unsaturated curiosity

And we'll all sing along!

6:06 PM | Sunday, May 17, 2009

MAY 16, 2009
THE dCOOK AND dARCHULETA EXPERIENCE!
(click on the pics to see the 1600px × 1200px orig size)

in the next few paragraphs, i will try to recall the amazing experience i had, yesterday. i may not get all the facts right since my memory of last night was not too detailed due to too much excitement, i just tried to feel that moment. but the experience was such a wonderful experience, i want to remember it as i try to read this post again in the future. so, here it goes.

we learned that gates open @ 5pm so my friends, Karen and Feliz, and i went there at around, 5:15pm. there were already a bunch of people lining up since the gates were not yet opened until around 5:30. but we really didn't have to worry, though since the tickets we had already have seat numbers and we pretty much know where we were supposed to be seated already. so, the gates opened and we were shocked that our seats were not that far from the stage. well, it wasn't very close, but you can see the stage from our place clearly. there wasn't that much people around yet so we decided to go around the area. what's cool about the area is that there were actually little stalls at the corners where you can buy food and some memorabilias. some concert sponsors were even giving away free samples of their products. and so we ended up buying original David Cook ballers. we didn't get anything Archie though since it was only Cook who had merchandise there.

as 8:00 was getting closer, more and more people came. and then 8:00, still no sign of either of the Davids. at around 8:10 when a fireworks display started. i think that took more or less 5-8 minutes. but that kind of distracted us for a while. and then at around 8:30, the band started playing.. this was when the people on our area did not mind holding back, we all stood on our chairs. and since everyone was so tall, that kind of obscurred my view but i could still see the stage for down there. but i didn't mind anymore since standing up brought the energy to the next level.

Archie started with Touch My Hands, and then he sang Barriers, which i didn't expect that would be in his setlist but anyhoo, the crowd pretty much enjoyed doing the echoes in the chorus, and then A Little Too Not Over You, in which the crowd sang along to, and then he sat down to sing his ballad, You Can. and then he sang My Hands which was one of my favorite performance in his set. the song was quite fast especially in the chorus so there were changes in his live version of this song, the pace and the phrasing especially, so he can catch his breath. but the changes were really very well thought of, that i actually loved it more than the CD version. in the chorus, the band sang some of its lyrics, and Archie has the crowd sing everytime the phrase 'hold on' comes up. but what i loved the most was the acapella-ish ending Archie and the band sang while we all clapped our hands to its beat. i was freaking amazing! and then Archie sang Your Eyes Don't Lie, another song i thought won't be in his setlist, but it was! and what was fun about it was that Archie actually whistled the intro and the near-ending parts himself which made the crowd noisier. after that, he moved to the piano and introduced his next song, To Be With You. before he sang, he gave a brief background to the song saying that Kara DioGuardi did the harmonies in his CD version of this song. which kinda confirmed that Kara was the voice behind that girl in the song, or not? i'm still really confused on that matter. haha and then, he introduced the keyboardist of the band, Kendra, who will be playing the violin and doing the back-up. i have always loved Kendra! i've been watching some videos of Archie's live performances online and i've always noticed how wonderful Kendra's voice is and how it compliments Archie's so well. and so, having them do that performance, made me extremely happy. after that, Archie introduces the rest of the band and what was funny was that the crowd played along. when he introduces someone, the crowd would then answer in unison. for example, Archie says, "This is Eli, our drummer", the crowd replies, "Hi, Eli!". which was kind ouf funny and fun!

