An Awesome Night with Mr. Martin Nievera and Mr. Gary Valenciano

What: As 1 Concert Featuring Martin Nievera and Gary Valenciano

When: March 12, 2010

Where: Tuscany Convention Center, Peppermill Hotel and Casino, Reno, NV

It was exciting, kind of “disappointing” but indeed surprising!

I am not really an avid fan of either Martin N. or Gary V. but I appreciate their talents. When I was watching Wowowee at Lake Tahoe last year, “As 1” concert had been promoted and never in my wildest dream that I could get to watch it.

I was with my Filipina friends Emy and Ate Cecilia. The latter got a free room and free tickets for the concert, I forgot to mention, free dinner too. Again, FREE. When Ate Cecilia claimed the free tickets, she was also given 3 VIP IDs, wow! We were one of those Very Important People that night. Wasn’t that exciting?

The show accordingly, will start at 8:30pm so we went to the venue at 7:30pm. Alas! When we were ushered to the convention center, the Chief Security of the event approached us and told us that camera is not allowed inside. Waaah! They didn’t spare VIPs! I was very disappointed, actually, I was pissed! He explained that Artists requested it. Whatever! Anyhow, I had no choice except to bring back my cam in the room.

As expected, 99.99% of the crowd were Filipinos. A lot of people are coming from Sacramento and Daly City, California. Take note, the weather was really bad out there and they had to put chains on their tires just to keep going or else their cars will be buried in the snow, just for the love of our 2 Kababayans. One thing I noticed about Filipinos (as my eyes wandered around), is that we really dress up pretty good. We are “Fashionistas.” White people are not. They don’t really care. Anyways, as VIPs, we sit at Row 19, seats 12, 13, and 14. We can see the stage very clearly from our seats. Different kinds of drinks were also free. But I was really sad when I saw a lot of people taking pictures while waiting for the start of the show. It really made me more unhappy especially when I remember my hubby reminding me “Mahal please don’t forget to bring extra batteries.” I did not forget. Grrr!

Since it’s a Filipino show, of course, it’s also Filipino time when it started. As soon as the lights turned off, all people who seated at the back moved to the vacant seats in the front, we are one of those people, so when the show really started, we were already at the Row 5, seats 5, 6, and 7. Hehe! We were very close to the stage. There were still late comers and some of the people who moved closer  had to move back  from where they seated, luckily, no one claimed our seats until the show was over. My estimate on the number of people inside the convention center was more or less 3,000. Geez!

Everyone was very pleased when Martin N. and Gary V. went onstage. They looked exactly the same on TV. They sang together in the first part then Martin introduced Gary and vice versa. Then they sang one at a time with their own version of different songs. Just imagine the people shouting and whistling. There was a part of the show that they described each other. Martin described Gary V. as a God-fearing person, a doting father and a good husband. On the other hand, Gary described Martin as loud, witty, a caring father and a “riot” person. The description “loud” and “riot” is really a bull’s eye for Martin. And I want to add the word “kengkoy”.

They sang the theme songs of different teleseryes like Kahit Isang Saglit, Dahil May Isang Ikaw, Tayong Dalawa, Lobo, Kung Tayo’y Magkakalayo and many others. Martin mentioned this saying, “The sun shines the brightest after the storm” when he sang an inspiring song, my favorite, “I will Be Here” which he dedicated to Bagyong Ondoy victims. The saying is indeed true literally and figuratively.

I learned that Gary V.’s “Sana Maulit Muli” was composed by no less than his wife Angeli Pangilinan who was there in the crowd too, sitting at the first row. Hmm.

The show lasted for 2 hours. Had I pay for it, I would say, it’s worth it, in the truest sense of the word, amid my disappointment. I am so proud of them. They were really great entertainers. If given a chance to watch it over again and pay for it, I would certainly do it.

There were CDs sold in a booth inside the venue but none of us bought one because of the long line of people, to meet and greet Martin and Gary while signing autographs.

We went to our room reminiscing the concert, etc, every now and then, staring at my digital camera. I was still hurt. I didn’t have souvenir except the VIP ID. After awhile, we decided to come down to play. Everything was free and I had pocket money so why not give my share, hehe! For the record, I did not win. BUT… here is the surprising part which I mentioned earlier.

I was playing a penny machine when my eyes caught a camera flash at my right side, when I looked and checked, I saw few Filipinos with Mr. Gary V! He was wearing a baseball cap and he was with 2 guys. Waaah! I remember my camera again. That really made me more so saaaad! I really wished I had my cam with me that time. So I called him, “Gary V.!” then I waved at him. He smiled, waved back and said “I hope you are having fun!”. I was stammered. I didn’t know what to say. Until he waved and said bye after picture taking. Waaah! When I hit the machine, I didn’t know that it was for maximum bet! Toink, my money was gone that fast!

I ran to Emy to tell her what happened. She was way far from me. I didn’t know where was Ate Cecilia that time. The Casino is huge. I was talking to Emy with wide eyes and wide smile, looking enthusiastic. She was facing the machine while I sat the opposite while swiveling the chair, when somebody showed up from nowhere and said loudly “Aha!” I was shocked for a second when I saw the owner of the voice. OMG! It was Martin Nievera! The first thing I remember was my camera again! Waaah! I shouted, “Martin! It’s good that my camera is not with me or else I will really run after you!” He just acted funny (imagine his face on TV while doing ka-kengkoyan) then continue walking. He walked too fast. He was following a guy. Emy and I were acting crazy while laughing out loud. We had mixed feelings! We were so happy that we saw him thinking that he was the one who made the move to “pansin” us. And at the same time, we were so sad that we didn’t have a camera with us. I felt like I wanted to cry like a child, throw myself and roll on the carpet while crying out loud to express my regrets.

When I was calmed down, I thought of the positive side. I considered myself lucky to see and “talk” with both of them even in a short period of time only.

This has been my moment with Martin Nievera, the Concert King and with Gary Valenciano, the "Mr. Pure Energy."

Hope you had fun while reading this post.