When my Agency told me that the main act was going to be late, program starts at 9PM and Rocksteddy wont arrive until 11PM, we knew we needed a good front act to sustain the energy of people waiting. They said I shouldn't worry as the main band sent a front act of their choice. And coming from a good experience two years ago with Kamikazee who brought a then-upcoming rock band as their front act, I again agreed to be pleasantly surprised.
So the front act band's guitars and drum guys went up the stage as the introduction was being VO'ed. The script talked about passionate individuals grouping together to make music. The VO listed their previous different gigs then I heard that they regularly perform in a casino. Casino? That made me skeptical. The three vocalists went up the stage and to my horror, my skepticism turned into a horrifying reality. Black leather vest over a black shirt for the guy, short denim skirt for the girl in high heels, and a black dress for another girl - the "rock" cliche didn't end. Kulang na lang kumanta sila ng Aegis. And unless the theme was music from the 80's when black meant rock, I was pretty sure that this band would be off-target and will fail to excite the waiting audience. They started singing some slow tunes and when I asked them to sing faster songs, they pulled out a clear book and placed it on a stand. Wow. Videoke ba 'to? If the students walked out due to boredom and lack of connection to the band, I would have joined them. My only solution to add excitement was to ask some student dancers to dance in front of the stage fronting audience. Pampa-dagdag visuals at movement sa harap, dagdag texture and attitude that was clearly lacking from the front act. Pasalamat and banda, libre lang sila or else, I would have asked for them to leave the stage and I would have demanded a refund.
Outside of the dancers, I could not do anything but ask the agency where Rocksteddy was already and the by-minute report of the roadie as to where they were from NLEX to SCTEX to the long provincial road from Tarlac to Dagupan felt agonizingly, eternally slow. When the van arrived through the back-gate of U-Pang situated right behind the stage, it felt like God has gone down on Earth to save me and the rest of the audience from bad performing. Rocksteddy finally arrived - at 11:20PM.In fairness, the reason why they were late - I think they were shooting a gin commercial - was both a bad thing and a good thing. Bad thing for the obvious reason that we had to wait for them, but also good as alcohol never fails to bring GV to the band. I've seen Rocksteddy do their routine program in our concerts across the country but this time it was different. Teddy, usually boisterous and naughty, was a little different that night as he was more casual, more direct and was just generally funnier than usual. His scripted lines and antics had more oomph last Friday; it had more kick. The sloppy response of the lights guy - the guy who controls the spotlight, pars and moving heads - to Teddy's directions made Teddy's antics funnier as the two didn't always connect creating gaps in the program that elicited witty comments from the vocalist. Just look at his face man; that night Teddy wasn't just a Rock Star, he was a confident sex god.
I'll end this post with a note on another band called J2K. They're a local band, actually from U-Pang, and I must say that they could have a great future ahead of them as a band should they be managed well and should they have the talent to write their own songs. They're young, three members of the band are cute, they connect with their audience and they play really well. It was easy for them to get giggles from the girls and screams from other fans. They knew what to sing and knew what to do and say in between songs, very confident for teens. I heard that the agency has already used them in other events and I encouraged them to get this band more. I hope to see them again in one of my concerts hopefully singing not as a front act, but as the main band. Great job guys! :)
As always sa events ni Ian, walang nasaktan, walang umuwing lugi at luhaan, walang hindi kami (Globe and our messages) matatandaan.Sa Globe, go lang nang go! :)
