by Edmer Maguan (H2G), Stallion Features Writer

Photos by Gareth Ng (H2H)

With the recent streak of foreign artists holding concerts in the Philippines, it only makes sense that Daughtry, the band responsible for the number one selling album of 2007, must come to the Philippines and spend a night singing their hearts out to their loyal fans. This is exactly what happened on July 29, 2008, when the band held its first concert here in the Philippines at Eastwood City.

The show was scheduled to start at 8:00 pm; however, due to “technical” delays, the show got underway at roughly quarter-to-nine in the evening. The band opened with a new single, which could possibly be one of the tracks in their forthcoming second album. Choosing to open with an unfamiliar song might not have gotten fans as excited as opposed to opening with a familiar song such as “Home,” but I think the mere presence of lead singer Chris Daughtry was enough to get the crowd going.

The night continued on with song after song. They, of course, performed favorites like “It’s Not Over,” “Home,” “Over You,” “Feels Like Tonight” and their latest single, “What About Now.” They also performed two new songs aside from their opening number. One of them is “Still Standing,” which Chris Daughtry wrote himself, and the other one is “Long Way,” which he co-wrote with Lifehouse’s lead vocalist and guitarist, Jason Wade. Both tracks were certainly different. The first one was more upbeat, while the latter was a slow, melodic and acoustic track, two styles which Daughtry has used to capture their massive fan base. They also performed the Beatles’s original “Helter Skelter,” and closed the night with “There and Back Again,” a non-single from their first album.

I’ve been to my fair share of concerts and one similar thing I hear come out of the different artists’ mouths are popular Filipino phrases. While some of them actually pull it off and some may not do it so well, the Filipino crowds always go wild over these little phrases, and it was no different with Daughtry.

It was a night of fun, cheers and rock & roll, a rare evening that can only be delivered by the best of the best in the music industry; and by the end of the night, I was strongly convinced that not only is Daughtry amazing in the recording studio, but their ability to perform live is even better, which made the costly tickets actually worth it.

Video Performances At: http://www.youtube.com/krazy4crack20