We arrived at the MOA concert grounds at around 10.30 am, and was rewarded with hearing bits of Archie’s sound check –Stand By Me, My Hands- (how does he always sound amazing?). It’s too bad that I got Angel’s tweets to late, as David’s sound check had been before Archie’s, and as I found out later, the boys left together. We saw the black BMW leaving the arena as we stood on the overheard bridge, and decided to wave for the heck of it, because really, what harm could it do? Once they left, we scouted the area and went to the Mall of Asia (which is so huge it’s ridiculous, like who needs to shop so much???) and had lunch with the gracious and awesome Archuleta Avenue Malaysia team. It was a very cool experience to share stories on our mutual admiration for the David’s while trying to pacify ourselves that at least we’re insane together (since you know, we did fly 5 hours to see them). Or something like that. It was tons of fun, so thank you AAM and MYwn.

We got to the concert grounds (after freshening up) at about 5.30, and what a long line it was to go in! People were lined for miles and miles. The security checked every single person’s bag, and as the crowd slowly moved along, the 4 of us sung (loudly) to David’s songs to keep ourselves entertained. Here is where I’d like to apologize if I damaged anyone’s hearing during our renditions of The Truth, Declaration and other songs.

The venue was so vast when you’re standing there at your plastic chair, on level ground and the ground just stretches for miles and miles and you don’t know where it ends, and you’re thinking, gosh, PEOPLE are going to fill this place up. It’s insane so I can’t even imagine what it must be like for the boys because you know, we’re here for THEM. Wow. It was a very unreal moment.

The sides of the concert grounds were filled with stalls, which gave it a very carnival-like feel. There was a Skechers booth (our David has a very lucrative deal with Skechers, so they were there to represent!) that were giving out free I <3 David Cook pins (that I unfortunately lost in all the excitement) and there was this life size cardboard David that people were flocking to take pictures with. If you angled your camera just right, it could look almost believable. Haha.

Also, there was an official merchandise booth that sold wristbands, and t-shirts. I re
frained from the t-shirts because they were seriously creepy looking. You know the shirt with his mug stare? Yeah, it’s creepy. It looks like he wants to uh… kidnap you and stuff. Yikes. I’d prefer a hoodie, but they didn’t have those. (FAIL, Sony Philippines. Lol.)

The grounds began filling up steadily from 6pm onwards, and by 7.50, almost everyone was in. They had promo’s on the giant screens while we waited (*cheesy voice* For the first time ever, American Idols David Cook and David Archuleta in concert!.... plus tons of sponsor ads) as well as ton of fan bonding, in which our very own MYwn Ain got to be a mini-celebrity as people recognized her as ‘the girl who did the Light On challenge and THH covers’ for a bit. Shoutout to Kricket’s team from Archuleta Philippines; Angel, Chris, Isabella and everyone from the Cookleta team; Kylie, Justine, Shirene, Sheba and everyone from AAM; as well as all the other Archie and Cook fans that made the wait fun as we swapped stories.

The weather was brilliant, with a natural humidity but a slight breeze that kept us relatively happy as we waited. And then finally, at around 8.25, Eli, Mike, Kendra and Alex came out on stage and took their rightful places as Archie’s guitarist, bassist, keyboardist and drummer. And then Bb D ran out, bringing us to an energizing start with Touch My Hands. His set was great, and it felt like it flew by too fast. He’s an amazing vocalist, even if he did seem to strain on a few notes in certain places, but seriously, this kid is beyond amazing and obviously, David agrees with me because he stood by the wings during Archie’s set, bopping along. Archie did about 12 songs, and made me almost die happy when he sung Zero Gravity for us. (It’s a song that didn’t make his album) The crowd really got into it, and I was bouncing along with him. It was then I noticed that David really got into as well, as he stood, visibly in our line of sight, dancing and moving his hips in time with Archie who was on stage, bouncing all over the place. It was beyond epic. There’s a rather blurry video of this moment on youtube.

Once his set was done, Archie left and I was pretty bummed that no one yelled for an encore; instead, people just sat down. In a fit of good organizing, the intermission included a 20 minute fireworks display that riveted the audience while the stage crew expertly changed the band’s equipment, raising Kyle’s on a higher platform and in the middle, right behind David’s mic, as always. The one thing I noticed was that their mic stands did not have a lot of guitar pics stuck to it, so I was all dang it.

The crowd got restless, and starting chanting for David Cook, David Cook, David Cook. Obviously, he must have enjoyed the attention of 70,000 odd people yelling his name, because lo and behold, our boy makes a dramatic under-the-stage entrance, saddled with an acoustic singing The World I Know. Like how unexpected was that? The crowd went NUTS.

From the get-go, he had us mesmerized with his timbre vocals, his easy banter and natural charisma that makes you wonder, once upon a time how anyone could have accused him of not possessing any.

The entire set is like a foggy memory to me: all I know is I rocked out, yelled, sang along, laughed and swung glowsticks around madly. I remember the feeling of adrenaline coursing through me, as the sound reverberated around the arena, just letting myself get swept up in the music.
He was very charming, but also seemed a bit unsure at times, especially when he tried to engage the crowd. Many a time, he tried to greet us in Tagalog, but failed quite adorably. No one minded though.

I noticed that a lot of the Arch Angels who looked pained when Cook came out were later on their feet, bopping their head to the music and enjoying themselves. But the most noticeable difference descended when he did Always Be My Baby. NUTS is putting it mildly. People went wild, and within seconds, the entire arena was a sea of flashing backlights as everyone whipped out their cameras or phones, swaying along to the song and capturing the moment for their memories. It was one of the two powerful moments of the night.

Like the crowd, David warmed up to the crowd quite fast, and by the time he had launched into Straight Ahead, he was comfortable enough to make his way down to the barricades to engage with fans. He got right up to them, and then took their camera’s and cellphones and started snapping away, at the crowd, at himself, all the while making dorky faces. It was pandemonium for the people there, and I heard (later) a girl saying, “I have his sweat on me!” like it was the greatest thing ever. That’s the kind of feelings David Cook inspires through his music.

Even though the crowd was unfamiliar with his pre-idol music, they gamely allowed him to perform it, and those of us, like me, who knew every word, was yelling it out to make up for those we didn’t. It was awesome. I would have died if Andy had taken to the mic, but perhaps the Philippines has not quite reached that level. I should note that I saw Jeff and David Archuleta in the wings, watching David’s performance, and even videotaping it at some point.

When David left the stage after Come Back to Me, the crowd demanded his return. It was awesome. As he hadn’t sung Light On yet, I knew he would come back, but enjoyed yelling his name all the same. Getting swept in the energy of a concert experience is one of the best feelings, especially when it’s a David Cook concert.

Needless to say, he came back and rocked the house down. Light On, then Bar Ba Sol, which is easily the sexiest, rockiest song on the album. And then, it was over. He said his thank you’s while Neal and Kyle intro-ed us into A Daily AntheM and I knew this was it. I had been dreaming of hearing this live in a concert setting since the first time I heard it and had not put much stock in having him perform it because of the significance it held…. But he did. He pointed to the sky and dedicated it to his brother, and to the fans, and I saw people already choking up and crying, and by the end, when he was pouring his soul out in the lyrics he wrote for the love of a brother, and called out his best friend, David Archuleta to do the last runs with him, most people were soggy with tears. David himself had to bend and compose himself as Archie gamely kept the song going, a silent support for his big brother, and then David wiped a tear, and he was trooping on, and we were singing the woah, woah, woah, woah long after they had left the stage, arm in arm.

All in all? Best.concert.ever.

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