Gary Valenciano's Mag:Net Tribute Night!

.:Starstruck Doesn't Even Begin To Cover It:.

Picture courtesy of Judd

So last August 12,I went to Mag:Net Bonifacio High Street with Sarah and Judd, as we wanted to catch the Gary V tribute night, featuring Archipelago, Sino Si Kat, Spongecola, Pupil, and of course, one of my favorite bands, the Itchyworms. What none of us expected was the tribute night would actually be attended by Mr. Pure Energy himself, Gary Valenciano. We thought we were just joking around when we wondered aloud if we'd see him at the gig, but a few minutes later, the man walked past me, and I froze on the spot.

Did I ever tell you guys that I am such a big fan of his that I practically wore out my cassette of "Shout For Joy" when I was a kid, playing his songs from end to end?

And a quick fun fact: I discovered the hard way at my young, foolish age that cassettes cannot be fully rewound on both sides. Took me about five sequences of rewinding both sides before I caught on, actually. ::grins sheepishly::

Anyways, the performances were awesome, as each band respectively covered at least one Gary Valenciano each time, including a very unique, very Pupil version of "Take Me Out Of The Dark", as done by Dok. I loved all the performances, including the special participation of the percussion group Brigada, who really got the crowd going with their very lively beat.

All throughout, I was really just dumbstruck as Gary Valenciano was just a few seats from us. Given how he is one of my two favourite local male artists of all time (The late Francis Magalona being the other one.), I was never this starstruck in my life, except when I met Rick Astley. Sarah, Judd, and I were just frozen in place, trying to muster the courage to approach him and ask for a picture with him.

Soon enough, we did, and a few minutes later we had to have the picture taken again because Judd’s camera’s memory card got corrupted. Thankfully, Mr. Valenciano was incredibly gracious as he talked to us and had a picture taken with us again.

We even ran into Jericho Rosales that night, and to prevent the awkwardness of a guy asking for another guy’s picture, I used Sarah as my shield by telling Jericho that she was a big fan. Sarah looked at me incredulously as we had our picture taken. I think even Echo realized Sarah wasn’t the fan in that equation... LOL.

Anyways, it was overall quite an experience. I am definitely a big fan of Gary Valenciano, so seeing him this up close and personal was such a brush with celebrity for me, and it's one I simply cannot forget anytime soon.