After the Prom

That's it. I think I can stop going to gigs for now. I don't think I'm going to top this one any time soon.

Just got back home a short while ago, a little before 3 AM, from the Admit One Production, "BLAST PROM DI PAST: Mga Kantang Pang-Mirrorball." Oh, man. What a night. It's kind of stupid to be writing about it right now, because with the state my mind is in, I don't think I'm going to find the words to do it justice. Sure, the lineup was impressive: Imago, Cambio, Sugarfree, Twisted Halo, Happy Meals, Itchyworms, Drip, and, um, Death By Tampon -- so I was expecting a great gig. But you know, it wasn't a gig, it was a party. I thought the affair hit its high point too early, with that wonderfully shameless medley by the Itchyworms, which included everything from "Stars" by Simply Red to "I'm Too Sexy" by Right Said Fred to "Xtasi Xtano" by whoever the heck that was, but I was so wrong. The night was just beginning.

Everyone was so good (with the exception of the usually reliable Happy Meals; their vocalist Odin is still in the States, and his substitute couldn't cut it) -- Death by Tampon were a fun, energetic surprise, Halo did a great take on OMD's "If You Leave," Imago left us gasping with their rendition of "Take My Breath Away", Diego Mapa got lucky while Cambio sang of "Endless Love," Sugarfree performed the magnificent "Prom," of course, as well as Bon Jovi's "Never Say Goodbye," and Drip -- with the gorgeous talented Beng Calma (resplendent in her white prom dress) on vocals and Ian and Malek on electronic thingamajigs -- delivered the best version of "Rush Rush" ever. Quite possibly the best possible version you can have of that Paula Abdul song.

And then, debunking the notion that the evening couldn't possibly be any more preposterously smile-inducing -- our friends won. Our friends won! Congratulations, Margie, and congratulations, Thor, on being crowned Prom Queen and Prom King (respectively)! Basically, the Admit One Prom was what everyone's sucky high school Proms should have been -- a giddy, insanely happy affair, no chaperones or awkwardness, with lots of music and dancing and singing along, where lovely, genuinely nice people get crowned King and Queen, and all of the bands rock.

It all ended in a gloriously endless jam (how many times did they call out, "Last song! Last song na 'to!"), involving basically all the band members present who weren't too wasted to perform, and spanning the party/senti 80s kids gamut from "My Sharona" to "Blister in the Sun" to "Everybody Wants to Rule the World." Ebe Dancel (with Raimund Marasigan, Vin Dancel and Aia de Leon) delivered an epic rendition of "With or Without You." Aia belted out "Crazy For You." Raimund did "Should I Stay or Should I Go?" Vin sang an intense "Boys Don't Cry." You get the idea. PULP photographer Gani ran out of batteries taking pics of everything that was happening. Part of me wished that a film crew and a sound recording crew had been there too, so that the evening could have been completely covered for posterity, but it's probably best that it just stays in our memories, unsullied and ever-shiny.

It wasn't a perfect night for me, though, what with Yvette sick and at home. Oh, the slow dances and fast dances we could have danced, to the music of our past! Ah, well. (At one point -- during the cover of "Pride (In the Name of Love)" -- I called her up, so I could at least share that bit with her). There aren't many things that ever turn out exactly the way you wanted them to. This night, though, must have come close, especially for anyone there who wasn't missing someone else.

Tired. Happy. And finally starting to get sleepy, now, buzz finally fading a bit. What a night, what a night.