Exactly one month ago, I decided to make a lifestyle change (in terms of food intake). Nothing drastic though, just a few tweaks here and there. I tried the Cohen Diet for a week just to see how it will affect me. I successfully shoved a couple of pounds during the first week so I decided to continue it but giving the diet my personal take. I'm not really a fan of restrictions because I believe that our body should enjoy as much as it can, of course in moderation and discipline. Anyways, I have been doing a "semi" Cohen Diet for the past month and it's been doing me good. I call it semi because the Cohen Diet is a strict food plan specifically personalized based on the person's lifestyle. Often times, it's exercise restricted. But I can't stand just sitting around and letting the universe thin me down. I want to earn what I worked hard for. My diet mostly consists of protein, fruits, a whole lot of vegetables and little to zero carbohydrates. I workout thrice a week + five day food plan of my diet and I give myself two days off for a "diet break" just to avoid self-depriviation. I document my food intake in my little food journal to keep on track and for reflecting reasons in the future. Also, this lifestyle change gives me an inner glow, a good mood, and lifts my spirit! It's not just a physical change, but a spiritual change as well. Cheers to healthy and organic living!
Brandon Boyd for LA Canvas. This is one of my favorite recent magazine publicities of Brandon. Simple yet enticing. Plus, I've always wanted to see what's inside his sketchbook...those ink blot and pen artworks look very intriguing. I will probably never stop being intrigued by this man. You did it again, Mr. Boyd.
Things I realized/learned: Quinn is such a sweetheart. Chris Carrabba looked like a cute little 15-year old boy with tattoos. Jeph is an Instagram addict. They're all Instagram addicts. Quinn uses his tongue to clean coffee stains off his iPhone. Bert McCracken scares the shit out of me (Hence the absence of our photo op) Quinn is married...sigh. Gabe Saporta has gorgeous eyes. We had a 3-second gaze at each other that felt like forever...
When I heard The Pains of Being Pure at Heart were heading to Manila, I knew I couldn't miss it! I went with my friend Nicole who I haven't seen for ages! We saw Peggy, Kip and Alex outside! Who knew we would meet them right away and the show hasn't even started. Good thing we were a bit early!
Spotted Kurt (drummer) a few minutes upon entering the venue!
Bee Eyes were the first opening act. I've seen them play before but only last night that I realized how good they sound.
The Camerawalls(fronted by Clem Castro of Clementine/former guitarist of Orange and Lemons)went on stage next. I don't know any of their songs except for"A Beginning Of Something Wonderful"which was an Orange and Lemons cover. Looks like I'm downloading a few EPs tonight...
Attending gigs always lead me to a discovery of great songs. Double whammy.
Finally, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart went on stage with"This Love Is Fucking Right"for song number one.
So the rumors that Connor Hanwick of The Drums will be playing with them was confirmed when a fifth member hit the stage. He plays drums for The Drums. The Drums plays him for drums. Plays drums him for The Drums. Okay, I'll stop...
He was smooth on guitar as he is on the drums! Despite the technical difficulty...
I got a few favorite tracks on video. Forgot "Say No To Love"though. I was too busy being in awe...
"Heart In Your Heartbreak"
"Falling Over"
"Young Adult Friction"
Peggy Wang is a hipster Cousin It on keyboards! I love it.
Pop dance party!!!
Kip did a mini solo segment of "Contender" in between the encore... Funny how I created this "prediction setlist" playlist on my iPod (of course based from recent previous shows) and it's the exact set! Hah
After the show, I looked for Connor. Even though it was a Pains of Being Pure at Heart show, I wanted to seize the opportunity and meet at least 1/4 of The Drums.
Me:"Hi!!!"
Conner:(Looking unsure why this girl is waving at me)"Hiiiii..."
Me:"Can we have a picture with you?"
Conner:(Still looking unsure)"Oh, sure…"
Conner:"Let's hide here so no one will see."
He's not a big fan of mingling with people obviously but he was kind enough to chill and talk to us backstage.
We stayed and chatted with him while Kip was being raped by fans outside.
I asked him when are The Drums planning to visit Manila and he said he doesn't know but they've been to Jakarta so maybe they'll stop by Manila too someday. He was so beautiful I ran out of things to say good thing my friend Nicole kept the conversation going.
Check out Connor (on drums) in one of my favorite The Drums songs!
