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Alex Goot and Against the Current Live in Manila – Five Reasons Why it was a Fan-Tastic Experience
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When in Manila, it’s a rarity to find out that one of your favorite YouTube artists will drop by and perform. It’s even a once in a blue moon kind of thing when TWO of them will be in Manila to perform together. Well that happened for me last Saturday night when Alex Goot and Against the Current (Chrissy Costanza, Daniel Gow and Will Ferri) dropped by CCP and rocked the house down. Alex Goot and Against the Current, two New York-based YouTube acts, dropped by Manila and pulled off a one of a kind performance. Right now we’re giving you FIVE reasons why Alex Goot and Against the Current Live in Manila was very Fan-Tastic!
Five Reasons Why Alex Goot and Against the Current Live in Manila was a Fan-Tastic Experience
1. Monique Lualhati Rocked the Opener
Usually, front acts arenโt going to get a lot of attention from the fansโฆbut Monique was a force that cannot be denied. Monique Lualhati, from X-Factor Philippines fame, rocked the house down with her breathtaking performance. She had a very powerful voice and it blew away the people in attendance. Highlights of Monique’s performance were her renditions of Maroon 5โs “Sunday Morning”, Beyonceโs “Love on Top” and Zeddโs “Clarity”.
Against The Current’s Chrissy Costanza and Daniel Gow
Will Ferri of Against The Current
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2. ATCโs Infectious Energy Revved up the Crowd
When Against the Currentโs Chrissy Costanza says that ATC will give you a high energy performance, she MEANS IT. With Chrissy as the bandโs โlinchpinโ, ATCโs infectious energy spread through everybody inside the CCP Main Theater. Throughout the time she was on stage, she was going literally everywhere, spreading her high energy throughout the audience. The rest of the band were no slouches, either. Will Ferri was in a โcontrolled frenzyโ as he went at it on the drums. Daniel Gow, who was also a crowd favorite, was the consistent anchor on guitars and backup vocals for both ATC and Alex Goot. ย Joe Simmons, on bass guitar, was on fire that night as well. The crowd was already shouting, singing along and going wild on the main showโs FIRST THREE SONGS. Against the Current gave a stellar performance as they whipped out their current songs โInfinityโ, โCloser, Fasterโ and “Something You Need”. ย They got the crowd whipped into a frenzy that, well…letโs just say an article of clothing was tossed on stage by a very excited fan.
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3. A Showcase of Alex Goot and ATCโs โNew Kicksโ and Awesome Covers
As mentioned earlier, Against the Current showcased a flurry of their new songs to the crowd from their Infinity EP. The crowd was so into singing along with ATC’s โComeback Kidโ and “Another You (Another Way)”. They also performed their fan-favorite covers of 1975โs โChocolateโ and Paramoreโs โAint it Funโ to the delight of the people in attendance. Alex Goot whipped a storm upon his entry to the CCP with his latest song โRight Where I Belongโ and my personal favorite โWake up Callโ. What followed next was his crowd pleasing covers of Vanessa Carltonโs โThousand Milesโ and “How to Save a Life” by The Fray. Alex Goot also brought some โold schoolโ Goot by performing his hits such as โSecret Girlโ, โPretty Eyesโ, โLightningโ, โSensitivityโ, โLiving Addictionโ and โBright Lightsโ. As someone who had THOSE songs on my playlist, it was a joy to hear them being performed live by the Gootmeister himself.
Alex Goot and Bright Lights (get it?)
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Joe Simmons, Chrissy, Will, Alex and Dan on stage
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4. Goot and ATC Mashup = EARGASM!
Goot and ATC delivered the goods once everyone was on stage and they sang a medley of their top covers which included “Call me Maybe”, โGood Timeโ and โCatch My Breathโ. It was as if I was watching the said covers on YouTube yet again, but this time, it was happening live on stage. It was real, it was damn realโฆand it was an eargasmic sensation if you asked me.ย The show would ‘end’ with Alex singing a Medley of his original song “Lightning” and mashing it up with “Teenage Dream” and โBeauty and the Beatโ (which Chrissy and Alex performed with Kurt Hugo Schneider). But the night wasn’t over and done with. Responding to the crowd’s clamoring for more songs…Alex Goot went back on stage for an encore. With Dan, Will and Joe in tow, Alex Goot did a rendition of Oasis’ “Wonderwall” and The Scipt’s “Breakeven” as the show’s ‘Last Call’.
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5. The Awesome Crowd, AND the Crowd Interactions throughout the Show
If there was one factor that we canโt discount as to why the concert was great itโs the crowd. The gootiescooties, comeback kids and the ATC family were in full force at CCP’s main theater for this concert. Just like Alex and ATC, their collective energy was off the charts that Saturday night. Thanks to certain members of the crowd, I wasnโt too embarrassed to sing along to some of ATC and Alexโs songs as well. From the โI love youโs to the thrown article of clothing on stage, you cannot deny that this was one of the wildest crowds youโll ever see in a concert (inside CCP no less). Chrissy even tweeted that this crowd was the best crowd she has met so far.
Chrissy’s Tweet about the amazing crowd response that night (Source: @ChrissyCostanza)
I loved the fact that Will, Chrissy, Dan and Joe (their guy on bass guitar) waved at the crowd โupstairsโ as an acknowledgement to the nearly packed house that night. Alex gave his special spin on things with a โheartโ shaped gesture and a simple โI love you guysโ to the ruckus crowd bombarding the YouTube sensation with a lot of โI Love Youโs throughout the night.ย Chrissy, as early as the first round of songs, would go near the audience and interact with them by reaching out. Will Ferri had his own signature interaction post show when he tossed one of his drum sticks to the audience. The โcrowd picturesโ, however, were the highlight of the concert. It came in 2 instances with the first on the early part of the concert with Will Ferri of Against the Current taking a picture of the crowd. The second one was MORE EPIC with Alex, Chrissy, Will, Dan and Joe taking a picture with the entire CCP crowd after the encore performance.
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The EPIC Crowd Shot (Source: @ChrissyCostanza)
The Post-Concert Meet and Greet was heart warming for me. I saw Alex, Chrissy, Will and Dan take time after their show to meet, shake hands, hug and interact with the fans before snapping a picture with them.
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Alex Goot and Against the Current w/ fans @ The Meet and Greet
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Overall, the Alex Goot and Against the Current concert in CCP was off the hook. Personally, it was like a ‘full circle’ thing for me. It was in early 2013 I discovered both acts on YouTube thanks to a workmate (wassup Tom). After that, fast forward to August 2014, there I was, watching them perform live at CCP. Big props to Ellispsis Live, DMC Philippines and Phoenix Production for making Alex Goot and Against the Current Live in Manila possible. But most of all, thank you Alex Goot, Chrissy Costanza, Daniel Gow, Will Ferri, Joe Simmons and Max Wrye for dropping by and giving us a memorable concert. Make no doubt that you can only see a kick-ass concert such as Alex Goot and Against the Current’s performance at the CCP, When in Manila.
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WIM Photos by: Courtney Sayson & Dale Ligon
Alex Goot and Against the Current Live in Manila – Five Reasons Why it was a Fan-Tastic Experience