Saturday, November 8, 2008

defying gravity...

just came back from watching idina menzel in concert. very amazing and inspiring! i was walking on the way to the Berklee Performance Center thinking i was late cuz it was already 730, but i got there and she had an opening act. it was this guy named Chris Mann, this video below is the song that got me really interested in his performance. he's like a mix of jason mraz and like josh groban maybe.



after this, Idina came out of course. she sang songs from her albums, most of them i didn't know, but the band was amazing and her vocals were insane!!! and then she sang "Another Day" from rent, but acoustic, in the middle of the concert. i had chills the whole 3 or 4 minutes of the song. she had the crowd singing the words "no day but today" it was just amazing. i thought of my friend Flo, she was one of my best friends and was in the original MVCC (the choir i directed) and she left to the philippines to follow her vocation as a religious sister (nun-to-be). she always sang this song, and the part when she goes "theres only us..." always almost brought me to tears everytime she sang it. i can honestly say she changed my life and i will always remember her SOUL because it was pure and perfect. i know shes praying for me out there, i may never be able to speak to her again, but she has made a huge impact on my life.

the rest of the concert was amazing and energetic, and she kept the crowd interested with all her little jokes and inside information about her life, about taye, her dog, and how she came about writing some of the songs on her album. to close the concert she sang an upbeat song, followed by an acappella version of "For Good" from wicked. and she said goodnight.

after the goodnight, the crowd kept cheering for probably another 5 minutes, and she came back out and sang "kiss from a rose" with her band which was an amazing arrangement, and closed again with the pop version of "defying gravity" which everyone was screaming their lungs off for at the end. that part "ohh ohh ohh ohh" at the end, you know what im talkin about?

anyway, it was amazing, even though i dressed up to impress, and had no one to impress cuz i went alone, it was worth it. whats wrong with a straight guy liking musical theatre?

hope ya'll are doing amazing. oh and on my newest video, there is some hater who looked for something irrelevant to hate on, it was just so ridiculous. i laughed. read the comments and see for yourself. hahah.

If I Had You (Showstopper)

15 comments:

asianboywithrice said...

Was that fun? I bet it was. I wish I could go to concerts like that. Hope you go on BlogTV more (: --Martin

Anonymous said...

wow! idina menzel is one of my idols! Wicked and Rent are some of my favorite musicals :) Seems like it was an amazing concert. I love the lyrics to her song I Stand. Have a great rest of the day!

Jho Marie

NoSugarNoMonkey said...

Haha yeah.. I saw that hater.. I wanted to smack him or her xD I really do love that song though and I bet you had lots of fun hmm? Well I'll be going now! Ta ta x]


Sherry

Anonymous said...

I sang defying gravity in choir like a couple months ago, it was a very fun song to learn(= Gah, that one person who tried to start something w/ you about your video was just so irritating, like seriously. but i lov how he got like 7 comments w/ people tryna defend you. haha, me being one of them. oh! and i made you a fansite, cos iano. I just lovce your music,freal. so if you could put a link to it somewhere so people would add it, just to get it started?(=

http://www.myspace.com/ajrafaelsfansite

Anonymous said...

Hey AJ....
I'm Samantha from Malaysia. I got to know bout your works from you.tube and it really inspired me as i just joined a band. Your vocals are really good and i really like the video u did with your friends, 'tribute to 4-chord songs'. Anyways, great new song u have there. Keep up the good work!!!

Anonymous said...

hey, i read the hate comment on your youtube video. just got to say
"hater can keep hating, their just gonna make you stronger & famous one day"
hope its all well in boston, i'm praying for you !

-annie

Unknown said...

Oh wow, you saw Idina? That's amazing, she's one of the best female vocalists in my opinion. (& there's absolutely nothing wrong with a straight guy liking musical theater.)

Oh and that hater on youtube is an idiot. Don't let him get to you, because we know you're talented.
Hope to see you soon! ( but probably not at fams :[ )

<3 Cheryl

Qamaruz said...

hey man!

Anonymous said...

ahaha i so know what you're referring to with the "oohh ohhh oh"'s haha

you should hella do a wicked piece.

Jassmine said...

hey hahaahhah i read what that hater said it made me laugh hahahah well yeah i watched your live show on satuurday i thought it was great and whyd you go to a concert by yourself?????isnt it kinda lonely its more fun if you have a buddy you shouldve invited carresse or however you spell it lol (display name on blog tv thisone_girl)

Loris S. said...

i looove idina menzel! she's so amazing. foreals. what a blessing to be at berklee this year, seriously...

i heard this boy in my youth group sing a solo for the first time & i almost teared up because he has so much potential. i thought i'd share.

see you around blogtv; 'heyitsloris' if you haven't seen me around... which is crazy because you got me addicted to it.

<3

Tere Ann said...

you make all the performances you go to seem so amazing like "i wish you could be here" kindda moments.

there's a lot of talented people out there. A whole lot, and one of them is you.

your blogs are interesting, i don't know why. I'll be back when you write another blog.

Take a picture with you little sister when you go to cali and then post it on here :] She's a cutie, & so are you. 'cus good looks run in the family aye? ;] haha.

<3

Unknown said...

I saw all the comments that guy left on your video. What an ass! I don't know what made him bring Hawaii into the whole deal. He obviously has his facts wrong because the ukulele was from Portugal then brought to Hawaii. Anyway besides that, I totally disagree with him about you not playing the "correct" way. Was he was saying you couldn't use the uke for your song and strumming? That's what it seemed like. To me it's like, okay so are you saying the guitar can only be used for Spanish songs since that's where it's from and not rock, alternative, and almost every other genre out there? Jeeze he needs to get his shit together and stop being so naive! That guy is an idiot and you're a talented artist! Plus what he said bothered me because I'm from Hawaii and I really dislike people who have an attitude like that. Sadly there's a lot of them here.

Okay I didn't mean for this comment to be so long! Laters AJ. =]

Unknown said...

Aj, nothing wrong with a gut liking musical theatre.

Im not gonna lie, rent soundtrack is totally in my car's CD changer.

Someone hating on my videos too, someone went through and thumbs downed all the comments on two of my videos. Thats just ridiculous.

jepoy said...

sup aj!
awesome blog!
i found it when I searched So Close at youtube!
anyway it's so freakin awesome to see fellow Filipinos doing well in their chosen careers. I really admire that you went there to Boston to continue your education and growth in ur craft!
best of luck!

p.s.
ey there's nothin wrong with straight guys liking musical theater! I was an actor back in the PI and act now in SF.. hoping to get into BosCo for MFA... :)