9/30/12-Bazooka Rocks

The big day has come! I've been talking about this concert for a couple times and it finally happened last night.

I admit my excitement level during the days leading up to this event was dwindling down but just the night before, I feel anxiety creeping into me and couldn't sleep well. I already arranged what I was going to wear and things to bring due to anticipation.

I woke up early and left the house by 9:30 am. The gates at the venue were supposed to open at 10 am but the foreign bands are starting around lunch time so it was alright to arrive late and there were no seats in the venue anyway so no need to worry about the seats.

I arrived in the SMX Convention Center to be welcomed by a manageable line of fans, most of them appear to be younger than me. I felt a little out of place but that doesn't matter.

The lines were moving at a fairly normal pace and got inside at around 10:30 am. I was a little underwhelmed by the site. The stage looked good and the space is big but the venue was divided between the concert area on the right side and the other area is where the merch booth, food stalls and a big inflatable slide is located. The slide is free for anyone to use too! There were also a few seats on the floor where you can rest or seat. But later on, people would just sit on the floor anyway. There were also some arcade games and a charging station. It was a good idea to put all those but I noticed some problems that they could work on for the next years. There were few stalls for food. I don't know if they couldn't get any sponsors or what but there were only around 4-5 stalls and two of those are stalls that serves siomai and other dumplings. Not exactly the meal that would fill my appetite with satisfaction. Other than those two, the other one is for deserts and there was one that serves pancit and some chicken lollipop. I was looking at the servings and they were small. I guess no one anticipated a big crowd? Though the crowd was not as big as I expected it to be, in fact, there was still a big space you could hang around in the venue, the organizers should have provided more options for food stalls. The cellphone charging station was also little and was almost unnoticeable. The seats were good though especially for those who brought their chaperons or guardians. Another thing is the Wi-Fi, they said there was a free wi-fi but it had a password and I couldn't find the booth regarding that matter so I didn't bother connecting to the net anymore. I would have loved to tweet and instagramed throughout the entire event.

There line for the merch booth was so long since the event started. I wanted to buy some souvenir items like a shirt but I felt discouraged. Perhaps they should get more people to join the booth since that was the problem why the line was moving slow. The merch booth was actually big enough but they only let the people form one line instead of creating multiple ones which would have been faster. By the time the line got short in the afternoon, there were limited stocks and designs left, some of them are even merch from other bands who were not in the line-up for the current event so I decided not to buy anymore. I actually withdrew money from the bank before going to the show just to buy some items but I guess I'll just spend most of it on the Foster The People concert. Hehe.

Anyway, I'll just talk about the show now.

Three local acts started the show. They were Penguin, Robin Nievera and Salamin. I have to say that they were quite good and entertaining and they entertained the crowd even though most were still sleepy and lacked energy. Their sets were not as long, perhaps 30 minutes each with a few minutes in between each set.

I decided to have lunch by the time the last band ended and before the first band started. The breaks in  between the sets were enough for me to grab a bite.

The three bands that came first were Avastera, The Wonder Years and A Skylit Drive. Avastera is a band from Australia and I haven't heard their songs before so I just youtubed them days before the show. I liked them but I can't seem to find a link for their EP so I'm restricted to buying their album in our record stores. Fortunately, it's an EP and it's on sale for an affordable price so I might buy it soon. One more thing, their drummer, Jamie Savage looks a lot like Andrew Garfield. He could play his younger brother! Here's the best part, I added him as a friend on Facebook earlier today and HE ACCEPTED IT! I can't believe we're friends on Facebook. I was looking at his page and he seems a genuine nice guy. He also added some other Filipinos. I just hope he won't delete me. LOL. The Wonder Years is quite an established band which is why I'm surprised they performed second but it doesn't matter, the crowd was wild on their set. I even got a pick from their guitarist!That's my first pick from an international artist! I gotta be honest that I'm not the biggest fan of ASD but I do have around two songs on my iPod but they are covers of other songs. It's not because they're bad or anything but I'm just not into a lot of music with screaming, which is why I don't really like metal music. But the crowd was pumped up and I enjoyed watching them!