Watching that, now that I've met him makes me giddy all over! (plus goosebumps)
(Top and leather shorts from Forever 21, Vintage denim vest, Bag from Bangkok, Loafers from H&M)
Over all, it was a pretty awesome show. Another check off my"Bands I need to see"list!
So, I guess this may be a bit overdue but I've been kinda slacking off in the blogging department. I originally planned to post about this last month but I just didn't have the time. Anyways here are a few tracks that summed up my 2011. Check it out!(Warning: These are addictive.)
January
I got really into Two Door Cinema Club. I would play them all day for a month or two...I'm not really sure how I got hooked to them but I'm guessing it's because of the Tap Tap game for iPhone? Their song "What You Know" was one of the default songs on the app.
"This Is The Life"was one of my favorites, followed by "Cigarettes in the Theatre" and"Come Back Home".
February
Since the Deftones concert was nearing, I had to listen to a few tracks off their new album "Diamond Eyes" and yes it got glued to my ears! Everything on the album was an instant fave but according to my iTunes, "976 Evil" was the most played. I also liked the other tracks like "Sextape" (who wouldn't?), "Risk", "Beauty School" and a couple of old tracks like "Change" and "Digital Bath" but I won't include those singles for my 2011 soundtrack since I've been listening to those a few years back. I just had to rekindle some old feelings...
March
One song. "Forever And Ever Amen" byThe Drums. 'Nuff said.
April
I pretty much loved everything on Incubus' new album "If Not Now, When?" and it is still on loop as of today. I still haven't digested "Tomorrow's Food" and "Defiance" though...
"The Original" was the first song I fell in love with and I don't think I will ever fall OUT of love for it. Of course "Adolescents" was released tad early than the album itself and it was magic in my ears when I first heard it. "Switchblade" and "Thieves" were favorites too! And the list continues... (oh, and if you're a real Incubus fan, you'd notice something wrong here. Please forgive me.)
May
Okay, May was a mix between a lot of songs. The Temper Trap's "Sweet Disposition", Katchafire's "Seek Ye", White Lies' "Unfinished Business" and Wilabaliw's "Illuminate 1" for local music cravings. What a strange mix of songs huh? But I remember playing "Unfinished Business" over and over again, it even gave me a push to go to the gym just so I could listen to it while running around the track. God I miss this song...
June
It was pre-Incubus month. The anticipation for their concert next month has begun...
Malay did a pretty cool rendition of Incubus' "Promises, Promises"! I actually even thought it was better than the original. Views changed through time of course but a statement like that coming from me is a huge thing! Hah! And I love how Pochoy Labog does an Incubus cover WITHOUT doing a Brandon Boyd rip-off. They had their own style and it was awesome.
July
Ay...July is fangirl month. Incubus is set to perform on the 28th and of course I had to listen to a few of their new tracks! The B-Sides just got released and yes you guessed it, hooked! "Rebel Girls" was my favorite. I liked it so much I had to analyze the message and came up with a surprising conclusion! The play of words suddenly made sense. Hah! Oh Mr. Lyricist, why must you be so experimental and clever? I love it.
"Hold Me Down" and "Surface To Air" were two of the other B-Sides.
August
I had to distract myself from the post concert depression and RHCP's new song "The Adventures Of Rain Dance Maggie" came in perfect timing! And the music video shot in Venice, California gave more impact to this song. Although no more John Frusciante in this album, another John, Klinghoffer is as awesome.
September
September is definitely Young The Giant month! I discovered them when I saw they were touring with Incubus. "Guns Out" was the first song I got obsessed with. Literally, the first click on the play button was magic. I also liked "My Body" and "Islands"(which I'm planning to include in my first fashion show playlist in the near future...wow, I just spoiled that.)
October
October is Oh Land month! Don't even get me started. This is real talent....she's pop but not garbage! I fell in love with her when I first saw the video for "White Nights". I literally play raped it for the next couple of the days. Nanna continues to be an inspiration to me now. She's making me want to start a trio! Loved all her songs in the latest album actually. "Wolf & I", "Break The Chain" and "Rainbow" to name a few...
November
I found myself listening to two songs on repeat for a month. It was Lana Del Ray's "Video Games" and Brigitte's "La Vengeance D'une Louve". These are amazing songs from two different artists! Brigitte is a folk musical duo from France. Seriously, I get so much inspiration from their music, it's crazy! I am willing to fly to France just to attend one of their shows.
