Musicfest 2010. An hour with Boyce Avenue, Jabbawokeez, and Kris Allen

Posted by pat in Events, Nuffnang Feb 5th, 2010 | 5 responses

Yes. An hour hanging out with these dudes would’ve been totally awesome. Too bad my one hour with them was spent as a random blogger in the audience of press people. Oh a girl can dream. (Wait, I think i was more than an hour)

Yesterday, I, along with fellow bloggers Judd, Carlos, Mika, and Maki attened the pre- Musicfest 2010 prescon by Fearless Productions Inc. Musicfest 2010 features Boyce Avenue, Kris Allen, and the Jabbawokeez. Yes, to you fans in the Philippines, they are here on Pinoy soil and you can catch then in Cebu Feb 5, 2010 and Manila on Feb 6, 2010.

This being my first prescon organized to interview international artists, I was kinda expecting an eruption of ruckus and chaos with cameras flashing left and right, and raving fans screaming. The “chaos” was actually very mild and the whole event was… well.. tame.

The emcees for the afternoon were Mo Twister and Georgina Wilson.  Georgina was looking gorgeous.

First up was Boyce Avenue. I’ll have to admit, I didn’t really know much about Boyce Avenue until yesterday. After the interview, I looked them up on YouTube and realized “Oooh, so these are the guys that my sister has been bugging me to listen to.” At that time, I chose not to listen to them because I automatically labelled them “mainstream pop”. Sorry. I have tendencies of mild music snobbery which emerges from time to time.

Anyway, so what if these guys rose to fame because of covers. I really liked their covers. My favorite (and the favorite of many others for sure) is Apologize. Alejandrrro, your voice… *melt*. These boys from Florida accumulated 90 million hits on YouTube and subsequently made waves on the radio as well. Now, they are touring the world. 90 million hits man. Well, when you combine 3 hot guys with that “sensitive-guy” appeal, melt-worthy singing, a good catchy sound and the internet.. That’s what you get.

After Boyce Avenue came Jabbawokeez. Woot!  I was hoping they’d bust some slick, square, suave moves for us. That would’ve been totally awesome. Every time I watch a video of these guys, it’s always mind blowing. Never mind the fact that they are creative, how they execute those the moves is just..wow.

During the interview, these guys were, well.. your regular cocky,  goofy, cool American b-boys. (Is it just me or is it a typical California thing to be all “like yeah. so like. you know“. Anyway, just an observation). They told some stories of how life was for them before their rise to fame. They were pretty regular dudes who had a passion for dance and who had to take different jobs to pay the bills. Two of the Pinoys in their group did some telemarketing stints. (I found this funny. So does this mean that our “innate call center skills” transcend geographical borders? Apparently so. hehe.)

There was a lot of Pinoy pride coming from the Jabbawokeez but then they were quick to point out that some of them were also Black and Vietnamese. That’s why they wear masks while they perform. Its not about who is who but its about the dance and the Jabbawokeez a group.

Lastly, Kris Allen. Krrriiiiis Allen. The American Idol 2009 winner. Now I don’t what was up was this guy. Was he suffering from a bad case of jet lag? Did he pop too many sleeping pills. Maybe both? Whatever it was, he had this laaazzzyy slurrr yesterday. “Ohhh, I leanrrrned some FFilipinooo today. Maaabuuuhaaayyy…!”  It was weird. Even the band members seemed to be in a different plane that afternoon.

Want some trivia about Kris Allen? Someone in the audience asked the band to share something the world didn’t know about Kris Allen. (I guess he/she was hoping for something juicy.. perhaps for a gossip worthy story). Kris hates set lists. He’s the type who would prefer to just go with the flow on stage. Unfortunately, they always need a set list. So there! What else can I give you. hmm..

Ah yes. Kris Allen’s music career began in 2007 when wrote and self-produced an album entitled Brand New Shoes. He made around 600 copies and gave it to friends and family. Unfortunately, it didn’t really fly. Then came American Idol and the rest is history. This multi-talented guy (he plays the guitar, piano, and ukulele) and his band are now touring the world.

Of all three performers, it was only from Kris Allen whom we were able to milk out a brief performance. Someone from the press asked him to sing us a song and he obliged. I forget what song it was. I was concentrating on his slurrrr and my food (I was at the food table at this point). What I do remember thinking is,”If someone proposed to me singing like that, it would be an instant YES”. Unfortunately, it was, as said, a brief performance. No worries, if like me, you want to see what these guys, do check them out live while there are here!

For all the Cebuanos, catch them on Feb 5, Friday,at SM City Cebu North Opening Park at 8pm.

For you Manila peeps, hurry over to McKinley Hill Open Grounds on Feb 6, Saturday, at 8pm as well.

Of course, you’ll need tickets to get in. Yes, don’t you wish it were for free?

For Cebu Tickets, contact Ticketworld (2254041). For Manila tickets, contact Ticketworld (8919999). OR, you can contact this mobile number  0915-7457131.

Before I end this, let me leave you with another little trivia about these three groups. Notice, they all have performances using the song “Apologize”.