It was mid-November last year when I stumbled upon a post from facebook and saw a familiar name. A name that has not been heard nor read for some time now in the OPM scene: Cynthia Alexander. The event poster was entitled: 'Cynthia Alexander: Even Such Is Time Album Release with Ben&Ben'. 

image source: event's FB post

As the post said back then, tickets are available at Ticketworld Offices and thru the contact numbers of their sponsors/organizers, OPM (Organisasyon ng mga Pilipinong Mang-aawit) and SOS Movement, to name a few. With the mindset that it will be sold out immediately and knowing the artists involved, I panicked and hurriedly tried logging into my account in ticketworld and search for the said event to reserve my ticket. Sadly, the event was not there.. So, I though it was not meant to be.. hehe. But deep inside(naks!), I felt like I missed out on a very rare opportunity, not only since this would be the first time that I would see her perform live, but also it would probably take years again for her to come back and perform again here in the Philippines. 

I believe it was back in 2012 when I read an article that she would be leaving the country, due to the lack of support by the music industry here and would just like to pursue her music offshore - or so we thought. 

Born as Cynthia Veronica Ayala, sister of a renowned OPM artist Joey Ayala, came into the music scene as an indie(independent) artist during the late 90's. Having a distinct sound of her voice and guitar playing artistry, she caught my attention during my high school days, back when there were no YouTube and Spotify, yet. I only saw her occasionally on her music videos on  MTV, Channel V or NURock TV if I'm not mistaken. But every time I came across her music videos, I'd make sure to stop browsing other channels and listen.

I cannot claim myself to be a fan of hers. Well, not in the sense of knowing most, if not all, of her songs, but I'm more of a fan on how she plays the guitar. A guitar player as myself(not that good, though), I am always in awe when I watch her play. The chords she uses are strings of open and broken chords and harmonics that I am not familiar with. You may get what I'm talking about by watching some of her videos online. A sample below:

A week had passed when I again saw the same poster, but this time from Ben&Ben's facebook page, and saw that some tickets were still available. So, I did not waste any more time and reserved my tix online and successfully booked a seat on the orchestra part of the Music Museum! :)  Elated not only because I was able to get a ticket, but I got to have 4 straight months this year of having at least one concert or musical to watch. hehe. ;)

• January - Cynthia Alexander and Ben&Ben
• February - Paramore; Morissette Amon
• March - The Lion King Musical
• April - Ed Sheeran

An anecdote on event night

During the event night, I came an hour earlier to first claim my ticket then maybe eat before the concert starts. At the ticket booth, when I was about to claim my ticket, I can't find my e-ticket on my email. I remembered putting it on my starred emails on my gmail, but for some reason I can't seem to find it. I was already panicking that time, that I even did not manage to greet one of my former officemate that walk passed me. Oh, by the way that former officemate of mine is one of Cynthia alexander's back up guitarist. ;) I call him the 5th eraserhead, because he is! hahaha. Anyway, back to the ticket, because of the panic I forgot that the ticket is also available if I log in my account on ticketworld. hahaha! tanga tanga! 

I always tell people that you get to appreciate an artist/band more if you get to see them perform live.  There is something about watching live, where you get to witness the authenticity of the sound they create. Free from studio edits and such, you get to enjoy the music more.

The New Kids on the Block: Ben&Ben

The concert started with its front act, Ben&Ben. Formerly known as The Benjamins, Ben&Ben is the new indie folk band you'll need to hear. A 9 person band, headed by the twins Paolo and Miguel Guico are also the band's lead guitarists and vocals. I came across this band only last year when some of my friends are posting their music video Kathang Isip on their social media sites. Me, being curious and always having that juice in finding new sound, tried and listen to their music. 

Instantly, I fell in love with their lyrics and melody. Songs such as Kathang Isip, Maybe The Night, Leaves and Ride Home are my favorites. They all performed these songs and also performed a new one called Sa Panaginip which was exclusively heard for the first time at the concert. Part of the lyrics says:

sa panaginip na lang muna mamasdan.. sa panaginip na lang muna hahagkan

I hope I remembered it right, lol! The song according to them was composed by one of their percussionist. Miguel mentioned that the song was about the things you get to see or appreciate when you close your eyes.

The Return of an OPM Jewel

To be honest, I thought that the concert went sold out because of Ben&Ben, especially in a time where a lot of millennials dominate the crowd nowadays; but I was proven wrong. And I was glad I was proven wrong. The audience that night are true blue fans of Cynthia Alexander. I even felt embarrassed because I can't even sing together with them, for I only knew few of her songs; and just like I've mentioned, I'm more of a fan of her guitar playing. A bit frustrated that I sat on the wrong side of the venue, for I was seated on the right of the Orchestra side. I was not able to see her fingers playing, striking and plucking the strings; things that I was anticipating. 

In the audience, you can also see a lot of celebrities that turns out to be fans of Cynthia Alexander. Personalities like Atom Aurallo, the whole itchyworms, Beh - Nikki Veron Cruz - from Ramon Bautista's Tales from the Friend Zone was seating in front of me! hahaha! And of course, Mr. Joey Ayala was there, which I was not able to notice, not until Cynthia called him from the audience. 

It was prohibited to take video recordings during the performance, that's why I was not able to take some clips of them performing. But you know, there are still hard headed and pasaways from the audience so you could still find some videos in YouTube. Here is one where she called back Ben&Ben to perform his brother's song which is Dumaan Ako. I remember her saying that they are about to sing Joey Ayala's song and it seems like they are auditioning for him. Haha!

The night was very successful. I had fun and enjoyed it so much. It will leave a nostalgic feel in me for her music, knowing that we will not see her perform in the near future. I am glad that I was there to witness that one night that Icon made a Homecoming on the OPM Stage.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post and hope you enjoyed! God bless us all, guys!

~ @d-isko.very