Odin and I scored free tickets to the Smash Project concert, thanks to Sari Sari Sounds. I initially didn’t have plans of watching, but when I got the free passes, I decided to indulge my inner angsty teen.

I will admit that Dashboard Confessional and The Used were some of my favorite bands at some point in my teen years. (painful as it is to look back on those days I used to scribble the lyrics of “This Brilliant Dance” on the back of my notebooks. UGH! FOR SHAME!).

The Cab

The first band was called The Cab. I’ve never heard of them before and most of my friends were asking the same thing I was thinking: “Who the hell are these guys?” When they got onstage, we noticed that all their fans were 18 years old and below. THAT explained a lot.

The singer sounded like a former boy band member who decided to start a band. It’s really cute when bands act all in love with the country they’re playing in, but this guy laid it on a bit thick. “What if we cancel all the shows for the rest of the world and just play in Manila forever??” Wow ha! All the kids seemed to love them, though. It was nice watching the high school kids standing and singing to every word being played by their favorite band.

On another note, I would just like to say that their drummer was great and I’m sorry, but I hope he finds a better band!

Cobra Starship

I’m slightly embarrassed by how much I enjoyed their set. Bands like Cobra Starship make me roll my eyes and scoff that good music is so rare these days. I hate flashy, puro porma bands that don’t really have substance. But when I saw these guys live, I was secretly warming up to them. You could tell that they’re sincerely doing it for the fun and partying and don’t actually care about ~*substance*~ anyway. At least they know it and boy, they gave people a good time.

The singer, Gabe Saporta, would’ve been cute if his outfit didn’t look like it came from his sister’s closet. What is it with male musicians and tight pants these days?? How do girls find this attractive?! In all fairness to him, he’s very charismatic and really knows how to move.

Dashboard Confessional

The highlight of my night. I was ecstatic to see that Chris Carrabba got onstage alone with nothing but an acoustic guitar. I’ve always loved DC’s songs better when they’re acoustic rather than with a whole band.

Man, just when I thought I was so over Chris Carrabba, everything just came screaming back at me. The passionate guitar strumming, the heartfelt wailing, THOSE LYRICS. No matter how much I now think his music is so whiny or drama, I will always love it – the old stuff anyway. And please, I bet many of you belt his lyrics out with all your might when you’re alone in the car and some radio station plays “Hands Down” out of the blue. No? Uh yeah… sure… um, me neither.

I also always thought he wasn’t my type… but HOLY COW, THE MAN IS HANDSOME. There is no other word for it. HANDSOME. He is so good looking that I’m pretty sure even the most conservative, devout Catholic nanay in this country wouldn’t give a rat’s ass about his full sleeve tattoos. He’s like the premium version of Jared Leto, if that’s even possible!

What I loved most was seeing how much he was enjoying playing for us. Sometimes he would look up and smile in awe as he let the audience sing for him. He would even break into laughter sometimes. You could tell how impressed he was and couldn’t get over the fact that everyone in that coliseum knew every word in his songs. Odin says it’s probably because his albums weren’t even released in our country and despite that, he still has so many die-hard fans here.

My friend Tracy and I totally lost it when he played “The Best Deceptions” last night. I have to hand it to Chris Carrabba when it comes to writing lyrics. They’re so intricate and personal and totally dangerous if you’ve just broken up with someone. “You will be back someday and this awkward kiss that screams of other people’s lips will be of service to giving you away.” – DIBA?!

Whoever that girl was who broke his heart and left him, you are an idiot and you have my pity.

The Used

This brought me back to that one day in high school when I was tuning in to NU107 and these words came blasting out of the radio’s speakers: “Is it worth it? Can you even hear me?” Yes, I heard you, McCracken. And I fell in love with your band instantly.

The thing is with The Used is that they were a great band to love for that part of my life, but they just don’t apply anymore. I still love them because I loved them then, not because I love them now. It was a lot of fun feeling nostalgic, though, raising my arms and screaming song lyrics at the top of my lungs. Though Bert’s voice was not in tiptop shape, I was impressed that he was still able to carry his melodies. They were great performers, interacted with the band and were overall nice guys. All I really needed from their set was to hear them play “Blue and Yellow” – which they did – and I went home a happy girl.

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It was a great show, save for the fact that my phone died and I wasn’t able to take many photos AND that Odin’s car got locked in the Shopwise parking lot and was told to come back for it the next day. I’m very thankful to my first-friend-in-kindergarten Tracy for bringing us home.

Thanks again to Sari Sari Sounds again for the passes!
Til the next concert!

P.S.
My favorite sight of the night was that one college-looking boy chaperoning his high schooler little sister and her friends who were all screaming for Cobra Starship. Hahahaha poor guy.