A once-in-a-lifetime Beyoncé experience
I prepared for The Beyoncé Experience Live in Taguig 2007 concert like I was getting ready for a long Holy Week out-of-town break.
Since I was told that 40,000 people would be watching the show — they were wrong: Some 50,000 eventually showed up — I knew I had to be armed and prepared for anything.
Making it even more complicated for me was the fact that Beyoncé Knowles’ concert was scheduled on a Wednesday (that was Nov. 7), which is my color-coding day. To solve the problem, I had to resurrect my seven-year-old Ford Lynx and prayed that it wouldn’t conk out on the way to the concert. I had the engine and tires checked and even bought a new headlight. (Can I charge that to Beyoncé?)
Since it is now practically semi-retired and used primarily for errands, the car had become as musty as an old museum that had long been neglected by its curator. A whole afternoon had to be spent just vacuuming its interior.
On the day of the concert, I tried to have a round of siesta even if I woke up at way past
Since the ticket stated that the show is at 7 p.m., I got myself ready by 5 and before leaving the house, I gave my checklist another once over to make sure I didn’t miss out anything. I don’t remember preparing this much for any event — not even for my First Communion in second grade. I even had a sandwich with me that I packed with a can of soda (make that diet for me) and an extra shirt just in case.
Traffic was bad in C-5 and I panicked — until I realized that Beyoncé or no Beyoncé, traffic is really bad there. Surprisingly, traffic eased up when I drove past Market! Market! Sure there were a lot of cars, but everything was moving — with the help of traffic aides who automatically gave directions on how to get to the concert venue. That early, I sensed that there was going to be order that evening (MTV Philippines events are always orderly). With a good pair of rubber shoes, I hiked all the way to the concert site. You can’t miss it. All over were lit-up Globe balloons that looked like a series of full moons against an almost starless sky.
As I was being shown by the very polite ushers and usherettes to my seat, I saw The Philippine STAR columnist Baby Gil with musical director Eloisa Matias already comfortably settled. Later, I also saw IC Mendoza, Nelson Canlas and Aubrey Carampel.
Since I got in early, I went through a long wait and whiled the time away counting the stars and celebrity arrivals. The early bird catches a glimpse of people coming in. In a while, Ipe Cruz and his friends sat a row behind me and in front were The Philippine STAR president Miguel Belmonte, editor-in-chief Isaac Belmonte and Philstar.com and People Asia president Kevin Belmonte, Inquirer’s Marixi Prieto, Ruffa and Raymond Gutierrez, Rufa Mae Quinto, Martin Nievera (Pops Fernandez was seated in another area), Deo Endrinal, Anton San Diego, father-daughter tandem Atom and Cristalle Henares — her mom Dr. Vicki Belo, who came with Dr. Hayden Kho, who in turn, was with Tessa Prieto-Valdes and their Celebrity Duets gang.
To my side were Gretchen and Marjorie Barretto and Sarah Geronimo. Later, I also saw Iza Calzado and Anne Curtis and much, much later, Janno Gibbs, wife Bing Loyzaga and kids.
US Ambassador Kristie Kenney sat in the front row and since the wait was long, I imagined that she had quite a bonding with the people around her and they all probably have multiple-entry visas to the
After the front act by Picasso, Bambi Verzo of Concertus later walked by my row and we managed to have a small talk, while I waved to Bernadette of Manila Bulletin. Eventually, Walden Belen and wife became my seatmates. It seemed like Beyoncé was just waiting for them because the show eventually began — at
An early hit that evening was her Say My Name from her Destiny’s Child days and everyone was singing along with her. The other songs she performed that night that harked back to the old days (okay, that was only a few years ago) were
Also much appreciated was the music provided by her all-girl band and the smooth movements of both male and female back-up dancers.
The wildest applause was reserved for Irreplaceable (her biggest hit) and this was made memorable when she asked the crowd to sing it with her. Oh, I sang with Beyoncé — I can tell that to my grandchildren.
Then, it was time to go. She went backstage and never returned for an encore. Was she disappointed with the crowd? But we loved every bit of you, Beyoncé! We are just a reserved lot. Also seated in front supposedly was the Brunei Crown Prince and you don’t expect wild dancing and hooting from royalty. Way at the back, however, people were actually partying.
But even without the encore, we all had a grand time and you have to give it to Beyoncé for giving her all that night — short of standing on her head as she sang.
As you make your way out with the thousands and thousands of other people (and at the car park with hundreds and hundreds of other vehicles), you still savor that marvelous once-in-a-lifetime experience only a star of Beyoncé’s magnitude and talent can provide.
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