SM Mall of Asia Concert Grounds, Pasay City: The unexpected "from rave to grave" Closeup Forever Summer "now or never" party.

"Tugs, tugs, tugs, tugs, tugs". Have you ever been in a bar or a rave? Well, you've probably heard this kind of beat, usually it starts like this, upbeat and you have no choice but to dance whatever steps you can do or create while eletro(nic) music is being played by the DJ(disc jockey). To tell you the truth, I'm not a party-goer or party animal, you can count on the fingers of one hand the bars I've been to. Not because I don't love it but because I don't have time, my love for music somewhat helps me to adjust whenever I go in a party, there are people who can't stay long because of the loud music or smoke all over the place or the heat. 

That was May 21 when I had chance to go in a rave (party). Luckily, I took the place of my friend's boyfriend who couldn't go due to an important occasion, voila! I got a free VIP pass. It was my first time to attend in this kind of event also to experience this "Talk of the Town" CloseUp Forever Summer Party. I have been hearing about this even before since it was not the first time this well-known brand of toothpaste held this, in fact they also held "Lovapalooza" during Valentine's Day every year before where numerous couples smooched simultaneously, isn't it sad for a single guy like me? Hahah. 

There was a bit of excitement not because of Dimitri Vegas and Like Mike but because of James Reid and Nadine Lustre( I became silent fan because of James Reid) I was hoping that my favorite local actors would go even though they were on their US concert tour. So, assumptive! Hahah.

Gates were already opened roughly 4pm but we went there very late unintentionally also because my friend was stuck in traffic jam. It was about 7pm when we reached the entrance, the very usual, scalpers were there. As I remember, entering was really strict, we were advised when we gave our tickets like no foods, bottled water and even umbrella(it could be used as deadly weapon), I was also asked "How old am I?", we filled up our names, e-mail addresses and mobile #s on a form, and then finally we got our wristbands. 

Good thing there were food trucks, we thought at first that those were also for free, you will just need to stand in the line but when we got closer to one of the food trucks, there were prices. So okay we need to pay, I said. I didn't feel hungry that time, I just let my friend eat her food. While we were seating at the food village area, I said that it was not really crowded, the fact that it was already like 8pm. I assumed that maybe it was really still early.

I honestly was not in my best rave attire, there were really lots of good-looking girls and guys, wearing from muscle tee shirts, tank tops, shorts for the guys to crop tops, high waisted shorts for the girls. Others were wearing bandanas, high cut shoes. There were party-goers you'd notice right away by looking at them their status in the society. Like hashtag(#) Richkid. There were also, you'd notice right away that they were underage by their very young looks. Like hashtag(#) Yougohomeandsleep. And a very noticeable like what you can see on this pic were selfies, selfie sticks and groupies for the benefits of instagram and facebook. #Photobombers

A very bright way to the main party area. As I also remember, bottle caps/lids were not allowed to bring with you as you enter, like you bring it there open, I was a bit hesitant at first since I didn't know the purpose of it but afterwards with further analysis, I said maybe because they would not want this to be refilled by a different liquid. I tried to keep the lid by holding it discreetly but the bouncer still saw me. 

As hour went by, we felt that it was still early to go near the stage and experience the so called "Rave" so we went out again, away from the main party area, we accidentally went to the Johnnie Walker area. The guy told us to just take a picture of us, like what you are seeing now on this image and post it on our facebook or instagram with a #LoveScotch for us to get freebie of Johnnie Walker Black Label 12 year old miniature bottle. Ending? Piece of cake!

Before we went back to the main party area, we checked if there were free drinks(alcoholic beverages) because we were told that there would be like free drinks, but in the end we still bought since we were not able to find it. It was also a bit inconvenient when we bought our drinks because we also thought at first that we could pay cash but that was the only time we knew the main purpose of our wristbands, you need to load using it at their loading stations minimum of roughly P200, so I started to have a P300 load for me to buy 3 cups of Johnnie Walker drink worth minimum of P250 plus a freebie, either a t-shirt or drawstring bag. For me, I'd really prefer to pay it in cash to speed up the transaction, there were really long queues just to buy your drink, so bad the service on this part. It was about 10pm when the party got better. So I said, we are now in the real (rave) party! We really enjoyed it, everyone was just happy with the music, people were dancing and singing, we didn't care about the heat and the sweat. Later on, we went out again to load for another P200 since I still had a balance of P50, exact for me to buy another 3 cups of drinks. The fact that Im drinking an expensive liquor it really tasted good and I was still sober. We then went back to continue the party. 

The heat was not really controllable so we went out again and seat for a while since I was also a bit dizzy. So we sat on the ground a bit far from the main party venue where there were also people seating. While seating, we were looking toward this guy doing "Poi" (like fire dancing) aside from him we were also looking toward young guys at his back, they were dancing as if there were no tomorrow and the very unusual was to see one of them with inhaler(for someone who has asthma). I asked my friend why he has that but the response was also a question for me. Why? We really didn't know the answer but we had hint that there was something inside that inhaler. 

It was like 12:30am when we went back near the stage, then a captivating fireworks lit the sky, everyone was like on "throwback new year countdown" mode. My friend that time was a bit worried because it's already 1am, she received a text from her boyfriend telling her to go home, I didn't agree with her when she said we needed to go home early since I was not yet drunk and I was really enjoying the environment. In the end, we still went home early.

It was a great rave (party) even though we didn't finish it, I wasn't able to meet someone and I didn't dance like a party animal. I'm really hoping for another one next year. But...???

It was afternoon the next day May 22 when my friend whom I was with during that event sent me a private message from Inquirer.net headlined "At least 3 dead at Pasay City Concert" then I also checked my news feed and all I saw was about what happened when we left the venue. I was totally shocked but later on my mind brought me back to what we saw in the party. I was thinking if that guy could be one of them? I was not sure, I just hope he's still alive or okay. I didn't know what to say on this, first I've never used drugs for me to feel the party vibe, great music is already enough while drinking liquor moderately. Second, this generation is really beyond my expectations, teens who would want to be man or woman right away, teens who go to this kind of rave party. It's really sad to see these. All I can say is I understand that, we already used with the saying "YOLO" (You only live once) but don't do or try things that will jeopardize us, we only live once so make it something special. Don't let your life gets wasted because of Drugs. There's no room of trying when you're already aware with the results of it from its victims. We surely learned a lot from this tragedy. My deepest condolences to those 5 people who died and to their loved ones.