December
Another tie-up between two songs! Jeffertitti's Nile"Sleep Tonight" and Gotye's "Somebody That I Used To Know". I actually knew these songs a month earlier but really paid attention to it's beauty a month after. "Sleep Tonight" is a good meditation and zen time song, I recommend. I've been seeing Gotye's songs everywhere now and I'm glad musicians like him are getting attention. It's about time people stopped listening to crap.
TheSilverlake Music Festival in Pattaya, Thailand was a blast! It was my first ever festival outside Manila! I must say, props to the organizers of Silverlake. The festival was very well-organized! Manila should have something like this too!
Anyways, we didn't catch the "Coachella vibe" of the festival since we got there around 8:30 pm already because we were only up for Incubus and their set was scheduled at 11pm. But I'm kinda regretting that a bit...oh well!
When we got there, we were running late because our driver got lost on the way! I got a call from Justin (Wysong) telling us to hurry 'coz the Meet and Greet was about to start. There was some kind of jeep that you need to ride from the parking lot to reach the festival itself...
We arrived at the holding area right on time for the Meet and Greet and we met Justin for the first time!
The Meet and Greet was in a more relaxed environment compared to Manila. No annoying security telling us to refrain taking videos and speed up...which is awesome!
I had my iPod signed and a poster memorabilia requested by a friend. Repeating circa 2011, still no decent conversation with Jose and Ben. But it's okay, maybe Meet and Greets aren't their thing. Ben was in a really bad mood. He wouldn't smile during the whole thing. I tried to prolong our conversation but all I got was one word answers. There was something bothering him obviously...
Kil was happy as usual, he always has a radiant smile on his face asking you how you are. We bumped into him a couple of times at our hotel.
I gave Brandon a mini djembe tribal necklace I got in Ilocos last year. He said it was cool and started tapping on it. I also asked where he got his "After Life" shirt.
More of that in this video...
Aaah takes me back to the day I first met them...which will always be the best one.
I didn't have much of a conversation with Mike but I did say "I love you" to him and squeezed him real tight when they were about to go and hit the stage. Hihi
Last time I said "I love you" to a guy was five years ago and I can't believe I said it again after a long time...to Michael Einziger of Incubus. Hah I love him!
I actually kinda held Brandon's hand when he placed his arm around me (I just had to). It was soft...
Of course we have to get a picture with Justin and Matthew (Incubus road manager)! Two people who accommodated us and made this all happen. And Steve Rennie of course! We love you Steve!
(H&M striped shirt | Forever 21 leather shorts | Vintage booties | Bag from Bangkok)
We also met Poupee of MET107 FM. She had a really funny story about her radio interview with Ben Kenney! Haha
Seether already started playing when we got to the Earth stage. I must say, I don't know any of their songs but they sound really good! And their cover of Nirvana's "Heart-Shaped Box" was fantastic!
Finally, after a few minutes of waiting, Incubus entered the stage hitting opening song "Megalomaniac"! It was July 28, 2011 all over again! I can't believe I was at the same position just six months ago!
Their setlist was great! And I'm so happy I finally heard "Privilege" live! I went wild when I heard the first note on Mike's intro.
I decided to not focus on taking great pictures and videos. In result I got shaky videos and crappy photos but no regrets! Enjoying and feeling the whole experience was more important.
I remember crying to "Wish You Were Here" which is weird because I've heard it live twice without feeling emotional. But this time, I came to a realization while they were playing it, that THIS is one of the few reasons I'm happy (which is relevant to the song's message). And I didn't just tear up, I was kinda bawling my eyes off.
I'm really glad they played some rare tracks like "Have You Ever"and"Magic Medicine"! I swear, on some songs, it was dead silence! I felt like Me, Lei, Chydie, and this stoned Australian chick beside me were the only ones singing along...
I smelled something strange and realized there were people smoking pot beside us. So, it's not our fault we were high! Queue"Smoking The Herb Again"!
They ended their set with"A Certain Shade of Green" which they had a little difficulty during the intro and they had to repeat it again. It was funny...
During the presscon, Brandon said, when performing on stage, they take us to a journey of twenty years in a span of an hour which I couldn't agree more! The journey from S.C.I.E.N.C.E to If Not Now When was a wonderful journey and I wouldn't have it any other way. I will never get tired of watching Incubus...I can actually see myself watching them at a "comeback tour" in the future and they'll all be rocking out in their 50's. Hah
Thank you Silverlake Music Festival for the great show! Leaving reality behind and flying all the way to Thailand was worth it!
Click HERE for my Incubus live at Silverlake Music Festival concert videos!
