I Belong to the Zoo performed live last Friday at Pier Juan in Chelsea Hotel. It was their first gig in Dubai, or in the Middle East perhaps. Thanks to duBlog for bringing them here.
I was there with my siblings because the three of us are all fans.
I’m a music lover (though music doesn’t love me that much, haha). Since I was a kid, I would easily fall in love with music that touches my heart. People who knew me used to call me the “Emo Kid” because they knew that the music I was listening to will either break the heart or break the eardrums, no in-betweens.
It was more than a year ago when my little brother introduced me to a new song called “Sana” and I wouldn’t forget the artist because he calls himself “I Belong To The Zoo.” Cool but weird, I thought. His real name was interesting too, Argee Guerrero.
The song ‘Sana’ is about a guy experiencing a rebound relationship – they were so in love with each other but the girl changed her ways, apparently, she was still in love with her ex. Heartbreaking isn’t it? But that song made me fall in love with IBTTZ. My playlist became full of his music.
Another song that hit me down to the core is “Balang Araw.” It’s about a guy madly in love with someone who only sees him as a friend and that no matter what he does, he still can neither make the girl fall in love with her nor erase his feelings to the girl.
He also has this collaboration with Moira titled “Patawad, Paalam” about two lovers who decided to part ways for reasons they both don’t understand. But in the end, the guy wished that in the very end, they will end up together again.
One of the reasons why everyone loves I Belong To The Zoo is because the songs are so painful they are so good – they are very relatable. Every listener can feel the pain in every word and it easily connects to the heart. It feels like every song hits the exact pain chord we are going through or has gone through. He was able to put into the right words the feelings we suppress and oftentimes can’t express. That’s why everyone loves him.
In his Dubai show, before he starts the next song, he would share the emotional story behind the message. He goes like, “I made this song because 3 years ago I was ready to propose to my girlfriend but I found out she was in love with someone else.” OUCH! And the crowd would breathe emotional oohs and aahs and huhuhus because indeed it was a painful introduction.
Actually IBTTZ started his show by apologizing because he said he will surely hurt our feelings through his music and yes, he did. He nailed everyone’s heart with every word he sings and speaks.
“You can turn your mess into a blessing.”
After his show I realized two things: first, “You can turn your mess into a blessing.” Look at him now. All of his pain became the lullaby of the audience; second, on your dark days or broken heart moments, you either stand up and start all over again or stay where you are and let the pain consume you. We all experience pain and we all have the choice on how we are going to deal with it.
May we all learn from Argee. May we all stay strong and keep fighting and turn our every test into a testimony.
I wish I had the chance to hug him and tell him “you’re doing great pal” but there’s no chance. At least I was able to have a photo with him.
Looking forward to more songs from IBTTZ. Until we meet again here in Dubai.
Top photo from Luminary Productions Facebook Page.
