Themed as “Rise Up Youth of Albay”, and held in Ninoy Aquino Park in Daraga, the main purpose of the concert was for evangelism and for fellowship of Christian youths in Albay. The concert was produced and spearheaded by the fellowship I belong in, Joy Church, thus most of the presentations were from us. It started about 6:30 pm and since the DVD (yes, we have DVD documentation) running time was about three-and-a-half hours, we probably ended about ten in the evening. You can watch some of the videos in this site or in YouTube.
I kind of think that the opening multimedia presentation for the concert seemed to be out of context, which was “street children”-themed. The target audience was teenagers/young people, dynamos of emotional confusion and instability, and not social workers burdened with street children. These young people are searching for purpose and identities for themselves, and not much concerned with the tragedy of street children. But nonetheless, the message of Jesus is the answer, the only hope, is delivered by the opening, so no complains from me. However, I think the “letter from hell”-theme would have worked better. Scare and provoke questions about the afterlife. But I am all praise with the multimedia showings of mini-cartoons and Hillsong memory verses during gap times between performances.
Anyway, here is a summary of the performances that night:
The opening performance came from the Joy Worship Team, we kick off the concert with a medley of “Shelter House”, “You Are Good”, and Gary V’s “Shout For Joy” - with some cool bass solo from Basil in “You Are Good.”
We did a skit of “Matatakuting Kristyano.” Joneil and I were the drunkards who forced the scaredy-cat Christian, played by Chano, to drink alcohol with us in the cemetery. When he woke up, he had a showdown with the Devil, played by Basil. The catch of the skit is every time the “Matatakuting Kristyano” uses a talisman against the Devil – in the order of garlic, cross, holy water, and Bible – the Devil mocks him by bringing a bigger garlic, bigger cross, and so on. In the end, the Christian learned that only in the name of Jesus can he defeat the Devil. It was still funny, but we definitely did a better performance when we did it at church.
The band from DBCCI, which I believe was called the “Anointed Band” did well, and I liked the catchy outro of their second song.
Some Joy girls did a worshipful interpretative dance of “Here I Am To Worship.”
AG (Assemblies of God) Band, led by their all-around pastor (he handles children ministry, worship ministry, preaching ministry, etc. in their church) did two songs.
The mime presentation that night was an upgraded/rebooted version of some mimes we did in the past. Concepts from previous mime performances were combined, and it came out well. The main theme is of an allegorical Eve in the Fall, and her search of satisfaction. As Eve, played by Eden, tries every pleasure the world can offer; as she tried and hanged out with Steph and her jewelries (probably symbolizing wealth), with Careyl as a model (probably symbolizing vanity and outward beauty), with me as a rocker (probably symbolizing talents), with Joneil as a hunk/boyfriend (probably symbolizing romance), and with Basil as Michael Jackson (probably symbolizing the generation’s pop culture and blind idolatry to celebrities). Finally, Eve realized that only Jesus/God, played by Chano, can give her true peace and joy. Eden (Eve) and Basil (Michael Jackson) are the “MVPs” of this mime presentation as they deliver hilarious and excellent performances. Kudos also to Chano for directing such mime with a deep allegorical message. For me, in the three plays we did that night, this was the best.
SOP Band is definitely the best band that night. It is no wonder since they were already playing in a band since they were children, thus they grew up as bandmates as their experiences helped their talents and bond grow. Their rendition of “Ako’y Binago Niya” was very powerful, and their original song, “Trip To Heaven” was excellent.
The Christdiers trio composed of Basil (lead vocals, guitar), Joneil (drums), and I (bass) played our version of “Extraordinary Life” and our original “8 Words.”
"You Are Good" powerful dance by Joy girls.
The Joy Worship Team did a catchy medley of Christmas songs, which started with a rendition of “Amazing Grace.” Prior the song, a video of our dear Pastor Lee playing “Amazing Grace” in the flute was shown; this served as the intro. After the warm-up song of “Amazing Grace”, we did the medley of “Feliz Navidad”, “Joy To The World” and “Come O Ye Faithful.”
