Yesterday, Saosin released their new song, "Just Be Honest", and maybe I have listened to it more than twenty times already. Then finally it dawns on me that I still haven't made a post of when I watched them live when they came to Manila in May of this year. I made a short snap, but that's about it. So I decided to write this long-overdue post.
Saosin is one of the bands that pioneered the mid-2000s post-hardcore and screamo sound by blending heavy metal guitar work with melodic, high-pitched emotional vocals. And last May 7th, they came to the Philippines as part of their Asian Tour Concert to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their self-titled album and some of their hits. This took place at SM North Skydome.
I've gone to the concert along with my friend who I was with when I watched Alesana last year, who flew 900 miles from Davao just to see the show, though she was in VIP A while I was in VIP B because VIP A tickets quickly sold out. That's fine with me because I was able to use that money to watch A Skylit Drive two days before. Of course, she was there too to make the flight worth it.
Anyway, since we have separate tickets, I left her after a while to move to the VIP B line. By the way, it was only past 2:00 P.M that time, so I was able to be among the first in line, where I got to meet new friends and spend the remaining four hours before the gates opened.
After four hours of waiting, the gates were finally opened, and we were able to finally enter inside the Skydome. Then maybe another hour passed before the concert started to give time for all the people to enter the venue.
Once all the band members had entered the stage, they immediately started by singing their first song I Can Tell There Was an Accident Here Earlier, to which everyone in the audience sang along. With that, you will really know that everyone is an avid listener of their songs. But what really caught my attention was the females fangirling over Phil Sgrosso when they enter. You know, the former guitarist of As I Lay Dying. But despite his jump from metalcore to post- hardcore, Phil was able to synchronize with the band well. Of course, the band performed very energetically and gave us a great experience.
Overall, they played a total of 18 songs, 12 of which are from their self-titled album, while the rest are their other hit songs, which include Seven Years and to my surprise, they also play their other newly released single Starting Over Again, which it became apparent to me that there are some As I Lay Dying elements in the music and still maintains the Saosin identity.
Throughout the end, the audience continues to sing along with the band as they end the night playing You're Not Alone as if it were an anthem. Of course, I was also singing with them.
At the end of the day, I really enjoyed the concert, and I think that also goes for my friend and the new people that I met at the concert. After the concert, I reunited with my friend, and we stayed for a little while to wait near the car that the band would use to leave the venue, just like paparazzi do to try to get a picture with them, but we made a blunder and stayed close to their roadies' service vehicle instead, so when they arrived, we missed the chance to get a picture with them.
There was one more concert that I had attended during that week, but this time, I was able to attend for free. It might take some time, but I will also share that experience soon.
Thank you, and see you at the next one!
