Howie Day Manila Stop: More Than Just “Collide”

Howie Day Manila Stop: More Than Just “Collide”

 

Howie Day, or better known as the talent behind the song “Collide,” a song which pretty much became mainstream thanks to One Tree Hill, Smallville and a lot of other TV series and movies, came by the Philippines on short notice. Just the other night, a pool of intense Howie Day listeners came together to watch him perform live and to no one’s regret did it come to pass. It was well worth braving the weekday traffic to The Fort Strip and all the more worth the sleepless night and the groggy work day the next day. 

As unexpected as Howie Day’s concert in Manila was, so was the amazing line up of solo artists who performed before him. Kettle Mata who is quite familiar with the local industry’s indie followers kicked off the night with a wonderful serenade.

 

 

Ebe Dancel, better known as the vocalist of Sugarfree, followed Kettle’s act. The moment he started singing, a lot of the people in the audience sang along to his song “Muli.” I was more moved when he sang a Sugarfree song, though: “Tulog na” – a song that came out almost at the same time as Day’s hit song Collide. 

 

 

When Collide started playing on the radio, as background music of TV series and in people’s mp3 players, I was still in college and the songs I listened to were still a bit mainstream, a little bit bitter, a portion of it senti and slow, but with all certainty and with good musicality (I hope.) Watching One Tree Hill as a confused college student added to the drama (insert guitar intro here.) Rooting for Lucas and Peyton (One Tree Hill geek talking here) to get together while correlating it to my personal love life (how embarrassing). I played the song “Collide” over and over.

 

 

The more I played it, the more I appreciated Howie Day’s guitar skills, his soothing voice, and his impeccable lyrics, as they hit right at the center of my heart.

 

 

I started listening to the rest of his hits “You and a Promise,” “She Says,” “Ghost,” and “Perfect Time of Day” after that, and I found them sincere and really relatable.

 

 

Being a poet, I guess that’s something that impresses me. I was in for a surprise when I came to see Howie Day perform live that night and I was completely unaware and unprepared for it. 

 

Read on to see why Howie Day’s Manila Stop was awesome!