So it's been more than a month since the epic kick-awesomeness that was Kris Allen in Musicfest, and yet I still haven't finished recapping it while providing my pseudo-expert tips and insights on how tard "sanely" (writing that just reeks of irony, no?). From where I left off, I was saying that one should bring at a non-invested friend or two who will help keep his sanity in check. As I mentioned, not bringing one was a mistake when I saw Kris arrive, while bringing two later that day resulted in a Cale and Andrew sandwich for me. :P And a little chit-chat of course.But more about the KAB small talk later. I'm in a stream of consciousness mode so allow me to backtrack and quickly recap the events in between the two contrasting events.
Basically what happened was, after I freaked out a bit (and greeted Cale), I went straight to Eastwood, where the press conference will take place later in the afternoon. Fortunately on my part, it is within the vicinity of the company I work for (and my colleagues' condo), such that, despite the fact that I took a personal day off from work that day, I was still able to do some work stuff (meetings mostly), watch Eat Bulaga's Pia Guanio butcher the lyrics of "Live Like We're Dying" when she prompted Kris to sing a few bars of the song (he didn't perform), and buy Kris a Team Manila shirt (small size of course) as gift. Oh, and eat the donut I bought from the hotel earlier. That was lunch. I wasn't hungry. In tardspeak, Kris's yumminess was filling enough. :P
(BTW, waiting for his appearance in EB was, in hindshight, kinda a waste of time I could've spent stalking the hotel. Hee! I should've realized then that there'll be someone who will YouTube it. It's not like I was in the live audience or whatever.)
Speaking of gifts:
- If you're to bring gift/s, make sure it's/they're still compact and (hopefully) usable. Admittedly, the selfish side in me is hoping Kris will wear the shirt at one point (which he did) allowing me to gush all over the Internets (which I did). :) Hey, he's been seen wearing cool graphic tees over and over again (the purple Don't Stop the Music is one of my faves, and the "Will Trade Girlfriend for Coke"), that is if he's not wearing plaid. Giving him a shirt that will also serve as his souvenir from Manila/Philippines was an easy decision for me. Besides, I highly doubt something as light as cotton will be an excess baggage waiting to happen.
- As much as possible, hand the present/s directly to the recipient/s. No brainer here -- I believe proper etiquette dictates this, save for certain occasions, because it also allows the recipient to thank the giver properly (imagine the possible eye contact and the rich baritone of Kris's voice! *squee*). Of course, chances of meeting your idols can be slim, but that should also be taken into consideration when choosing a present (remember rule #1). The worst case scenario for me was that I won't be able to give Kris the shirt, but I didn't really mind because I can keep it for myself (LOL!).
I don't trust hotel concierges or the security people (even if the idol himself was beside them) -- yes, I'm paranoid that way. But if you've heard events organizers themselves say that they have wooden jeepneys entrusted by to them Person X's fans still in their offices, I'm sure you will too.
Also an ideal place to give the presents? Hotel lobbies before the idol goes up his room. Yeah, this is me being nitpicky and paranoid again. :)
When the scheduled time for the presscon drew near, I headed to the venue in hopes that I will get an ideal spot, even outside the gated area. The idea of an open-air press conference was kinda odd for me (previous acts that I stalked always had a closed-door press-only event). Besides, Eastwood sort of advertised in their banners that we have the "chance" to meet Kris and the other acts. I decided to inquire (that's another tip: ask questions... no need to put it as #8 because I believe this should be common sense).
What I initially found out was that despite the event being "strictly" limited to press, people who are buying tickets on the venue can enter the small standing area within the barricades (still far from stage but definitely better vantage point). Well that sucks for those who purchased tickets earlier right? Apparently another person thought the same thing, so we asked -- politely, of course, remember #1! -- if we can also enter given our situation (this was the time when we started bragging about how expensive our tickets are -- good thing I have the concert ticket with me as proof... LOL! -- and telling/coaxing the organizers that they've done the same thing the weekend before with Jabbawockeez anyway). We were advised to wait for further announcements, and true enough, a few minutes later, they were already letting ticket holders to not only enter the standing area, but to really go inside (yay!).
I scored a seat in the second row. Really good vantage point (double yay!). Too bad I suck at photography, despite Eric lending me his DSLR.
Anyway, so the presscon went underway, fans discovered that Ryland was not there but some mystery drummer named Drew. And Kris kinda [jokingly] scolded me for applauding about his viola playing (he said playing in an orchestra "was not cool"... seriously? I beg to disagree). See Part 2 of the video below (at 2:58 mark) :P
Part 1:
Part 2:
PS: This happened a couple of days later, but here's the picture of Kris wearing the shirt. *double squee*
(to be continued)
Videos courtesy of msmelvel
Picutre courstesy of SequinedLuvNun
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