Alas, hungry and excited, we walked in the entrance gates of the concert venue. It was already past six when we got in. There were a couple of food stands at the entrance so we decided to buy our dinner there instead of going out again. We then met up with our friends Mia and Getty. The VIP section's distance from the stage wasn't that far except we weren't able to stay at the front part of the section.
At around 7:30, our area was full of people already. And the SVIP (Super VIP) that was empty an hour ago was now slowly filling up. At this time, I was really beginning to get restless (low EQ kasi. LOL!). We then got distracted when we saw a couple of photographers and TV crew approaching some of the people in the crowd.
Grabe sa pagka-camwhore ng crowd. But there was this one particular bouncer in our area that kept pushing his way through the crowd (particularly in our spot) whenever he'd see a photographer or TV crew interviewing someone.
Gusto ata ma-discover ni manong bouncer. LOL!
Then, a timer set at 10 minutes was on the big screen. People started screaming, hooting and clapping their hands.
"Ayan na, 10 minutes na lang!!!" It was funny because people started counting down even if there was still time left. LOL!
Feeling ko mag New Year's day na! Hahaha! But when the timer reached the one minute mark, the crowd got louder and louder.
As the timer got to zero, people started screaming their brains out and then music flooded the air. Then, there they were, all four of them on the same stage. It was surreal, I had goosebumps all over my body and my eyes started to fill with tears. Grabe! Seeing them together and playing their songs one more time made me feel special for having the chance to see it. The two exams we have for this day didn't matter to me last night. All it mattered was seeing Eraserheads, listening to their music and being with Aris in this "historical event". My throat hurt from all the screaming I've done. My legs hurt from all the jumping and dancing and my arms hurt from holding my camera up above the heads of people in front of me. But all of these didn't bother me. For the first time since I was a kid, I didn't care if I was sweating like a
kargador or I was screaming like a deranged person or when I was dancing like an epileptic chicken.
After the last song of the first set, the timer was up again and this time it was for 20 minutes. It was a bladder break for some while other people headed to the food stands. As for Aris and moi, we decided to rest our legs as we were tired from all the standing and jumping we've done for the past two hours.
After 15 minutes or so, the timer was no longer in the big screen and three of the bandmates except for Ely got out of the stage with a couple of other guys. Then, the bad news...
Raimund, Buddy and Marcus accompanied Ely's sister, Lally to announce that the concert would be cut short because Ely was rushed to the hospital due to health reasons. I think almost everybody was in shock. I on the other hand was waiting for the punchline. Obviously, I was in denial. The people were then asked to pause in silence for a minute to pray for the recovery of Ely. I felt sad and was again almost in tears. To think when Ely sat onstage at the end of their last song, we thought he was only acting. Unfortunately, he wasn't. More of this sad news
here.
After the announcement, the three remaing band members, went down the stage to apologize to the people. I was fortunate enough to shake the hand of Raimund (*swoon). You could see the worry and sadness in their eyes when they walked in the aisle. *sigh
Anyway, even though the concert was cut short, the 15-song set was really worth it! I hope and pray for the recovery of Ely. To the rest of the Eraserheads, "KUDOS!"
For those who watched, "Astig diba?!" And for those who missed it, "Sayang..."