0
*warning to would-be readers...this is'nobela-type' concert review>>might take
you forever to finish reading, unless you fell asleep first...
*the NotC Chicago venue was about one hour 15 min drive from my side of town
(it felt like we we're in the boonies though). i thought a lot of the concert- goers
will get lost and WILL BE LATE for the show if they're not familiar with the
circuitous interstate drive.
The show was supposed to start at 4:00 pm; we were
10 minutes late but the show has not started yet ("what else is new??" my friend
sarcastically asked) Sure enough,a lot were late because they got lost on their
way to the venue ("why did they choose this frickin-in-the-middle-of-nowhere
theater in the first place?" countered my friend..agaiN. ) Oh Gawd..
Thirty minutes past 4 and the place was startingt to fill up as well as making
the rest of us ..well restless (people started clapping and shouting at this
time). Good thing this theater is really gorgeous; we checked out the ceiling and
walls to pass the time as well as made chika with our friendly aisle mates.
Showtime!
Mark, Sarah, Rachel and Christian opened the show with "We Will rock you" and
"We are the Champions" then each gave a little intro about themselves..segue to
Christian's part; sang "The Way you Look at Me", "Hands to Heaven" and Martin
Nievera medley. At this time, i now understand why he has so many girl fans>he
IS really 'guapo' up close and he particularly surprised me with his live
performance. i thought he won't be able to handle Martin Nievera songs but he
pulled it off wonderfully! (given the right songs,he can sing superbly i might
add) When he went down the stage towards the audience, the girls just went gaga
taking his pics. He then called Rachel to join him onstage and they sang "You and
Me'...segue to Rachel's part; sang Sharon Cuneta medley,Mariah Carey's 'Through
the Rain" and "Don't Cry Out Loud". I thought her rendition of Sharon's songs
sounded more like a Regine Velazquez-doing-Sharon Cuneta songs (t'was also the
comment of my other friend..ay! for opinionated friends LOL) may i add that
Rachel's pipes seem capable of bursting the theater's speakers..LOL..talk about
"lakas ng baga"
Then, to my surprise, Rachel called Sarah to the stage (all along, i thought
Sarah would perform last)..Sarah sang "Sa Iyo" (and danced with a group of
teeners) At this point, we got to witness this girl's wonderful stage presence ,
natural rapport with the audience and wit..just imagine her talking to the crowd
as if she was chatting with them in her living room ("sinong nanuood ng Sarah the
Teen princess? ano ng nangyari?) while nonchalantly drinking her water LOL..sorry
if i can't sufficiently describe it; you have to be there to witness her
'comedic'/ad-libing skills.
segue to Mark's part by Sarah calling "Baste" and singing their duet "Maghihintay
sa Yo". i think this is the 'kilig' part for Sarah/Baste fans. Mark did the
kneeling/flower-offering/help-put-on-her-jacket thingy during this portion
(paging missI hehe). Afterwards, Baste/Mark got a chance to show his hosting
skills in between his songs. I was pretty impressed ('cause i have not really
seen/heard Mark TALK spontaneously on tv/ASAP). He looked and sounded like a
seasoned concert performer already. Mark's "How did You Know", IMHO, is much
better than Gary's. ang ganda talaga ng boses!! he also paid homage to Gary by
singing a medley wonderfully!(I can't remember one song where he hammed it
up..kwela talaga)
Their novelty song portion was a hoot! We really enjoyed Christian and Mark's
"Jumbo Hotdog" (their "choreography" was hysterical!) My friends and i agreed
they all looked/sounded like seasoned performers this part of the show.
Then it was Sarah's turn. She was wearing this gold/yellow dress, all made up to
look 'older' and yet, you can tell she is just a teener playing grown-up.But
when she opened her mouth...O.M.G!!! My non-fan, "opinionated" friend suddenly
looked at me and blurted "My God! she's good! ganda pala ng boses!" (her facial
expression was literally like this>>>
LOL). I felt like crying happy tears after she sang "If I Ain't Got You" (was sooo good! and if you close your
eyes, you'd think it was a BlackAm singing that song!) and her "Broken Vow"
duet with Mark was to 'die' for! Eeeeeeeee! Sarah's Regine medley started with
"Dadalhin", "Kailngan Ko'y Ikaw", "Narito Ako" but my favorite was "Sana Maulit
Muli" (my friend: "hey! diba kay Gary V yan?"" ; me: "please shut up na!") We
decided to come close to stage and take pictures but I kinda wanted to
concentrate on listening to her so i went back to my seat. When she did the
Celine Dion medley, it was pretty obvious she was THE highlight of the show (not
a fan of "It's All Coming Back To Me Now" but gah! she sure seemed 'sinaniban' ni
Celine).. to borrow the lingo> GRABEH!! as in!! She got some standing
ovation after that.Even the 'daddy-types/uncles in front of us just blurted "Ang
Ga-leng!!!" I was kinda disappointed though she did not get to sing "To Love you
More" solo (missed the shawl-falling-over-shoulder/arm flinging thingy). she
would have earned another standing O but it ended up like sing-along 'cause she
invited the kids to sing with her on stage..and they did NOT want to get off
the stage after singig "Forever's Not Enough" (naging sing-along din tuloy yung
TLYM LOL). The 4 capped the show with "Impossible dream" and a disco medley
i'm pretty sure Sarah 'collected' more fans after this stellar performance...to
my 'delight', that includes my 4 'opinionated' friends
(popsie mukhang picture lolz!)