Mel, the keyboardist, was located at the extreme left of the stage. Thus, throughout the concert, it was not very often for him to be captured by the video cam.
After the message of Pastor Lee and a cool rapture clip was shown in the multimedia, we did a musical drama with the song of “Everything” by Lifehouse. Basil played Jesus, and I played the Devil, as other Joy young people played different roles. In the drama, it is shown the Devil owned the souls of several people and tempted them with worldly pleasures for them not to seek Christ, but when Jesus called and saved them, the Devil was helpless to do otherwise. The misery of living in the dark and the message of Christ being the savior and the only answer and salvation from sin and darkness were shown. No offense, but I did not like the original script of the musical drama as it was filled with theological flaws and the plot transition was so messy and confusing. But, thank God, after some brainstorming and some ideas by Chano, we made it better and I am satisfied with the final script.
The kids from Joneil’s taekwondo ministry performed a number that boosted the taekwondo attendance after the concert.
Floodgates, the other band aside from Christdiers that I belong in, made up of Bhong (lead vocals, guitar), Basil (bass), Jade (drums), Mel (keyboard), and me (guitar), was the last special number band. We played “Ocean Floor” and then “I Will Find You”, which we did our trademark instrumental in mid song – soloes for me, Bhong, Jade, and Basil, in that order, and then some funk.
I did some blues scaling for my solo.
Tapping exhibition was Bhong's solo.
Basil did his bass solo after Jade did his drum solo. Then, the former did some funky bass slapping on the funk instrumental.
In the second half our set, Kuya Reybhong joined us to sing “Mighty Good Leader” and “Speak To Me.”
An all-star dance number, consists of youth from different churches, was the last performance that night.
The last part was the praise and worship, with songs “Mighty To Save”, “Shout Your Fame”, “Sing For Joy”, and “How Great Is Our God.” Additional songs “I Am Not Ashamed”, “One Way” and “Bestfriend” were played due to demand. The initial response I heard about the concert was the praise and worship was too short. I agree.
It was truly a blessed night. About a thousand people, a combination of both believers and non-believers, watched the concert. Truly, God is at work. The seeds were sown. And God will nurture and reap.
To God be the glory. Till next year's concert (if God wills it).
I kind of think that the opening multimedia presentation for the concert seemed to be out of context, which was “street children”-themed. The target audience was teenagers/young people, dynamos of emotional confusion and instability, and not social workers burdened with street children. These young people are searching for purpose and identities for themselves, and not much concerned with the tragedy of street children. But nonetheless, the message of Jesus is the answer, the only hope, is delivered by the opening, so no complains from me. However, I think the “letter from hell”-theme would have worked better. Scare and provoke questions about the afterlife. But I am all praise with the multimedia showings of mini-cartoons and Hillsong memory verses during gap times between performances.
Anyway, here is a summary of the performances that night:
The opening performance came from the Joy Worship Team, we kick off the concert with a medley of “Shelter House”, “You Are Good”, and Gary V’s “Shout For Joy” - with some cool bass solo from Basil in “You Are Good.”
We did a skit of “Matatakuting Kristyano.” Joneil and I were the drunkards who forced the scaredy-cat Christian, played by Chano, to drink alcohol with us in the cemetery. When he woke up, he had a showdown with the Devil, played by Basil. The catch of the skit is every time the “Matatakuting Kristyano” uses a talisman against the Devil – in the order of garlic, cross, holy water, and Bible – the Devil mocks him by bringing a bigger garlic, bigger cross, and so on. In the end, the Christian learned that only in the name of Jesus can he defeat the Devil. It was still funny, but we definitely did a better performance when we did it at church.
The band from DBCCI, which I believe was called the “Anointed Band” did well, and I liked the catchy outro of their second song.
Some Joy girls did a worshipful interpretative dance of “Here I Am To Worship.”
AG (Assemblies of God) Band, led by their all-around pastor (he handles children ministry, worship ministry, preaching ministry, etc. in their church) did two songs.
