s meant to be will always find its way,” or so the phenomenal split-screen couple Aldub has always reminded me. To be honest, I am almost convinced that I won’t be able to attend on this year’s BRF due to several reasons and it is fine, perfectly fine with me. That’s not until I read a tweet from Joey Thunder that he is apparently heading to Manila to fill in for Never Shout Never (who is the headliner for this year). Can you imagine my panic? Joey is my ultimate favourite band dude (He puts the BAE in bassist in my eyes) and with The Cab’s low-key disbandment just this year, there’s almost a little to nil chance to actually get to see him perform again, or meet him (for the first time since I haven’t really gotten the chance when they had mall tours back in 2012). I am close to buying a regular-priced ticket when I decided to wait for the result of this online promo that I have joined and guess what? I won. I WON!!! Turned out, I would get to attend the festival for free! I also get to tag one of my friends (chose Joyvie because #frenship) along with me.
The published article for Inquirer.Net!!
So the free passes are from a Twitter promo by @InquirerPOP and not only do I get the chance to see these awesome bands for free, I would also get to blog about it and have the short write up be published at the Inquirer site. HOLEY SMOKES! It’s THE Inquirer. One of the leading broadband newspapers in the country and I would get to have my piece posted on their online site. That’s double cool with knobs, innit!!
It isn’t much but HERE’s the link to the article (YAAAAY). That’s goal right there, eh. (One of my secret/not-so-secret dream is to be a journalist so, yaaaas!)
The concert buddies!
One of the best parts of attending festivals is not only getting to meet your favourites or watch them perform live but also to be able to experience all of it with your concert friends/buddies. These are the good ol’ souls whom you share the same interests and taste in music that you’ve met from different gigs and events. It is such a nice feeling to get to see them, talk and catch up and fangirl with them, of course. Especially if it has been a really long while since the last one.
The Meet & Greet and photos/selfies
Oh, the perks! And definitely these band dudes are the nicest. It probably would just take a few minutes and the queue is long but every little thing is worth the freaking memory.
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| The lovely boys of Chunk! No, Captain Chunk! |
Eric Poncet Showing His Epic Guitar Hero Secret Skills
(I also love their set. It was fun! Bertrand Poncet is so cool. I am very much in awe with how many fanboys are jamming to their songs during the set, too. “All Star” has got to be the fave.)
Nick Santino and Beach Weather’s Surprise
It saddened me to learn that Nick Santino and Beach Weather will not be able to perform due to flight problems and their set was cancelled. First, because I love their EP called “What a Drag” and secondly, he is one of those that I really am looking forward to meet (A Rocket to the Moon days). Much to my (and everyone’s) surprise, though, they have recorded a performance of one of the tracks from their EP (Rebel Sun) and it was played in transition and it was heartbreaking because I knew how Nick has been very excited to come back (even packed his stuff a week before the date). They promised to make up for the lost time and come to Manila some other time, should the concert producers would allow. (YES, PULP. You have one job! You know what to do.)
Joel Kanitz's dance moves!
Joel Kanitz of This Century really knows how to work the crowd with his dance moves. He is such a sight. It was kind of nostalgic seeing the band perform as this is their farewell show in Manila. They will be disbanding soon. They have performed hits after hits that’s made us go dance with them and sing along. It was pretty memorable and I am glad to have witnessed it live.
Here’s one of the (many) videos that I took that night:
— aprilskelter (@AprilDeGuzman) November 28, 2015
Gabby Alipe pointing at us during Urbandub's set
I think I love them so much that it always feels like the first time every time I get to see Urbandub, one of my most favourite OPM bands perform. I still jump up and down. I still sing along to the lyrics that I knew from the heart. They still get to connect to me and made me tear up and long for an ex-boyfriend that I don’t have (non-existent as I am NBSB. Ha). Gab even pointed at us at some point as my friend and I are waving our hands/arms in the air, feeling the song. That night may be the last gig that I’d get to attend before they would disband for good (Oh, I did attend their farewell show last May, with all the original members) and I am glad it was lit.
I also loved the fact that Gab and the guys are promoting fellow local acts like Absolute Play, Sirens (my new jam!), Faintlight and Fastpitch who have graced the stage earlier that night. These are all promising bands that are also the future of the music industry and they rocked.
Chris Drew's instruments
Impressive, impressive man. I just love how Chris Drew has showcased his talent in playing different instruments and how laidback the set has been. I feel for them for not having enough rest due to flight problems (PAL is such a pain in the arse) but still, the band has delivered. It was not as I was expecting, not really knowing the kind of music that they play but nonetheless I am impressed and loved every bit of it.
My favourite of the night? His banters, most especially before I Love You More Than You Will Ever Know. It was really heartfelt. Also, they covered Imagine by The Beatles and it was heavenly.
The Soundtrack of my Summer slash Joey Thunder moments!
Saving the best moment for last, aren’t we?
If you have made it this far then you already know that the deciding factor for attending the fest is actually Joey Thunder. It’s like the stars have really aligned that day and everything went out great.
I bought him a gift (a Star Wars shirt) and tweeted a photo to him of which, luckily, he has seen and eagerly responded with “Waaah”. So when they were setting their equipment up the stage I came up to his side of the stage (and stayed there all throughout NSN’s set) and called him, waved the paper bag like mad and I think he got the idea that it was the gift I was referring to at Twitter. I even introduced myself as “April from Twitter!” which is probably hilarious and embarrassing but I couldn’t care less, this is my chance. I am not about to miss it, am I? We said our thank you’s and he proceeded to working on his equipment on stage. I approached him again, asking if we could get a photo taken of which he has politely declined and said, “Later.” And I understood, he was kind of busy then (I was just being giddy and sort of selfish).
So their set has started and I found myself taking photos after photos and videos focused on him. (Caren’s been teasing me about it but… well.) It is sort of weird to not see his best friend Dave Briggs behind the drum set with him but he’s still the groovy man I know. Eventually their time is up, equipment’s been packed up and he came back outside their waiting room to attend to the fans who’s been waiting for him at the side of the stage. He looked so tired but being the sweetheart that he is, he’s definitely still up for some photo ops.
Then it was my turn and much to my surprise (maybe because I bug him too much? Hahaha.) He sort of remembered me and said, “Hey, it’s you” with his face lighting up a notch. The change of mood is so apparent that my friends are kind of stunned as I was and they were not able to take candid photos or videos while Joey and I were talking. It was a quick but really fun chat and he was definitely smiling all the time. I mentioned how I was not sure if the shirt would fit and then I proceeded to telling him that Bea (a friend from the local street team) says hi and we talked like good old friends would. Okay, maybe not, but he’s into the conversation and he sort of really listen which is really nice. We had our photo taken and thank heavens my hands aren’t shaking and the photo turned out to be okay. There are so many thing that I wanted to tell him (about his arts, my friend April who loves him just as much, if he’s tried sea mantis again and all the other random stuff) but Ginny Weasley got the best of me (HP2 reference) and it’s alright. For now, I am just thankful that I did get to meet him, the bae-ssist of my fangirl life.
Bazooka Rocks 4: Royal Rumble is presented by Pulp Live World. (Seeing that this probably is the last that I would get to see this year, thank you so much for ending my year of concerts with a bang! Looking forward to continuing the tradition to BRF5 next year!)
Takte napapangiti ako dito HAHAHAHAHA! Nice one! I'm so happy for you (joey thunder moment)!!!
ReplyDeleteHands down one of the BEST DAYS of my life. Ever!! Hahahaha thanks, mate! Alamoyan! ;)
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