160520 GOT WEIRD ALL NIGHT: Little Mix's Get Weird Tour in Manila

Let's get weird allll night~

Another blog post yay! My birthmonth is apparently pumped up with events so here I am documenting them all. I'll also be heading later in Nueva Ecija with the fam so yay for another post in my travel tag!

I should've probably went on a much better introduction but it's also 1 in the morning. I know I've said in my previous blog post that I want to write the memories before they come piling up I'd be too lazy to blog about them so here I am. I'm not complaining though! Besides, I have a lot to say about this one!

Last Friday, May 20th, and also something I considered a post-celebration of my birthday, my sister and I attended Little Mix's Get Weird Tour Manila stop in Kia Theater.

credit: philippineconcerts.com

Unlike the previous concerts we've attended, all sections for #GetWeirdTourPH was seated so lining up before daylight (or even two nights before) wasn't necessary. I went with my forever concert buddy Ap (who I've influenced heavily with all my fangirling) and I found it a tad refreshing that for once, we weren't stressed about the queuing and not hungry and tired before the concert even start.

(No regrets though, I'll do it all over again for Super Junior and One Direction.)

(Just kidding, I might save up for reserved seats this time around.)

Two hours before the concert! Pretty chill and full ha!

We had to wait about half an hour to get inside the venue because of the photo op going on. About 500 people got the chance to take a picture with the girls after winning in an online contest. There's a little queue for each section but it wasn't as long as the ones we've been before. Kia Theater was small anyway and the expected attendees weren't that big. It's more of a fanmeet than a concert when I think about it, the place itself was small and more intimate than let's say, Araneta Coliseum or MoA Arena, definitely bigger venues and farther seats.

One funny story: while we're lining up, the Pizza Hut near us was playing current hits with their loud speaker. One of the songs happened to be Fifth Harmony's Worth It. The sound of disapproval among the people in line was so obvious leaving Ap and I snickering in amusement. A good little rivalry between groups and their fans is quite funny let's be honest.

On queue! That set of balloons above us is from Pizza Hut!

Kia Theater looked like a large cinema theater inside that even those at the top of the balcony could actually see the stage clearly. It was obviously built for musicals and plays because the venue's acoustic is close to perfection, no glaring feedbacks and echoes all over the place. It's well-kept too, spick and span with comfortable chairs.

We've got tickets at the Balcony, Row 10 seats 11 and 12. We were two seats away from the aisle but the owners didn't appear so we took those instead. It was a tad unnecessary though because the moment Little Mix was on, everyone's on their feet.

A quartet from Singapore called The Sam Willows opened the show for the girls. They sounded so good together and individually. I don't know any of their songs or even heard of them before but their short set had me looking for them on Spotify and Youtube the day after. They did a good rendition of Justin Bieber's Love Yourself, the only song I get to sing with them. Their own songs are great too, the type of playlist fit for a lazy Summer afternoon.

There's about half an hour idle time between the opening act and Little Mix. Ap and I spent those minutes speculating if the people heading our aisle were the actual owners of our seats or not. Luckily, they never arrived but we had fun guessing anyway.

The moment the lights dimmed and the stage lit up, everyone's up and screaming. I totally forgot how great that feeling was (even though I attended JaDine's concert last February.) There's something so magical at that first beat of the first song and seeing your favorite artist in the flesh the first time.

Little Mix was beyond spectacular.