The mime presentation that night was an upgraded/rebooted version of some mimes we did in the past. Concepts from previous mime performances were combined, and it came out well. The main theme is of an allegorical Eve in the Fall, and her search of satisfaction. As Eve, played by Eden, tries every pleasure the world can offer; as she tried and hanged out with Steph and her jewelries (probably symbolizing wealth), with Careyl as a model (probably symbolizing vanity and outward beauty), with me as a rocker (probably symbolizing talents), with Joneil as a hunk/boyfriend (probably symbolizing romance), and with Basil as Michael Jackson (probably symbolizing the generation’s pop culture and blind idolatry to celebrities). Finally, Eve realized that only Jesus/God, played by Chano, can give her true peace and joy. Eden (Eve) and Basil (Michael Jackson) are the “MVPs” of this mime presentation as they deliver hilarious and excellent performances. Kudos also to Chano for directing such mime with a deep allegorical message. For me, in the three plays we did that night, this was the best.
SOP Band is definitely the best band that night. It is no wonder since they were already playing in a band since they were children, thus they grew up as bandmates as their experiences helped their talents and bond grow. Their rendition of “Ako’y Binago Niya” was very powerful, and their original song, “Trip To Heaven” was excellent.
The Christdiers trio composed of Basil (lead vocals, guitar), Joneil (drums), and I (bass) played our version of “Extraordinary Life” and our original “8 Words.”
"You Are Good" powerful dance by Joy girls.
The Joy Worship Team did a catchy medley of Christmas songs, which started with a rendition of “Amazing Grace.” Prior the song, a video of our dear Pastor Lee playing “Amazing Grace” in the flute was shown; this served as the intro. After the warm-up song of “Amazing Grace”, we did the medley of “Feliz Navidad”, “Joy To The World” and “Come O Ye Faithful.”
Mel, the keyboardist, was located at the extreme left of the stage. Thus, throughout the concert, it was not very often for him to be captured by the video cam.
After the message of Pastor Lee and a cool rapture clip was shown in the multimedia, we did a musical drama with the song of “Everything” by Lifehouse. Basil played Jesus, and I played the Devil, as other Joy young people played different roles. In the drama, it is shown the Devil owned the souls of several people and tempted them with worldly pleasures for them not to seek Christ, but when Jesus called and saved them, the Devil was helpless to do otherwise. The misery of living in the dark and the message of Christ being the savior and the only answer and salvation from sin and darkness were shown. No offense, but I did not like the original script of the musical drama as it was filled with theological flaws and the plot transition was so messy and confusing. But, thank God, after some brainstorming and some ideas by Chano, we made it better and I am satisfied with the final script.
The kids from Joneil’s taekwondo ministry performed a number that boosted the taekwondo attendance after the concert.
Floodgates, the other band aside from Christdiers that I belong in, made up of Bhong (lead vocals, guitar), Basil (bass), Jade (drums), Mel (keyboard), and me (guitar), was the last special number band. We played “Ocean Floor” and then “I Will Find You”, which we did our trademark instrumental in mid song – soloes for me, Bhong, Jade, and Basil, in that order, and then some funk.
I did some blues scaling for my solo.
Tapping exhibition was Bhong's solo.
Basil did his bass solo after Jade did his drum solo. Then, the former did some funky bass slapping on the funk instrumental.
In the second half our set, Kuya Reybhong joined us to sing “Mighty Good Leader” and “Speak To Me.”
An all-star dance number, consists of youth from different churches, was the last performance that night.
The last part was the praise and worship, with songs “Mighty To Save”, “Shout Your Fame”, “Sing For Joy”, and “How Great Is Our God.” Additional songs “I Am Not Ashamed”, “One Way” and “Bestfriend” were played due to demand. The initial response I heard about the concert was the praise and worship was too short. I agree.
It was truly a blessed night. About a thousand people, a combination of both believers and non-believers, watched the concert. Truly, God is at work. The seeds were sown. And God will nurture and reap.
To God be the glory. Till next year's concert (if God wills it).
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