red's organized review

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Show You Love Manila, A Review
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A look at the outline I've developed for this piece tells me it'll
be my longest Blog yet, and I may actually have to split it in two.

But for almost a decade, I've waited for a chance to see Jars
perform live, and I've finally seen them - from a front row vantage
point.

I can't help but feel I've come full circle in a way. But that
story can wait. Without further ado,here is my promised review of
the Manila leg of Jars of Clay's "Show You Love" tour.

-----------
FISH
-----------
I left UPLB at lunch to handle some business at UP Diliman, and
arrived at Araneta already excited and knowing that I'd be living
off adrenaline for the rest of the night. I was pleasantly
surprised to find that my seat had a good vantage point, and that it
came with a complimentary copy of Fish. I'm 25, but I've come to
appreciate this teen's magazine for what it's been trying to do -
provide a God-centered alternative to the negative media messages
teens are barraged with nowadays. It was the same concept that
attracted me to Jars of Clay in 1996, (and the reason why my email
monicker is 'alternativity') Why am I taking such a long time
talking about Fish Magazine? Because it was a long wait. Time itself
seemed to freeze as almost a decade of waiting came down to less
than an hour...

------------
Bo Sanchez
------------
And then Bo Sanchez walked up the stage to welcome the crowd. Bo's
ministry is truly a blessing. It was also a blessing, though, that
his speech was short.

------------
'Cradle' comes before 'Jars'
------------
"BAAARRRBBBIIEEEE!!!"

"Oh dear, my voice sounds so tired,"I thought to myself, as the rest
of the crowd picked up on the idea and welcomed Barbie's Cradle with
applause.

But like a cup of Coffee, the first song, "A Good Day Coming Up"
helped me find second wind. The Cradle guys played "Tabing Ilog"
and "Pag-Ibig" "Isang Dipang Tao" after that - great performances
which the acoustics did not give due credit to. The equipment was
obviously not set for Barbie's Cradle's usual specs, as the sound
rang hollow a few times during what should have been a great
performance.

But I knew that meant the acoustics were thoroughly prepped for
Jars, and that thought got me excited.

One last thought before Jars, though - BC is definitely a class act,
and we pinoys should be truly proud of these guys.

----------------
The Boys in Manila, Finally
----------------
Silence. It must've taken Jars of Clay at least ten minutes to set
up - an eternity when it comes to live performances. The spotlight
kept us all entertained through the lull, with people standing up in
a 'wave' wherever the light fell.

And then the waiting ended. "The Boys" as some Jars fans dub them,
were finally in Manila!

Wait, were those people taking PHOTOGRAPHS down near stageside? So
they're going to allow it after all! I'd stolen some pics of BC
from afar, but now realized I could shoot from stage-side! I
quickly whipped out my CyberShot and started taking pictures. (See
Pic of Dan Haseltine, taken early in the first song.)

The first song was an upbeat one, as one would expect from
experienced performers. I must admit I was too busy taking shots and
avoiding bouncers those first few minutes to really appreciate the
moment. I tried to take a video clip and that emptied the
batteries - thankfully. I enjoyed the evening much more after that.
With my last shots I caught Barbie in the sidelines. The battery
died. I knew I could squeeze one more shot out and turned on the
camera, catching one last good pic of Stephen Mason enjoying his
guitar licks.

-----------------
Steve Mason, guitar player for Jars of Clay
-----------------
Stephen was the surprise of the evening. Until that moment I had
not realized what a big part of Jars' sound Stephen contributed. It
was the noisiest I had ever heard Jars of Clay - a grittier sound
because Stephen's guitar licks shone through. On an album those
licks would be replaced with studio enhanced sounds (clocks ringing,
sound clips, and orchestra performances) and now I almost regret the
fact - Stephen's performance made the Jars sound more 'solid'
somehow. Steve now ties with Dan Haseltine as my favorite Jars of
Clay member, now that I've seen what he does. (That puts the absent
Matt Odmark in third place, but who's counting?)

------------------
Charlie Lowell, keyboard player for Jars of Clay
------------------
Keyboardist Charlie lowell, I was too far away from to see much of.
And he spent all of the concert behind his keyboards as usual, which
means I saw the least of him of any performer that night except the
drummer, regular jars sessionist Joe Porter. (These poor drummers
always get the least coverage in concerts...)

-------------------
Aaron Sands? on Bass (or 'Why Charlie Was Absent')
-------------------
The guy I latter found out was Aaron Sands was a big surprise...
doing Bass. The original Jars guys (Haseltine, Lowell, Mason, Matt
Odmark and original guitar player Matt Brownlee) were contemporaries
and Sands just looked so different he stuck out like a sore thumb
visually. But his plaing was right on with everyone that night -
that's VITAL because Bass is the 'soul' of this brand of music. I
later found out that Matt Odmark's grandfather had died, and Sands
had to fill in for him. Sands of course has been a regular Jars
performer since "If I Left the Zoo," so his and Porter's chemistry
with everyone else was well established.

--------------------
A Moment's Quiet
--------------------
And then, once again, there was silence. And darkness. the
suddenness of it made some people wonder if it was going to be a
really really short concert. The guy behind me said as much, and I
came up with the best explanation I could. "They need time to change
guitars."

We both realized that was probably what was up, and were comforted
by a light that came on and revealed the guys still there.

Something very much like a second act was to follow.