I've always known they're great singers but hearing them live was something else. Like, it didn't even hold justice to it! They were amazing and blended harmoniously together, the dance steps were on point and they've got their breathing game strong because I didn't recall anyone missing a high note because they were busy twerking their heart out before that. They're funny and sweet and they deserved all the awards and platinum records seriously.

credit: Kris Rocha from Midas Promotion via clickthecity.com

Jesy was so gorgeous, she was shining! There's that air of confidence around her that I know inspires people. I can't take my eyes off Leigh Anne when they're dancing and Jade was the weirdest little bean. Perrie nailed all her notes and I just, it irked me how so many people were yelling "Go Zayn!" whenever it's her turn because honestly, she's more than just an ex-boybander's ex girlfriend? I love Zayn, he'll forever hold a special place in my heart although it's not as large as the rest of One Direction (I mean, people know I'm on their side lol) and albeit all the conspiracies surrounding the band, PR or not, I know for a fact that Perrie's name would forever be tied with Zayn like how Harry is with Taylor Swift (ugh) but they're not together anymore? Can people move on? There's so much Perrie and Little Mix have to offer. They're so much bigger than just a band with Zayn Malik's ex girlfriend/fiancee whatever. This is a girl band who sings about girl power and tying a member's entire personality to a man, going in said girl band's concert just to yell that man's name from time to time, that's just... that's just rude ain't it? Taking it from Ariana Grande, she's not Zayn Malik's ex, she's not whoever's next girlfriend, she's Perrie Edwards from Little Mix and if that's not interesting enough for you, don't talk to her.

Don't go to her concerts either.

But thanks for buying tickets I guess.

I would normally let something like this pass but well, Little Mix singing girl power anthems like Salute, Hair and Grown would do things to you. Which takes me to the number of songs I've been attached to since this concert.

I've downloaded all three of the girls' albums before but never got the chance to actually listen to them (too busy replaying songs from One Direction, JaDine, Selena Gomez and Troye Sivan) and I regret that so much because I would've loved to sing with Grown, Little Me and Weird People with them. I did enjoy jamming to their singles Hair, Salute, Wings (i'm in love with this part! Especially when they let the audience sing for them!) and Move (forever my jam) but Little Me is so so powerful and so close to home that I wish I knew all the words that time.

I've always been an insecure not so little girl, as I've partly told in a blog post before. I was a fat kid, taller than the rest of my classmates and was always shy to speak. I was never confident about anything, I was bullied and became the subject of teasing for numerous times. I wasn't considered pretty like other girls my age, always slouching that caused my really bad posture, always suspicious whenever someone praised me about my appearance. I was weak and anxious, ugly and undesirable.

I hated how I was already feeling that at a very young age. I was in second grade when I first heard about the word 'diet.'

Society and its standard of beauty is very fucked up. I was fat in my grade school years though I don't remember being at a point that I was obese but people still told me I have to lessen what I eat or else no one would want me. I was in grade school, barely even in my teen years or the proper age to think about being desired. But I have to eat less because I was fat, that I have to be skinny so people would like me, that being fat was ugly.

Of course I knew better now and if I could go back in time, I would tell that not so little girl to ignore everyone. I'd tell her to speak up, tell her to shout out, talk a bit louder, be a bit prouder, Tell her she's beautiful, wonderful, everything she doesn't see, You gotta speak up, you gotta shout out, And know that right here, right now, you can be beautiful, wonderful, anything you wanna be, (not so) little me.

(YES I WENT THERE HAHAHA)

But kidding aside, the song held such a good message especially that Little Mix has a fanbase consisted of mostly young girls. It was so good to have fellow girls to look up to, who tell you to be confident on your own skin. They're the girls I wish I had to have idolized when I was younger and although there wasn't, I'm still happy to relate with their songs and glad that the young girls of today have them.

The concert lasted for one and a half hour (about two and a half at most if you count the opening act and the idle time between The Sam Willows and Little Mix.) We had a lot of fun and we even saw VJ Tippy from MYX and young local celebs like Sharlene San Pedro and Darren from The Voice Kids. It was a great post-birthday celebration that left me having Little Mix's songs in my playlist on repeat for a week now (sorry 1D boys! I'll get back to you soon!)

Before concert!

And after! So many Mixers!

The stage!!

Next blog post, Minalungao National Park in Nueva Ecija! (Where I'll be heading in... 50 minutes holy shit)