I wasn’t really that interested in watching this one – at least not enough to pursue the usual freebie hunt – but I changed my mind when #1: i saw the set-up at MOA when Mark and I took Joko and Ezekiel to a Timezone + chicken and spaghetti trip last weekend, and wondered, “why am i not watching this again?,” and #2: they announced the move from open grounds to the well-roofed (haha) SMEX convention center. I completely forgot about freeloading it up until well into yesterday though, but after thinking and deciding that Alicia’s too big of an artist to just miss, I decided to go the traditional way anyhow and pay. :p I texted a few friends, got a yes i’m available and interested from Mon, finished my work duties and trekked to MOA. Then surprise surprise, while waiting for Mon in Kopiroti (and enjoying my long craved for kopibun and kaya toast :p), I got a text from Ate Bambs asking if I was still interested in extra tickets, which of course, merited an obvious duh. Haha :p (thanks as always, ate bambs.) So away with the cheap bronze ones I went in favor for the free gold ones (weird, no. Haha)

The concert started waaaaay late (past 9:45 pm, according to Mon, for a concert scheduled to begin at 8pm,) but the first hour or so was no less entertaining – as in literally, as we saw celebrities and entertainers scoot to their seats to our left and right. Sort of like the Beyonce concert, actually, where the first few rows were literally decked out in stars. Sarah G, for one, sat right beside us (you’ll probably see a few fan pics with her with us in the background. Haha.) So anyhow. After front acts by South Border singer #2 then #3, a few instrumental background tunes and crowd hoots, the lights dimmed and Alicia took to the stage.

The music was definitely premium, and the set-up did justice to the smooth quality of Alicia’s voice and the blues-y jazzy feel of the songs. Alicia’s surprisingly an entertaining performer, too – she moves well on the stage and does the occasional song-to-song talking bits in a way unique to her (she could do one of those alternative-art poetry reading audio books.) I also loved how the songs were rendered differently live – a salsa-sounding karma and a reggae-vibed you don’t know my name – to name a few.  Galing.  And she got a double encore, which I’m not sure was real, but I don’t know, I at least haven’t experienced that in a while.

There were very few downsides – the crowd became boring at times, but oh well. Ganun talaga dito. Haha. Also, she wasn’t as gorgeous as we thought she would be.  It was probably because of what she wore, though, so we’ll let it pass (a leather corset/vest top that was cut right where her shoulders break into her arms, which did not flatter at all, and a skinny pair of jeans that only showed how big her thighs were.) Haha. Ewan.

So like what I said, although we were seated relatively close to the stage, the pictures we took were horrible, since we weren’t prepared with the right gadgets. Hehe. To add to that, here’s a really bad video clip of her doing Tender Love (only posting this cause we were surprised at the cover, haha.)

Good concert all in all, and I’m glad I decided not to skip it. Next, PANIC. EXCITEDNESS!!!! (Hey Mark might not make it next week so let me know if you’re interested. Disclaimer: will still take Mark if he can go.)