One fan recounts her long-delayed date with this Irish band
Count me in as one of the many
ticket-holders bitterly disappointed when the Corrs cancelled their concert last
February. But now that it was September, the concert was happening for REAL! I
should tell you I'm a huuuuge Corrs fan -- what a surprise! I got a first taste
of the excitement at the press conference a day before I got to see the on
stage, thanks to my job with meg's big sis MEGA. I was one of the hundred (maybe
even 150?) press people hanging around discovery Suites' Serendipity Lounge,
hoping to catch even just a glimpse of that Corrs' magic. (The usual number of
people at press cons? Fifty people tops.)
On "C" Day, I arrived at the Araneta Coliseum an hour before
the scheduled start, sprinting to the venue all the way from the MRT station.
(Coming from Ortigas, no way was I taking a car!) The place was already packed.
Concert presenter Nokia kept the audience in high spirits with "Bring Me" and
"Sing to Me" games -- all Corrs-oriented, naturally. The concert began with the
unmistakable sounds of a violin solo, building up to the band's instrumental
"Lough Erin Shore" from their Forgiven Not Forgotten album. Then, in a
blast of sound and strobe lights, Andrea, Sharon, Caroline and Jim opened with
"Only When I Sleep". The crowd couldn't have gotten any crazier if thousand-peso
bills started raining from the domed ceiling.
The Corrs performed four songs before they took enough of a
breather for Andrea to say, "Hi Manila" and apologize for their postponed
performance due to her ear infection. Then the band launched into their chart
toppers such as "Radio", "Dreams" and the unreleased "Somebody for Someone".
That was followed by a string of ballads (like "Runaway") before the
sentimentality was doused with amped-out performances of "Breathless" and "No
More Cry".
If I wasn't singing along with all the twebty-something
songs, I was dancing, jumping, and screaming for more. In the middle of one
song, someone threw a pillow on stage, which Andrea picked up and promptly sat
on without missing a lyric. A leather jacket was thrown next, and Andrea wore it
for half a song then gave it back to the lucky owner. Near the end of the
concert, a storm of stuffed toys rained on the stage. When the band thanked the
audience and supposedly "left", we all yelled for an encore. The group came
back, and brought down the house with a concert favorite "So Young", and their
recent single , "Would You Be Happier?" I did wish they'd played "I Know My
Love", an Irish jig the collaborated on with The Chieftains. I later found out
they'd performed it for their concert the night before! Shucks.
Nevertheless, it was my first honest-to-goodness pop concert,
and I'll never forget it -- the atmosphere, the audience (the most excited
they'd seen, according to Andrea), the venue (packed and dark except for
lighters and cell phones) and of course, the music. Experiencing a live
performance can never compare to watching a televised one. And thanks to my
exertions that night, I was not only rendered breathless, but my voice was
nothing better than a croak the next day. I didn't mind -- after seeing one of
the best bands in the world, I considered it just another souvenir from the
experience. -> Alexis T. Aldeguer