When I look at the Stars: A Switchfoot Night

The Switchjeep

Well that’s another long nonpost. I’m sorry about that. I have a perfectly good excuse, really, besides having nothing much to write (really!), I also got the chance to meet up with a bunch of amazing guys last weekend, which is why I am having a bit of a hard time writing it down because everything still feels so surreal.

Okay, let’s try this again. :)

I guess everyone who’s been to my blog knows that I am part of the Switchfoot in Manila Street Team (with that probably driving a lot of hits to my site, thus making my domain eat up a lot of bandwidth. But it’s all good. ;)

Sunday afternoon found me, Happy, Tuesday and Reeya at Shangrila Mall to plan our itinerary for the day and for the next day. It was only the three of us then because Tue and Happy volunteered their cars for the event, and I tagged along to volunteer my services in case they need help. Then we went around Manila (literally :p) and ended up at the hotel at night with Grace, Erik and Gharri to wait for midnight where we would all troop over to the airport to pick the band up.

One rule for Street Team members, according to Reeya, is that we can’t afford to be starstruck. But really, who can’t be starstruck? When we saw them waiting for their stuff to be loaded into the coaster, we all went down the car and approached them. Jerome was the first one we got to talk to, and he was wearing an I Love Philippines shirt. A little while later, the Jon Foreman approached us and we got introduced. Then came Chad, who I thought was a bit quiet, but according to some people, he isn’t. Then Tim, Jon’s younger brother, walked to us and introduced himself too, and finally Drew, who greeted us all with “Astig!” Jon took a moment to record a shot of us for their podcast, and then they climbed the coaster with all their luggage and off we went back to the hotel. After scheduling some stuff for the next day for them (and telling them that they should eat balut and isaw to seal their Philippine experience), they went to bed and we went to bed, but not before Jerome asking us if it was okay for them to drink some water on the minibar. Awww.

The next day was full of activity from the morning, since we have to drop off some tickets and buy some stuff and go around more to prepare for the concert that night. I was running only on an Egg McMuffin and hash brown from breakfast, and by lunchtime, we were at Cuneta Astrodome to fix the VIP room. The band was scheduled on an Intramuros trip with Jordan in the morning, then lunch at the hotel and then a trip to Mall of Asia. We were busy fixing the stuff for the VIP room when they came in again, all sweaty and smiling, because Jordan got a jeep for them and they rode it all the way back to Cuneta. Coolness!

Switchfoot ShirtsTim and I talked about the merchandise which I was in charge of. We talked about the prices of the stuff and we started to fix them up so it will be all fixed. We joked Tim if he would give us free shirts, and he did! Hahaha. We finished counting the shirts and CDs and stacked them up, ready for selling.

The band was doing their soundcheck while we were fixing the signages. As Mare was typing, they started playing Oh! Gravity and we (me, Mare and Happy) started screaming because it sounded so awesome! It was just like they were performing for real already! After some screaming, I headed back to the merch booth, fixed some things and Tim (my new best friend, hee hee) visited us again to check on the merch. Then it was time for meet and greet with the Street team, but I have to brief the IJM volunteers first. I got back to the VIP room where everyone else was getting stuff signed. I grabbed some food, talked to Jon and told him the soundcheck sounded awesome and then grabbed more food again. :) I didn’t have anything signed yet since I know I’d be with them tonight, as well as have some photos taken (but I wish I did!).

Back to work. People were lining up at the gate, waiting for us to open. The next few moments were blurry since a lot of people flocked the merchandise table and I had to supervise. After some time, I closed the booth and went back to the VIP room, but then Tim and Jon asked us to open again, just so we could sell more shirts, so we did, and it was crazy again. After some time, we closed, brought the merch in and then it was concert time!

I’ve never seen such an awesome performance up close! The energy was amazing! And everything sounded so good, I was hoarse by the third song! We were standing at the side of the stage by Jerome, and we were cheering him on. Amazing person, really.

The concert was just so full of energy that even if I only ate breakfast and a little of what Reeya baked, I was jumping up and down, singing and all that! We transferred to Tim’s side after the fifth song, and finished the concert there (with some interesting things happening too!). Here’s the set list for the night:

  1. Oh! Gravity
  2. Stars (love, love, love this!)
  3. Dare You to Move (And I thought this would be the final song)
  4. American Dream (gotta love that pause they did in the middle of the song)
  5. This is Your Life
  6. Learning to Breathe (Hi Mitch!)
  7. Chem 6A
  8. More Than Fine
  9. Gone
  10. On Fire
  11. Awakening (I love this one too!)
  12. Meant to Live (And I thought this was Economy of Mercy because of the introduction, but then they rocked it out to Meant to Live. Love it!)
  13. Only Hope (Wasn’t able to focus too much on this song because of the barricading thing we had to do, but it was lovely)
  14. We Are One Tonight
    .

