Before the show started, I had high hopes that they will perform their biggest hits from their albums. You see, since they were popular during the early 2000's, I had cassette tapes that you can't play anymore. Good thing everything's digital now and I can still hear their popular songs again. That is why I cannot wait to finally hear them live after XX years of being a fan.
When Ben Adams, Christian Ingrebrigsten and Mark Read took the stage, everyone was just howling like crazy. You see, I haven’t been able to see the “comeback” concerts of Backstreet Boys or Westlife and the other 90’s boybands, but A1’s fans really made sure to welcome the fabulous three.
They started the setlist with Same Old Brand New You, and we were just singing along with them. If there’s one thing I discovered about myself, it’s that I still remember the lyrics to their songs. The next tracks that they sang was Be The First To Believe, Forever In Love and Hey You.
It’s exceptionally very hot in Manila last Sunday and so they chose to sing Summertime as if the sun has not set yet. Then they made us all dance while singing Ready or Not. To be honest, it gave me all the feels because that was the song that made me like Ben so much. What touched me the most was when the three said that the fans know their songs better than them. And I think we did. I can even remember the dance steps of the song.
There is a story behind the “Everytime”, and they felt it was a very special song because it was written by three of them, at the same time. The next song was “In Love and I Hate It”, taken from their Waiting for Daylight album, their first album without Paul Marazzi, their fourth member.
We also sang along to their classic hits No More, One More Try and Walking in The Rain, Don’t Wanna Lose You Again, Heaven By Your Side, Take On Me and Make It Good. To the fans’ delight, they made a compilation of their memories of past visits to the Philippines while singing Living The Dream, because they couldn’t have lived their dream if not for their supporters.
They had a run down of the songs they haven’t performed yet and teased us with one of their most popular song but proceeded with Missing You, Grateful, If You Were My Girlfriend, One Last Song and Caught in The Middle- as supposed to be the finale. I kept on saying that A1 may look older now, but Adam’s (specifically) voice still sounds the same. I know because I used to replay the cassette tape to Ready or Not when I’m feeling down. It just sets my spirits up.
When they left the stage, almost everyone was shouting for them to come back and requesting for Like A Rose. After a few seconds, Ben’s voice blared with “And as I look into your eyes…” and everyone sang the stanzas with him until they went back on stage.
Here We Come - Back is definitely one of the best “throwback” concerts I’ve seen. This might be the only concert that I had the guts to go to on a Sunday and I have work the next day. I hope they would go back to the Philippines again and (maybe) to a bigger venue because I know of people telling me that they weren’t selling tickets anymore, few days before the concert.
And with this, I will forever cherish A1, even if I would be Caught In The Middle. :)