August 17, 2012: Aj Rafael Concert

It was a great experience two days ago. It was my first time to perform as an opening act for someone that is well-known. My band and I had so much fun. Ira will tell you below why James and Jayvee weren't able to play. But definitely next time, we'll perform with the whole band and have some even better tunes with perhaps some original material. It was an inspiring experience and I feel motivated to pursue my interest in music while I still pursue a career in accounting. I guess since I was in high school I had that dream to be a musician, so little by little I guess I'll try to rekindle that flame.

Ira: Emil, Kit and Kuya Osel got to play at an AJ Rafael Concert here in the school's auditorium. They sang With A Smile by the Eraserheads (The Beatles of the Philippines), I wont give up by Jason Mraz and Charlie Brown by Coldplay.

Before the concert, we had dinner with AJ and his band. They were really nice. He tried speaking tagalog to us and gave Emil some music advice. His performance was very good too. Some of my friends didn't know him before they came but loved him after the concert. If you still don't know him, check this out: His version of Lucky by Jason Mraz with Cathy Nguyen. This was the very first video that I've watched of him and followed him ever since. Here's a few pictures that I took during the concert.

Here's Emil, Kit and Kuya Osel. Too bad the whole JELLYACE (their band name) can't play since they cannot be bigger than the main event. (James the bassist and Kuya JV the drummer weren't there to play.)

Here are the links to Emil's performances:

With A Smile by Eraserheads
Charlie Brown by Coldplay
I Wont Give Up by Jason Mraz

and Ke Alakai's (BYU-H student paper) interview with Emil: