I considered the mid-2000s MySpace era as the best time that we had for music on my generation, and it will always have a special place in my heart as it was the first social platform that heavily emphasized on music and entertainment. It was through this platform that I discovered most of the bands that I am listening to, and one of them was the band Alesana, which is an emo, post-hardcore band and has been around since 2004.
Their shtick was to base their songs on literary pieces such as Greek Mythology, Brothers Grimm, as well as their multi-concept album that is based on Edgar Allan Poe's Annabel Lee, Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy, and Madeleine L'Engle's Time Quintet. This, along with the mixture of aggressive screams and melodic clean vocals, adds a significant depth and dramatic tension to their songs, reason why I find their music really enjoyable.
But through their entire career, they never had an opportunity to perform in the Philippines, so I thought I would never see them perform live in the Philippines last November 25, and even after a month has passed, I still can't get over it. With my post-concert depression still going on, might as well write about it and immortalize my experience in the chain.
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While the concert will start at 8:00 P.M., I was already there as early as 12 P.M. to line up for the concert since the ticket I had is on a first-come, first-served basis, and in fact, I was actually the first in the line, though while talking to other fans I met someone who has been in the venue as early as 7 A.M. as she flew from Davao which is around 2 hours flight to Manila and she also has barely any sleep too, but she can't just miss this opportunity to watched the band to perform live.
Despite queuing in line for a long time and being a solo goer, I do not really find myself getting bored, because of the fellow fans that I got to talk with, and the occasional updates that I got from other fans through messenger chat, until the time finally came that we moved to the concert hall.
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After entering the hall, we chose a spot with a high elevation so that we could clearly see the band as they performed and would not bother the other audience in case we stood up, which was true for the majority of the concert.
Some 30 minutes had passed, and the concert had yet to start, but at this point, we really didn't mind waiting, though one thing that we still yet had to know was who would perform the opening act, because the organizers kept it a secret until the last moment. But during the intermission, my fellow solo goer heard on the announcement that the band that would do the opening act was Typecast, though I didn't believe her the entire time until the concert finally started, and they really did the opening act.
Typecast is a Filipino band that pioneered the Emo genre of music in the Philippines, and as an opening act, they blessed us with 4 songs, starting with Reverend's Daughter, followed by Boston Drama, Last Time, and ending with Will You Ever Learn, which talks about how selfishness can ruin a relationship and the song that I believe brings them in the Philippine mainstream music scene. As someone who listens to their songs religiously, I still remember all their songs very clearly and sing along with them, and that is also true with the audience, definitely implying that most of them are undeniably within the same age group as me.
After that, A few minutes had passed to set up the stage for the main act, the band that we've been waiting for almost two decades to perform live, in front of our eyes. And boy oh! Boy! It was so amazing and definitely worth the wait. They played a total of 14 songs, which is two more than their Japan setlist, and they performed them all full of energy, as if we were all back in our teenage years.
The first song they performed was "It Was a Dark and Stormy Night", which is a nod to the opening line from Edward Bulwer-Lytton's 1830 novel Paul Clifford, but it was inspired by Edward Gorey's The Gashlycrumb Tinies. You see now how their songs can be quite nerdy? That is also the reason why it took so long to write this post, as I do not know how to properly explain it without going into all the nerdy stuff. At the end, I just gave up and just let it go whichever direction it be.
Their next song "The Murderer" started with a heavy scream and Shawn doing some guitar spins, and during the breakdown, the audience were all jumping as we sang together with Dennis, chanting Are you ready to die?
In their third song, Hand in Hand with the Damned Patrick tripped into the chord of Dennis' microphone, which got me worried for a second, but he immediately stood up, implying that he did not get injured, and if you watch the performance, he was the one that moves the most. It was also during this song that Dennis sprinkled the audience with water.
For their fourth song, they sing "Seduction", which is one of their few songs with a more lively beat, but it was based on Maiden Maleen about a girl who was trapped in a tower for a year, and when she escapes, she finds her partner with another. During this song, Shawn and Shane also switched positions, so Shane is now closer to us and boy, what a beautiful guy wearing a fishnet.
For their fifth song, Alesana plays "Ambrosia", which is based on the myth of King Midas. You know, the one that can turn to gold whatever he touches? It was also the very first song that I heard from them, and made me a fan of their band.
In their sixth song, they played, "Curse of the Virgin Canvas", which is the first song in their album, The Emptiness, and kicked off the start of their Annabel Trilogy concept album. I really like the intro of this song, saying, "I'm here to tell you a story, a story that will torture your thoughts by day and poison your dreams by night." It was also during this song that the first guitar pick was thrown.
The next song they played was "The Artist", which is the second song of The Emptiness, and tells about how the artist wrestled with insanity and guilt after the death of Annabel.
After that, they sing "Oh, How the Mighty Have Fallen" and this time, Dennis finally removed his vest. And now, we can have a better view of his belly.
This was followed by "Lullaby of the Crucified" that tells about a tragic love story of betrayal and loss.
Next, they sing "The Thespian". Once again, Shane and Shawn have switched places, but not only that, they also did a synchronized guitar spin.
We are now at their 11th song, "Annabel", where Dennis finally removed his shirt, giving us the full view of his belly. Also, during this song, the whole audience sings the refrain part of the song in chorus.
After that, the band takes a short break. Dennis even brought a chair in the front to sit on temporarily. Then he asked the audience if they still wanted to hear more songs. We answered him, saying, "One more set".
After that, they sing another one of their older song, "Tilting the Hourglass", which is a song they decided to add to their Manila setlist, and by the way, the drummer who is with them is not their original drummer, so he is not yet familiar with all of the bands song, but he still was able to played the drums well.
Another older song that they played was "Congratulations, I Hate You", which delves into feelings of envy and bitterness towards someone who has achieved success at the expense of the singer's dreams and hopes. It's from their very first album, before they went with their current shtick, but it was still very good.
For their final song, they sing "Apology", another old song from their first album, which has really aged well in my opinion and has some really good parts where the audience had sing along.
Anyway, I found this video of the band's Manila concert, for anyone who wants to watch.
Overall, I really enjoyed the concert, despite being far from the stage. I also enjoyed the time that I spent with fellow fans while waiting for the show, making new connections. I hope that this is not the only time that they will perform in the Philippines, and it seems that there is a good chance for it to come true, with the organizer made a post on New Year's Eve, implying the band's comeback.
That was all for this post. Thank you, and see you at the next one!