At Home with Harry's House

 Life hasn't been as it was.

And that's how you put in the intro Harry Styles' new hit.

With that, Harry Styles' new record "Harry's House" definitely solidified his music growing on me.

This started with "Adore You" last year, and although there hadn't been any addition aside from the earlier "Sign of the Times", I could say Harry's won me over his music style. Watermelon Sugar Rush (Or High), kidding, I know it's Watermelon Sugar High - the thing is that it's still growing on me.

What really hit me on the single "As It Was", aside from the up-tempo chords and sort of '80s new wave sound that it had, was the relatability of the words. It spoke about something that has not been happening at present. As English teachers would say, it's about the habitual past. You're going to be bombarded with the words "used to", "previously", and of course, "as it was".

Life has not been as it was.

"Answer the phone

Harry, you're no good alone

Why are you sitting at home on the floor?

What kind of pills are you on?"

I've been having a close relationship with the song's third verse, except that I'm not named "Harry". But unlike him, I haven't been good alone, sitting at home (as I'm staring into nothingness), and I'm on some kind of metaphorical pill to keep my mind off of things.

And honestly, I don't know where to go from this. As I'm writing this, my train of thought can't keep it's head on the greatness of that Harry Styles song. Instead of spilling sad anecdotes, I should be speaking about how and why 'As It Was" has been played in my music streaming apps a hundred times more frequently. But I guess that's for another time.

Also, more sad anecdotes for next time. The past year has really been a rollercoaster ride, and unlike the Jonas Brothers, I don't think I'd ever want to go back and ride this rollercoaster I've been on the past year again.

Decline

    Are you going towards a decline? Or to be appropriate, a dick line.

    There was this tweet from a Taylor Swift fan recently (as most of us know by now Taylor Swift is one o the positive news we're all lucky to have this year, new music!). Anyway, the tweet showed a series of photos shot by her lover, Joe Alwyn, with the caption "Taylor Swift shot by Joe Alwyn".

    At first glance, what did you think were the contents of the tweet?

    A. Shot pertained to the act of shooting a gun;

    B. Shot pertained to the act of having photos, whether portraits or     not;

    C. A glass of liquor, preferably wine; or

    D. The lovebirds became the newest NBA stars enlisted to help an     aging star have a "shot" at the title (Did you see what I did there?)

    Some fans were scared, thinking that the songwriter was shot in a morbid context. Anyway, the correct context of the tweet was definitely letter B. That's the beauty of the English language, or whatever language there is. It can not be defined by a solitary set of words and thoughts. 

    Case in point, the word "shot" can have five different meanings and without going deep into the context, you'd surely get lost.

    With words like these, it's quite often that puns are born out of the premise of having words be spelled and spoken the sway despite having completely different meanings. Most of the time, puns revolving around dark humor are laughable because the reality is the opposite of the prepared joke. However, come to think if the table is to be turned?

    I didn't think that I'd need to think about it until this morning when I woke up to the news of  a mother and son shot by a policeman. Shot. Dead.

    The medium's not a digital nor an analogue camera, but a 9-mm Beretta. The only pictures that emerged from the event where documentation and the mugshot of the suspect. 

    This development, or  decline, (as WatchMojo would often do referring to "Dishonorable Mentions") had an impact to someone who has always been fond of puns and literary contortions. I would never look at that specific joke I mentioned at the start. I could only hope that Justice would wipe her glasses so she could clearly see how justice would have to be served. It just had to be served because a decline like this manifested by taking lives in a cold-blooded manner would never be something that should be taken lightly.

    

    Something needs to be done. It's one of those instances wherein we could safely say that humanity had taken a couple of steps back from evolution. For a moment, we're back at the early moments of this thing they called "Survival of the Fittest".

    Let's take those steps back towards the right path. Avoid a dick line.

Remembering the Only Jonas Brothers Concert in Manila... Yet

By October 30 of 2018, it would already be five years since the Jonas Brothers made the announcement of the band breaking up in a TV broadcast. That was over a year after they tried getting back together after at least a year of rest as the Jonas Brothers.

Joe Jonas' fan selfie from  the Jonas Brothers Philippines Facebook page

By 2010, Nick Jonas has formed his side group, Nick Jonas and the Administration, while Joe Jonas released a solo pop-RNB album in 2011, Fastlife. The last tour of the Jonas Brothers was the 2010 Fall tour which also had the promotions for Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam. The last time they were on stage with the band together was when they performed in the Concert For Hope in March 2011. Since then, the burning question was this: Are the Jonas Brothers over?

But no, they were not over. At least, not until October of 2013.

They made a series of reunion concerts, starting in New York City’s Radio City Music Hall and then reaching Asia and Russia. The next stop was in the Philippines, a two-night concert (one in Manila, and another in Cebu) on October 19, and 20, 2012, and featured a mostly similar 26-song setlist to the one they had in New York City which ran for almost two hours!

I could remember the concert very well because it was the first time that I watched a foreign act, and also the first time that they were all here to perform. Back in May of that year, Joe Jonas was in Manila for a clothing line endorsement and had a two-song performance with “Just In Love” and “See No More”. He promised that he would bring his brothers with him soon and thank God he kept his promise. We were all fortunate to see them here before that unexpected break-up.

The Official Concert Poster from the organizer (not mine)

We were all hyped during the band’s entry to the stage with the song “We Will Rock You” in the background. After that, the trio was getting ready to open the night with their hit “When You Look Me In The Eyes”.

With that, I’d like to point out something that I noticed with Nick’s singing during “When You Look Me In The Eyes”. Since they started reuniting in 2012 and until their last performance of this song in their 2013 summer tour, and even in the digital album “Live”, I only got to hear Nick sing the coda part of this song similar to what he used to do back in their early days once and it was this Manila concert. I wouldn’t be able to point out the differences of the performance through writing, so here’s a video for that.

Notice these periods from these videos. All links are not mine but from other YouTubers. Thanks.

2010 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3T6KVGWLpQ (3:42-3:55)

2012 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAAl2k4iSzk (3:50-4:06)

2013 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXpg45vev2I (3:40-3:51)

If you’re a fan and you’d notice this, I’d be pretty sure you would have the same chills that I had upon learning this.

Another thing that I noticed during the show was that there were no gimmicks, or trickeries, involved in the show. There wasn't even any runway for the ever-energetic Joe's roaming around the stage, like what fans saw in the "Jonas Brothers 3D Concert Experience". These things proved that the night was purely intended for celebrating and singing their old and new music with them.

Aside from that, I could also remember singing out to the new arrangement for some of their songs like the reggae version of “Hold On”, country version of “Pushin’ Me Away” and “Gotta Find You”. I also liked the semi-acoustic set up they did for “Give Love A Try”, “Turn Right” and “Gotta Find You”.

One last thing I could recall was everyone singing all throughout “Lovebug”. A funny moment was when Joe did not need to sing any of his parts because the whole crowd was singing it.

The trio during "Lovebug" from http://www.gmanews.tv

To close out the show, they had “Burnin’ Up” and the band introduction and their own introduction which was then followed by their final goodbye and bow to the crowd in the same old Jonas Brothers way.

What a night to remember, and to feel alive for all JoBros fans indeed. We definitely need more.