THE MAROON 5 EXPERIENCE

On May the 23th, I and a bunch of cousins and friends from Parañaque met at the SMX Convention Center at the SM Mall of Asia to partake on a once in a lifetime experience! It was at The Maroon 5 Live in Manila Concert!

You would probably wonder how the heck we ended up experiencing this...

Adam Levine, Carlo Santiago and James Valentine

It stared off as a simple friendship between James Valentine, lead guitarist of Maroon 5 and my US-based nephew, Carlo. It was in a Music Summer Camp when James Valentine fell in love with a bright and talented little boy who dreamt of becoming a great musician someday...

Afflicted with a rare type of cancer, Carlo was not able to truly devote himself too much on his guitar lessons. But James found great determination from this young fellow and was deeply moved. James would visit him in the hospital and Carlo would almost immediately forget all the pain due to his disease and medications. They became real buddies! When Carlo had no scheduled treatments and is out of the hospital, he'd get to come by James' house too for more lessons...

Carlo eventually reunited with God at age nine. It was a few months before Maroon 5's Asian tour. The  strong bonds between the band and Carlo's family lived on. My cousin Toni, Carlo's mother, now based in Hongkong managed to get 16 gold tickets courtesy of James! What a friendship! We got to meet them face to face too!

  

The SMX was packed!!! According to some reviews, the band was spectacular!!! and I must say that it was indeed a KNOCKOUT!

It wasn't just a concert. It was an EXPERIENCE OF EPIC PROPORTIONS if you ask me.

Some performers rely on stage lights and special effects. But this one... it's PURE TALENT! They had their special way of making the crowd feel that they are part of the act. They make sure the crowd participates. Adam (band frontman) even complemented us, Filipinos as melodic by nature. 

We were just a few steps from the stage and we could easily squeeze ourselves in nearer if we wanted to, but we chose to be a little more behaved that night. We even wore themed shirts so that the band would recognize us as Carlo's family and friends!

If it wasn't for lack of time and the undeniable distance between Parañaque and Valenzuela, we would have had an after-concert party in honor of Carlo whom we all owe this very memorable opportunity...