From the time that Rico Blanco plugged the Giordano World Without Strangers gig at the premiere day of the song “World Without Strangers” (yes, same title!) at an FM radio show, I already knew that this event was something to watch out for.
The 16-artist line-up from indie to mainstream (about I like about 70-75% of them honestly) gathered for this 25th anniversary of Giordano (from I remembered, this was their only gig so far which featured mostly rock and alternative groups which is cool!) . The online poster said that it will be from 1pm to 10pm but the show really started at around 3pm which is a-ok.
I already expected (just like the good ol’ days of watching these type of free concerts in big areas way back in 2004) that lots of people will be there. There are 2 sections there, the area with seats (which VIPs, some winners at the clothing brand’s contest and bloggers) and the free standing area which I was one of the few people endured to stand for 7 hours. That’s passion for the music as I was there both as a music lover and as a blogger, too.
The event was not just for music. It also featured some nice people who really doing great in their own fields. Some of the people that I really remembered were the woman tricycle driver from Makati, 3 student-inventors from a high school, the charming policewoman and the mouth painter which were awarded by Giordano executives for what they have done.
The pictures below will be in chronological order. I chose to do a different attack for this blog post as the pictures will tell itself. The first few hours was hosted by Sheena Dian (I knew her way back from the days that she was one of the contestants from a former reality-based dating show) and Boys Night Out at night time.
The first few acts, I was in chill mode for a reason until Join The Club came up onto the stage. The little rakista inside of me showed up. I also have a love for dancy tunes as I also up for Taken By Cars (looks like Taken By Pedicab coz Mike Dizon and Jason Caballa of Pedicab subbed for drums and guitars for that gig) and Techy Romantics. A bit sad by some of the crowd’s reaction when Techy said that “this will be their last song and Franco’s up next” replied with some claps from them which means a little disrespect for me. Forgot to mention, the crowd started to show some positive reactions when it was Up Dharma Down’s set.
I am already in rakista full-blown style when Franco and Urbandub were there back-to-back. I am not alone as one guy in long hair really banged his head to the rocking sound as well as some of us.
Of course, the show was not complete without Mr. Rico Blanco. Awesome coz his band set-up that night was the mix of the Galactik Fiestamatik days and his present group. Finally, I already saw that Posible-Awit Ng Kabataan-Liwanag Sa Dilim-Hinahanap Kita Galactik style medley that I only used to hear exclusive in an FM station live to the point that I sang along this unique line from that version “Sa isip at panaginip, sa bawat album ng Parokya”. When Rico asked the crowd “Anong oras kayo nandito?” Good thing, he noticed me with my hand sign of “3” which means since 3pm. It’s already a bonus that he recognized me even from a far as I only noticed saw some of the bloggers that I knew at night time. Of course to cap it off, the official and latest campaign song for Giordano “World Without Strangers” played beautifully just like the studio version.
Good thing, no bad things or casualties happened during the gig. Kudos to Glorietta, the organizers behind this event and Giordano for this very wonderful music fest. Something that I brought on my way home was the Giordano World Without Strangers bracelet and a smile.
