Near Death Experience.

[Edit: I added recently downloaded pics with commentary.]

Nico had the time of his life last night. He saw his guitar icon in the flesh! :-)

(Nico filed his first leave of absence from work and borrowed his mom's camera just for this event. He had me register for the Nuno Bettencourt guitar clinic so I could go and take pics for him.)

*****

At 4 p.m. the rear lobby of the Yupangco Building was already full and a long line had already formed at the parking lot. I found Paulette and the others waiting at the lobby, enduring the heat and the stench of sweaty bodies. The event was supposed to start at 6 p.m., but due to technical difficulties (there were a few during the show, too) it didn't start until after 7. (The guys at Yupangco passed around refreshments for the weary crowd. How nice.)

That's us (with Sancho on the right) squished in the middle of the stinky and noisy crowd at the rear lobby. (Sino 'yung camera hog sa likod???)

A bunch of rockstars were there, too. Some of them even had the gall to arrive late and haul their rockstar butts (and their friends in tow) to the head of the queue. (Kevin Roy was right next to us. He arrived earlier than most of them but he stayed at his place in the line. Naks. That's rockstar for you.)

(Bitter lang ako kasi hindi ako VIP hehehe...)

We were able to take our places right in front of the stage, sitting on the floor. It was cramped and uncomfortable, but it was loads better than waiting outside.

The crowd went crazy as soon as Nuno and his band (Population1) took the stage. He said he's not used to guitar clinics so he's just gonna play some music and answer a few questions (if there are any) in between songs. So he did! Private gig! Ang saya.

Videos weren't allowed actually, but I couldn't resist. Heh heh... Here's a downloadable 7-second clip (2MB+) of the first song, "Gravity." Sorry, I couldn't fix the orientation of this thing. During the gig Nico kept telling me off: "'Yung battery baka maubos..." (If he only knew the cam could record audio with the video. We only discovered that when we downloaded them off the cam.)

This was the only time he went acoustic. Magaling. I have a short vid clip of this one, too, hehe... (I forgot the title of this song. Nico?)

We were within Nuno's 10-foot radius!

Ooo... close ups!

Nuno talked to the crowd, bickered and made fun of some members of the audience. I found that he's a bit sarcastic and sometimes condescending, but funny. (He and Nico exchanged words during the show! Twice! O ha.)

No, he didn't take his shirt off. Dang.

I didn't expect him to, but at the tail end of the gig he performed More Than Words with more than half of the audience singing along with him. After the song he said, "Nah, I don't want that to be the last song I play tonight." Oh goody. I oh-so agree.

while the rest of the guys were falling in line to get their autographs (Nico included), I was having my pic taken in front of the stage.

Heh heh... one more.

Bagong ligo ang pakiramdam! He's now ready for the autograph-hungry crowd.

He's cute, no? Hehe...

He finally realized that the denim jacket was a bad idea.

Look at that face! Classic! Starstruck!!! Heheh... Nico had his Washburn N4 autographed.

Close kami!!! Hehehe... Sayang na-jahe akong magpa-kiss! Hahaha... I had him sign across the spine of all of Nico's cds. I had his bandmates sign just one. Hehe...

Population1 bassist and keyboardist/back-up vocalist.

Diet Wolverine, no? Population1 drummer Kevin.

Judging from the way we looked last night, it seemed like I had more fun than Nico had. Pero actually, Nico was too giddy to move. Natuliro ang lolo ko. Na-starstruck kasi eh! Hehehe... ;-D

*****

Ako kaya, when will I ever get to meet Graham Coxon? (¬_¬)