We were hoping they’d sing Crazy in Love but it seems as if only a few people knew about it. I ran right back to the merch table to set it up again and we were mobbed. Haha. But good thing is, we sold all shirts! I reported it to Tim and Jon and they seemed really pleased about it (I was kidding everyone that they have to do something for me because of that. Haha :D). After what seemed like hours, people trickled out and we headed back to the VIP room to rest, to congratulate the band and to start counting money. :P

The Switchgirls Cathie, Grace, Tuesday, Happy and me, after the concert. Love the shirt, love the band!

After all the payments and such, we went back to the hotel and ended up talking about lots and lots of stuff about the concert. Reeya found a bunch of money in her bag which got all of us amazed because we knew we still needed money to pay off a lot of expenses. Jordan, Tuesday, Happy, Reeya and I were left at the hotel, and while Reeya slept and I powernapped, the three talked for a while. I woke up, Tuesday dropped Chris, their tour manager, off at the airport, and when she went back, I was all showered and ready for work and we chatted with Drew, who decided not to sleep. A few minutes later, we went up again to get ready for them to be dropped off at the airport.

Since I didn’t get any autograph or picture taken, we were planning to have them done before they left. We left our CDs with them to be signed at the coaster, but we took a bit of time checking out at the hotel, which was why we caught them at the airport when they’re almost inside. Jon saw us and he walked over to say, “Salamat.” Awww! ♥ Then the others approached us and I got the much-awaited hug from Tim. :P But since they’re already inside, these are the only two pictures I have of them:

“Salamat.” – Jon Foreman. That’s Jon Foreman, Tim Foreman (my best friend :P) and Chad Butler and Drew (his back to us) at the background

Me and Jerome Me and Jerome Fontamillas, the kababayan :D

So that ends our Switchfoot adventure. We watched them go in and finally, we made our way back to our normal lives. That is, if they could be back to normal. Gah, I’m still reeling from everything that happened! It felt so surreal, and we all missed them terribly after they left. They’re a great bunch of guys — no artist complex, really easy to talk to. :) And the people with them, Chris, Andy and Ryan, were also really great. :) Their time here was too short, really. Next time (yes, Chris, their tour manager, told us there’s definitely going to be a next time!) they should be here for a bit longer so they could go around and see other parts of the country. :)

What an experience. This is definitely one of the best nights of my life. ♥ If ever any of you guys (Jon, Tim, Chad, Drew, Jerome, Chris, Ryan, Andy) drop by here, maraming salamat. And see you guys soon! :)

Special shoutout to all Street Team members who will read this! Reunion on Monday? And please, whoever has a picture of me and Tim or anyone else other than Jerome, please send me a copy? I can’t remember if I got a picture taken with them on another camera. ^^;

And as always, Thank You. Without You, this wouldn’t have been possible. :)

Other blogs about Switchfoot in Manila:

29 thoughts on “When I look at the Stars: A Switchfoot Night”

  1. Katia: Haha I love this entry din! I don’t know if I did justice to the entire experience. :))

    Kina: I still can’t believe it. :) Nakakamiss sila super.

  2. it was a blast spending literally 2 days with you, Tue and Reeya :)

    i miss you 3, oh so terribly! hehehehe.

    no more than life’s most priceless moments. :P switchfoot rocks!

  3. Oh, you’re the guys who got mobbed at the merchandise section? Sorry about that, ha ha ha :) They were really something, no? I hope that’s not the last I see of them. Their music has really inspired me and I know it’ll continue to do so for the rest of my life.

  4. u are SOO lucky you got to meet them!! Next time you see them/talk to them tell them athat Liz says hi and that they are the BEST band ever! and that their concert was AMAZING!! Definentally the best day of my life!! I LOVE them!! theyre all so amazing and funny! and i really hope they come back SOON!! thanks for your update!! I still dream that im at the concert.. i wish they were still here and having more concerts!.. anyway thanks a bunch!!
    love liz :D

  5. weeeee! i have a one of those switchfoot shirts! i have the black one.. :D it feels great to know that i helped the IJM.

    ate Tina, I’m VERY jealous of you!=) i want to be a part of the street team next time switchfoot is having a concert po ha!! ^.^
    waaaaah.. you guys have no idea how much i am addicted to switchfoot. o.O i’m so disappointed that i didn’t get their autograph. :( oh well, at least i’ve seen them live! gahhh

    how does it feel po to be on their next podcast? :)

  6. I missed the concert..tsk! Im so envious of you being there at the concer & hanging out with the band ;) you lucky girl!

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