Day Of Reckoning

The list of musical artists I would like to see before I die is quite long. John Mayer is at the top, of course, but that box has (thankfully) already been checked, along with Oasis, Snow Patrol, Maroon 5, Gin Blossoms, Japandroids, Norah Jones, Vertical Horizon, Smashing Pumpkins, Jason Mraz, Stars, Phoenix, Aerosmith, Kings Of Convenience, The Drums, Alt-J, Haim, Gotye, and many others.

Acts still on my wish list: Damien Rice, Arctic Monkeys, The Perishers, Coldplay, Athlete, Goo Goo Dolls, Sarah Mclachlan, Collective Soul, Sting, U2, Dave Matthews Band, Pete Yorn, Foo Fighters, and, again, many others.

Then there’s Howie Day.

Howie working the delay pedals at a show

Image from Wikipedia: Credit: Justin Pugh

I’m finding it difficult to start writing about Day because the thoughts are coming faster than I can type. I’ve been a fan of his since 2002; I remember because that was the year I also discovered Mayer’s music. It was around that time that the age of the modern singer-songwriter was burgeoning; after Mayer there was a whole slew of artists that rose out of the woodwork with the same schtick—Jason Mraz, Pete Yorn, Matt Nathanson, Ari Hest, Matt Wertz, Josh Kelley, Tyler Hilton, Marc Broussard, et. al.

Out of all these names, it was Howie Day’s music I gravitated to the most (next to Mayer’s, of course). His debut album Australia was never released locally so it was pretty hard to come by (remember this was before the age of lightning-fast torrent downloads and Spotify). I asked someone to buy the CD for me from the US. I liked it immediately after one listen—it was raw and honest, somber but uplifting. It was the kind of record I put on after a long day at work, with the lights turned down and maybe a glass of wine in one hand (kidding, I couldn’t afford wine back then; I was probably guzzling a Pepsi).

The music was good, but what really reeled me in about Day was his live shows. YouTube hadn’t been invented yet, so what was available were bootlegged VCD copies of his performances. I managed to get my hands on one of those shows. To say I was blown away would be an understatement; Day introduced me to the magic of performing with samples and effects pedals. Basically he would record one guitar or vocal track and play over it with another, all by himself, onstage. At one point, it was like an entire band was playing, and the whole thing was nothing short of mesmerizing.

Here's Howie performing "Bunnies" from the Madrigals EP Bonus DVD

Day never became a household name, until 2003, when he released his second album (as well as his major label debut), Stop All The World Now, which contained undoubtedly his biggest hit (and the one song most people associate him with), “Collide."  I remember running over to the record store the day it was released (yes kids, we went to the record store to buy our music back then). Here’s a snippet of my “review” that I posted on a message board dedicated to Day:

I've been listening to it since I got it and one thing I can safely say: Howie's come a long way since his debut album “Australia.” It takes some getting used to hearing him backed by a full band and even a string orchestra on some tracks, but considering this is Howie's major label debut (Australia was independently produced), I'm happy to say that this album only magnifies what I've come to love about Howie's music: mainly his introspective and heartfelt songwriting and incredibly expressive vocals. 

Although I have to say that I much prefer the rawness and stripped-down appeal of his work in Australia, I don't think he's lost any of the passion and intensity evident in that album in Stop All... It's still there, although a bit “glossed over” by all the production work. And nowhere is this more pronounced than in the reworked version of “She Says.” You'll get the idea once you compare the version here and the one in Australia. After a couple of spins, my favorite tracks are “Collide” (probably the closest thing to a proper love song as we're gonna get from the always somber Mr. Day) and the trippy “Sunday Morning Song.” 

All in all, I think Stop All... is a satisfying sophomore outing from Day. Nga pala, the CD also comes with a VCD, kind of like a behind-the-scenes, “making-of” type. It's pretty cool, since I don’t think we've ever really gotten to know Day, not as much as Mayer or even Mraz.

Fast forward to today. Howie has since released one other full-length album (Sound The Alarm), and a live album (Live From…). I have all of his albums on CD (except Sound The Alarm, which I plan to get, if it's still available). I even have the rare Madrigals EP, which I got in Singapore in 2005. When news broke that he was coming to Manila, it was the most thrilled I got since, well, since I found out Mayer was coming. I got so excited I was inspired to write this long-ass post, which nobody but the most hardcore of fans will probably bother to read. Nope, doesn’t take much to make me happy. Just send me an amazingly talented singer-songwriter to play live onstage and my year is pretty much made.

Howie Day Live in Manila happens on September 11, 2014, thanks to Pinoytuner.com. Check out their website for updates on venue and ticket prices