A rocked-out night with Avril Lavigne and Simple Plan
April 8, 2005 | 12:00am
Poet, critic and musician Sidney Lanier once said, "Music is love in search of a word." We must have been feeling the love the night Simple Plan and Avril Lavigne performed at the Global Bonifacio Open Field. It was a breezy evening of March 31 when rock music filled the air and everyone was rocking like there was no tomorrow. No doubt Avril Lavigne’s Bonez Tour 2005 was a smashing success in the Philippines. It was a night of great music, great spirits, and great fun. Most of all, it was a night of coming together … for Globe Handyphone’s GenTxters, that is.
Truly a telecom success, Globe Handyphone’s GenTxt is an exclusive privilege club created to fulfill the needs of today’s hip and fashionably mobile youth. GenTxters are entitled to great mobile freebies, including ringtones, logos textcards, MMS wallpapers, and cool myGlobe downloads. And yes, GenTxt membership also provides special prizes and discounts at various restaurants, shops, and night-out rendezvous. You want more? How does a year-round calendar of the most happening events sound to you? Great, I bet. Undoubtedly, Globe has it all – from movie premieres to UAAP sports action to unforgettable onstage performances from no less than the most-in-demand artists on the music scene. Recently, too, they ushered in summer 2005 in Boracay with the annual GenTxt Summer Salvo, hooking up with DJ Kimosave for the Trip Hop Sessions. These events were designed to give GenTxters an unforgettable time and Avril Lavigne’s 2005 Bonez tour was no exception.
Globe made Avril’s visit known quite early with the offering of Avril ringtones such as Nobody’s Home, He Wasn’t, Sk8er Boi, Complicated, I’m With You, My Happy Ending, Losing Grip, and Don’t Tell Me. Meanwhile, Simple Plan ringtones are also available. Fans can choose from Perfect, Welcome to My Life and Shut Up. Even more, Globe also offered Avril ringbacks with Sk8er Boi, Complicated, I’m With You, and Losing Grip. In addition, GenTxters availed themselves of a 20 percent discount for the P400, P1,500, and P3,000 tickets to the Avril concert. Using G-Cash to purchase the ticket also got the Globe subscriber 40 percent off.
Those who downloaded the ringtones and ringbacks, along with those who purchased the P3,000 and P1,500 tickets, were given a chance to meet and greet Avril Lavigne and Simple Plan. It was, indeed, a dream come true for the five lucky winners Joel Lopez, Eileen Son, Arianne Franco, Annabelle Domiquil, and Giselle Banzon. You could tell from the sparkle in their eyes that was almost as bright as the stars that night.
The winners, along with members of the media, were ushered into a white tent where Simple Plan, a five-man band from Canada, was chilling out before their performance. Inside, they happily signed the concert posters we got early on as well as posed with us for the cameras. Shortly after that, we happily settled into our seats as Simple Plan went onstage.
With Pierre Bouvier on vocals, Chuck Comeau on drums, David Desrosiers on bass and backing vocals, Sebastian Lefebvre on guitar and backing vocals, and Jeff Sinco on lead guitar, Simple Plan fired up the stage with their hit song Shut Up. From then on, you couldn’t shut up the crowd, who roared in delight song after song: The Worst Day, Grow Up. Then the music stopped for a bit as Pierre engaged the audience in a little conversation. Wearing a simple black shirt, khaki pants, red sneakers, and a pair of black wrist band, he stood on front stage by the microphone. He said it was their first time in the Philippines, confessing they loved every minute of their stay and then swearing they would be back! By this time, the crowd had gone wild, standing on their chairs and screaming to the top of their lungs. The Filipino audience’s love affair with Simple Plan was at fever pitch throughout the night as the latter dished out more hot faves: Welcome to My Life, Addicted, and Promise, a song that Simple Plan dedicated to all the lovely Filipinas.
Pierre won the hearts of many a Filipina that night when he tried to express himself in Filipino: "Mahal kita, Manila," "Galing mo," and "Salamat." As their performance drew to a close, it was pretty clear that their fans could not get enough of them. Alas, Avril was taking over the stage soon and Simple Plan had no choice but to simply end their part of the concert with a song that aptly describes how the past hour had gone – Perfect.
While all this was going on, the media and the Meet and Greet winners were ushered once again into the white tent near the stage to finally meet Grammy-nominated rock princess Avril Lavigne. Dressed in a black Dickies T-shirt, jeans, and checkered sneakers, the blond 20-year-old posed beside her lucky fans and the media. Then it was time for Avril to take center stage. Before that, however, GenTxters shared something they’ve been beaming about. For one, they were celebrating having reached an astounding one million subscribers. Also, they presented their new GenTxt commercial – it starts off with a lone GenTxter walking like a ranger under the heat of the sun. He walks towards a building and as he does, he wishes all GenTxters would unite. As he reaches the building, he meets up with some of his GenTxter friends who have agreed to help him spread the GenTxt love. Soon enough, a la Austin Powers, they shag their way into a lab, the mall, and basketball court. After a series of amusing dance choreography, the cameras zoom in on a breathtaking aerial shot of what seems like a million GenTxters holding up their phones in the night and forming some sort of a constellation. From this, the camera then cuts right to the all-familiar white thumbprint with Globe’s G trademark in the middle. Then, it was back to rock nirvana … this time, with Avril Lavigne.
The crowd cheered as Avril appeared onstage wearing a red devilish horn headband. Armed with her trusty guitar, she strummed to her songs, such as My Happy Ending, Freak Out, Unwanted, Things I’ll Never Say, Who Knows, I’m With You, and smash hit Losing Grip. As Avril held the microphone, the silver thumb ring on her left hand glowed. Seemingly having a good time onstage, Avril screamed "We love you!" to the appreciative crowd. The lights then dimmed for a short while, much to the crowd’s confusion. Cheers were once again heard, however, when Avril soon appeared seated by an elegant long black piano, where she sang the songs Together, Forgotten and Tomorrow. She returned front stage for Nobody’s Home and Everything’s Changing, along with a song she dedicated to all the girls called Don’t Tell Me and her other hit song Sk8er Boi. The light once again dimmed. When it turned back on, the crowd was in for a surprise.
Avril took her place behind the drums while Simple Plan’s David Desrosiers took on the vocals for the rendition of Blur’s Song 2. This was the last time Simple Plan graced the stage for the night. Meanwhile, Avril ended the concert with the crowd favorite Complicated.
Now, do you believe me when I say summer is one great fun time?
By the way, GenTxters can grab Avril’s Special Edition CD at Odyssey branches at 20 percent off for cash payments or 40 percent off for Globe GCash payments.
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