Cruz, Marie Faye Angeli S.

3ELS1

 

                                                           Cloud Nine

I have always seen myself as a musician. I started having (informal) gigs when I was four years old. Our neighbors would ask me to sing and give me chocolates, candies or sometimes even money in return. My parents would always remind me of the time when I “embarrassed” myself in front of people. It was during my grandfather’s wake and being the wonderful friend that he was, a lot of people came to show their sympathy to us. I remember being bored because everyone was so quiet and some were crying, including of course, my mom. Wanting to cheer people up I went to the front and shouted at the top of my voice: “Everyone! Please listen! I will sing you a song.” and sang Regine Velasquez’s Kailangan Ko Ikaw which was my favorite song at that time with so much passion. It was definitely out of place but I made everyone laugh.

My musical influences vary from Dream Theater to Michael Jackson to Kitchie Nadal. I have so much respect for those people but there’s this particular OPM band that caught my full attention. They are called Tanya Markova. I didn’t know they existed before. My fondness for them started when I heard my cousin listening to their album. It was love at first sound. I adored them even more when my cousin told me that they accept friend requests on Facebook and follow people back on Twitter. Wasting no time, I went online and followed them on their social media accounts. I remember our first conversation on Twitter. The end of the world was a trending topic that time so I asked them what they want to do when doomsday comes. I wasn’t really expecting a reply from them but they did and said that they want to draw and eat ice cream. I found it cool because I also want to eat ice cream on doomsday too. Since then, we communicated via Twitter and Facebook frequently.

Being a fan of Tanya Markova, I felt compelled to watch them live but it wasn’t such an easy task for a second year high school student like me. School works took most of my time and their gigs were usually held at bars and bistros which do not allow minors like me to enter unless accompanied by an adult. Until one time on February 17, 2013 to be exact, while scrolling through my news feed on Facebook, I saw a poster of UP Fair indicating the band lineup for that day and goodness! Tanya Markova was included! My parents were really strict so I had to look for a chaperone first. I tried asking my achi (she’s just my cousin but we treat each other like sisters) but she said that she was invited to a dinner by her best friend. It was slightly frustrating for me but I know better than to give up. I asked her brother instead, and to my relief he agreed. However, I had to wait until his shift was over because he works as a nurse. It was not a big deal for me. I just need someone to accompany me. I was so happy that I forgot about the tickets. It was my mom who reminded me of that. Walk-ins are allowed but you’d have to brave the extremely long line of people. I decided to call the SM tickets department but to my dismay, the attendant told me that they don’t have the tickets anymore and I could only get them from Trinoma, which was about thirty minutes away from us. Disappointment was starting to defeat my determination but I thought that I may never have a chance like this again so I tried calling my achi again to ask for help. Luckily, she was just near Trinoma and volunteered to buy the tickets for us. We settled on meeting halfway to grab the tickets from her. I couldn’t help smiling. I’m finally going to see Tanya Markova perform live.

Things went on as planned. We fetched my ahia from work got the tickets from my achi and proceeded to UP Sunken Garden. It was around 7:30 pm when we arrived there. Fortunately, we found a perfect spot, just inches away from the stage. I was feeling really nervous for some reason but I ignored it. I will be inches away from my idols in just a few moments. What could possibly go wrong? We felt hungry after a few hours of waiting so we were forced to leave our place. We grabbed a few bites and to my surprise, our place was still unoccupied. Things were fun at first. Bands after bands played onstage and we sang along with them. We started to feel tired and sleepy after a while. I checked my watch. It was already 3 am. People started to leave the venue and although it was to my advantage because I can now freely watch Tanya Markova with a fewer hindrances, I felt worried. What if their gig was cancelled for some reason? What if I don’t see them this time? What if we waited for nothing at all?

My worries vanished in an instant when the hosts announced that Tanya Markova would be playing next. My heart was beating so fast, I thought I was palpitating. This is it! My most waited moment! I ran to the front most part and sang as loud as I can with them. It was so weird because I felt my eyelashes getting wet. I was crying and singing at the same time but I didn’t care. My dreams finally came true.

After their set, I felt like I’ve been drugged. I couldn’t help smiling. I was smiling while having serious conversation with my ahia. I was smiling while texting my mom to tell the househelp to open the gate for us. I was smiling as we were leaving the Sunken Garden. I felt like a complete weirdo but who cares? I just had the best day of my life.

Suddenly, an idea struck me. I decided to wait for Tanya Markova outside the backstage. My ahia couldn’t hide his annoyance anymore but I begged him to wait with me for just a few more minutes. I bribed him with a hamburger and he gave in. After about five minutes, their drummer, Edu went out but I was so starstrucked that I wasn’t able to call him. Next to get out was their bassist, Kix Chavez aka Skrovak Iskopanjo. I found my voice this time and called him. “Kuya Kix!” I said. He smiled at me like we’ve been friends for years. “Uy!” he said. “Fan niyo po ako kuya!” I said, my voice shaking slightly. “Ang galling! Nice to meet you!” he replied. “Sila Kuya Harlon at Kuya Gel (their vocalists)  po?” I asked. “Andun pa sa backstage e. Palabas narin yun! Hintayin mo lang sila. O ayan na pala sila eh.”  I couldn’t believe it. They were approaching me.

I introduced myself. “Hi mga kuya! Fan niyo po ako!” 

“Hi! Musta?” Kuya Harlon said with a smile.
"Okay lang po huhu love na love ko po kayo."