reggae by the bay [w/ ziggy marley]
i just woke up and my legs still feel sore. i was at the Reggae Fest by the Bay (w/ Ziggy Marley) held at Sofitel last night March 24, 2007. the event was really great! though i went there alone, hehe.
i actually hesitated to go since i don’t have company. i have very few friends who are into reggae music. and some wouldn’t even pay 600 or 1800 pesos for such event. but i decided to go. i thought that it was time for me to try going to a big gig alone and try to see if i can enjoy it. i love the bands in the lineup, tropical depression, indio i, reggae mistress, spy, junior kilat, and with Ziggy i can’t afford to miss this event.
i was lucky enough to get the last one 1800 ticket which included a dinner barbecue buffet. the 600-ticket seats were too far from the stage. and with the 50mm lens i wouldn’t be able to get a picture from there. i got there at exactly 4pm, the bands were doing soundchecks. it was very humid. i was kinda bored since i had no one with me. so i just sat on the pavement and watched the bands doing sounchecks. but the event security told me to get up, bawal daw umupo doon. so i just stood up. then i decided to order beer, one way to enjoy such boredom.
i saw brutalgrace and said hi. i asked her if she could get me a photo with papadom. and she wasn’t called brutal for nothing. she got it for me. thanks so much cruelgrace!
three bottles of beer and the bands started playing. and i was dancing to reggae mistress wohooo. i nearly missed to take a picture of the sunset. it was actually my first manila bay sunset, really. a band named kudos played. they have boy2 quizon in vocals. i didn’t know boy2 could sing. their band really played well. i like ayanna, the other vocalist, she really is a performer. when indio i got up on stage, the crowd got more excited. everybody wanted more. i was already enjoying, dancing with my beer on one hand and my camera on the other.
i had dinner buffet but i couldn’t eat well since i already had some beer. another problem was finding a table to eat. i followed a pair when they sat on the grass and settled there to eat. they were friendly, they smiled at me and asked me to sit with them. they must have noticed i was alone. back at the stage tropical depression was already set up. i could hardly jump since i was quite full. then pepe smith and jun lupito joined papadom. i was really disappointed about my shots. i couldn’t shoot well with those tall guys jumping around me. i was already tiptoeing holding (shaking, huhu) my camera up high to take shots. i wasn’t lucky enough.
when ziggy got on stage i was already pushed back by the crowd. i could hardly breathe. and my legs were already tired and felt sore. so i just got out of the crowd, sat on the grass, relaxed my feet and watched the band with a can of coke light. and it was a good sight. the stage, the pool, the bay, the hotel, the landscape, the light and the happy people. he really is making a name of his own. his father’s songs are classics. you can play them over and over again. will ziggy’s be the same? i bet they will. my favorites are ‘love is my religion’ and of course, ’shalom salaam’. shalom, shalom. i’ve had an experience of the war when i was in israel. the earth-shattering kaboom of the rockets and the sleepless nights counting jets and choppers. ziggy was actually scheduled to be on tour in tel-aviv when the war with hezbollah came up. shalom salaam, ziggy.
after ziggy’s set, i decided to go home right away since it won’t be easy to get a taxi. it was a great night. i enjoyed it. but i would have enjoyed it more if i were with my friends smoking weed, hehehe. the night was full of nostalgic vibes. the beach, the weed, the dance, the music, the beat. but reggae is beyond all these things. it’s a religion – of love, peace and justice.
if only the beer was cheaper…