then he sang Waiting For Yesterday, which had the crowd going on "yester-day-eyy-eyy-eyy". and then! he introduced a song "i sang during week 4 of American Idol" and i was flipping through the week 4 of AI7 in mind. week 4 - rock n roll hall of fame - Stand By Me! yup! he did Stand By Me which got the crowd cheering even more. and as his usual way of doing the song, he injected a verse of Beautiful Girls in it, making everyone sing along. and as the line "and all you beautiful girls" went, he pointed out to the crowd which made the screams and shouts a volume higher. afterwards, Archie went back to the piano and sang A Thousand Miles, which almost everybody knows by heart by now so everyone sang along with him. then he also did Angels on the piano. and then, my most awaited song, Zero Gravity! the beat of the song is just so dance invoking that everyone can't help but jump up and down along with the beat. and Archie was bouncing and bouncing from one spot to another on stage. the crowd had a lot of fun with that! and i remember it was at this point that i was laughing on how animated the guitarists were behind Archie. haha but then Archie said the next one would be his last song.. boo. he sang Crush which everyone sang along to. and there goes Archie.. we were trying to get everyone to start chanting, "more more more" but no. there really goes Archie.

what amazed me is the quality of his voice! he never faltered in a single note! he really has that wonderful voice live! esp with Zero Gravity. sure he got out of breath at some parts but despite the gleeful bouncing and dancing, he still hits those notes.. even the falsettos! ahh-mazing!

and so at this point, everyone in the VIP area is now back to normal. lol, seating normal.. a bit of waiting then another firewors display which distracted everyone from time once more. and then shouting again.. and suddenly we hear some strumming of the guitar.

Cook dramatically emerges in the middle of the stage, now with lights on him. he sings The World I Know by Collcetive Soul, a song he sang on Idol, and the crowd gets back on wild track once more. and then the rest of the band shows up, and he starts singing Heroes. more crowd singing. then Mr. Sensitive. what's crazy about Cook is how he sounds almost exactly like the cd versions, live. he has no problems whatsoever hitting those notes, those ones that kinds of make you shudder in awe. then Cook starts talking. haha, he tries to say "Magandang Gabi". and he says before he went on stage, Archie told him backstage that (in Cook's words) "i have no idea what im in for" lol. then he goes off to singing Declaration in which i joyfully sang along to. haha. next was a song he says, that describes his life in the past year (as he wrote this song about his life on and after Idol), Life on the Moon, which is one of my faves from his songs, yes! and then somewhere in the middle of the songs he goes around the stage and asks people to make some noise, and there was one really funny point when he stood in the middle, knees half bent, a crazy look on the audience, then he moves his hands in a 'more' movement. hahaha i really laughed hard on this one. after that one he sang a song from Idol, which drove everybooody crazy. he says it was the first time he sang this song as a full band after Idol, and it happened right here, in the Phils, he sang Always Be My Baby, which as i said, literally drove everyboooody crazy. afterall, it was this song that made David Cook a household name in the Philippines. well yes, the crowd sang along with much gusto. lol and then there was a part where Cook decides to just let the audience sing for him. craaazy. then he asks who in the crowd owns a copy of his album, a lot raised hands.. i raised my hand. haha and he asked if we were able to listen to the very last of it. hahaha. well, if you don't own his cd, here's a pretty funny, sneaky story. the last song on his album is "A Daily AntheM", as billed at the back of his cd. but oddly, it is also billed as a 15 minute long song. hahaha at around 3 mins, a long sound of nothing follows.. nothing.. but then a hidden song then plays at 12 mins. sneaaakky Cook. so yep, he sang Kiss on the Neck which is one of those rock out songs on his album.

and then, this one. this was probably one of the funniest performance in the concert. lol Cook sang Straight Ahead, a song from his pre-Idol cd, "Analog Heart". i've never heard of the song but it was a really nice song (note to self, find that song). and now the fun part. hahaha. in the middle of the song, Cook suddenly walks toward the side area of the stage, into where the equipments and instruments were stored, and where the stage crew stayed. and suddenly Cook disappears. i was really confused on where he went.. and so was everyone, i guess but then we heard screams. apparently, he went down the stage and intro the crowd in the titanium area. people were raising their cameras towards him, so close that he gets one of them and takes a picture on the other people. then another one, takes a picture on other people.. takes a look at the picture, then he decides to point the camera to his face and made a really dorky look! hahahaha. fun stuff. then he comes back up on stage and utters a little, "Haha" literally, just Haha, which sounded so cute. lol and out of pure randomness, he tells the crowd to "give it up for Mr. Archuleta" randomness which everybody loved. crazy Cook! after that, he talks about some people in the band he has known ever since he started soing music, so next, he played a song that he used to sing with his old band, the song Make Me. another song we really didn't know but we ended out rocking out to it. Karen loved it. hahaha. the next song he did was Avalanche, my favorite from his cd! so i was totally stoked that that song was part of his setlist! XD but before that he bantered a bit, saying that it's amazing that before when he started making the record, he didn't know what will happen but now, some of his songs are now being played on the radio. and Avalanche, i heard, was being played on some radio stations in manila. i wouldn't be shocked since its an absolutely beautiful song. ♥