If there were two bands the crowd were definitely watching out for, it has to be Forever The Sickest Kids and The Maine. The crowd just absolutely went wild and it's no surprise since the two bands delivered great sets and everyone was singing along. It's my 3rd time to see both bands and they haven't changed. They're still so great to watch. I feel like they were already the main event but surprisingly, it was still afternoon when they played. Now here's the thing that got me really pissed at the organizers. During the breaks, the band would come out to do a meet and greet at the merch booth. You have to buy particular items to be eligible for autograph signing. I bought a magazine which was needed to meet The Maine while for FTSK, I bought a poster that was more expensive than the magazine! I felt cheated but still bought it thinking I'll get it signed anyway. FTSK was supposed to come out after The Maine's set so I quickly went to the long line during The Maine's last song. The band finally started signing but I was dumbfounded when they left. Turns out they were only signing a few stuff just in time before the next band starts. No one said there was a limit so I felt even pissed off inside. Though disappointed that I didn't get an autograph, I had to stay in line to assure myself of a chance for The Maine's turn. The next band to perform was Marianas Trench which was the one I was looking forward to watch but I had to stay in the line so I missed them. I did get to hear them and see a glimpse of them from afar but I just felt so gloomy when they ended their set. They sang a lot of songs that I like and I would have loved top rock it out with them at the audience area. By the time The Maine came out, the people started top go wild at the booth and lo and behold, they finished before I got the chance to have my stuff signed. I barely even moved an inch on the line! Turns out a lot of people cut the line and some didn't even purchase the magazine which was supposed to be a requirement. There were bouncers all over the area and they were not doing anything about it. People on the line were complaining and yet they were just standing there. Shame on them. I decided to go back to the concert area even if I'm still eligible to have my stuff signed by Marianas Trench since I doubt the line would still be followed.

It's a good thing that Mayday Parade are such a great band that for a while, it made me feel good again. They were great entertainers and the vocalist was very nice and humble. If any band could have matched up the energy of FTSK and The Maine, it would have to be MP. Singing along to every songs, the crowd sure looked like they're having an amazing time. Unfortunately, it was getting late and some people started leaving. I know most of the people who came are students or have work so it was understandable.; There was still a good amount of people who stayed but it was few enough for me to sneak in near the stage. Since the last set was taking so long, I forgot that I haven't had dinner yet so I had to get some food to eat. There were a lot of people buying and the food was running out but I was able to buy a sandwich. The next artist was The Pretty Reckless. I've read a lot of negative things about them, especially Taylor Momsen being such a diva and it looks like they're true based on last night. They started out late and they were complaining that the crowd was too quiet. The people there have stayed at the show for at least 12 hours including myself but we were trying to give it our best even with aching bodies, lost voices and tons of sweat poured. There were still people singing along but Taylor just screamed for us to sing louder. But she still put on a good show. I find it a little weird that her bandmates are old guys. She seems to be pushing herself too much as a "rocker". Even her top which didn't leave out a lot for imagination had some statements that would definitely not please the religious observers. But I don't mind. She was very pretty! The show has come to its conclusion at the end of their set which was around 12mn to be exact.  I'm glad I was able to make it back home safely and quick.

Overall, I enjoyed seeing all the bands in the event but the management needs to implement their rules strictly. They also need to work on their service, from the food and all the things they promised which did not completely happen. They rarely respond to questions on their website, I even sent them an e-mail weeks before to inquire about some details but I never got an answer. They also announced on the net that they were giving away Bazooka bubblegums and a free poster to everyone but I nor anyone else got one. There were posters on sale at the merch booth but they were not the ones that were supposed to be given away. I hope that next year, I could still come and the event will be handled much better. This year was the first that this was held so I know they could learn from their shortcomings.

Some random observations, there were a lot of lesbians and gays making out during the set of TPR but I'm not surprised though. There were also two American teenagers with their friends and one of them looks like Patrick Schwarzenegger and the other one looks exactly like Jesse Eisenberg. I wanted to take a picture of them but I couldn't get a moment to get their pics.

I still got to see some bands up close at the merch booth during their autograph signing including Marianas Trench so even though I wasn't able to watch their whole performance, I got to see them up close for a few minutes.

So there goes my rant. Here goes to another one next year!