and after that song, Cook and the band goes backstage.. everyone was confused. a lot of screaming. it was really strange. the lights on stage was turned off, as well.. people were getting restless. a lot of screaming, shouting, chanting.. uhhhh?? and then, Cook goes back on stage after around, 5 mins and says, somewhat like, "I hope you're not planning on going home yet.. .. ..coz all we got is TIME!" lol. okey. lol. then he talks, asks us if it'd be alright with us if he sings a song from another artist/band (i have no idea), he does this with his hands on his chest (upper right picture on Cook's set of pics) which looked really cute. then he goes off singing Little Lies, anyway. haha after that he banters again. he tries to say "Salamat" then he realizes that it was supposed to be, "Salamat po". he then regretfully says that he was almost Acing the test. lol and he goes off spotting this signage in the audience. he calls Neil, his lead guitarist and all around best friend, and points the signage to him saying, "that girl wants to marry you". Neil flatly replies, "O.K." and Cook exclaims, "who knew we were gonna find love tonight, look at that? alright, for the brand new relationship, i think this next song should be dedicated to the newlyweds, don't you?" LOL. so, Neil gets married in Manila, in front of 50,000 people. how romantic. lol, and on that note Cook sings, Come Back To Me. followed by Light On. both songs familiar to most people so there was a lot of singing along. and then Cook sings Bar-ba-Sol, which he labels as the "heaviest song on the record". i'd agree. lol it's the kind of song that gives you involuntary head banging. haha. i just love that song, and it showcases how great a drummer Kyle Peek is & great of a guitarist Cook is.. even though up til now i still don't get the title. lol

and we're now down to the last song. Cook dedicates this to his brother, Adam Cook, who died of brain cancer just last May3 (2 or 3?). it's A Daily AntheM (ADAM), also one of my favorite from his record.. and on the last verse (the lyricless verse, just "woaaah-oh-oh-oh"), Cook called out Archie back to the stage and they did a duet. well, you can't actually expect Archie to sing a rock song, in a rock way, so what happened was Archie sang it in his soulful way while Cook was doing the it the rock way. then Cook tells the band to stop playing and asks us, the audience to sing it, which we did. and it was really amazing. 50 thousand people, baybeh. and at the end of the song, Cook gives Archie a hug and they both go out with Cooks arms over Archie's shoulder. awww. ADAM was definitely the highlight of the night (aside from the wedding. hahaha)

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and so that was it. unbelievably amazing night! fun and music to it's extremes. May 16, 2009 is surely a date i will forever remember. and this was the concert that took my concert virginity. but what the heck, it was worth it. hahaha XD i wouldn't have chosen another concert to lose my virginity to. hahahaha. i will be posting the rest of the pictures i took during the concert in my multiply account, soon. i swear, though, they looked so small in the pictures. but they were so clear to us from our place. the version of our eyes was actually bigger than the version of the camera. and, it was really hard to get good pictures from Archie's set since his light was either too low, or too dark. unlike Cook's brighter light effects, which made my job waaay easier. and i did talk a lot more about Cook's set than Archie's, yes. since Cook said more things & did a lot more crazy stuff. the guy just knows how to deal with the crowd so well. that was truly a blazing night. so worth the freaking layngitis! hahahahaha. XD