forever would be fine

not all was lost.

from the first chord of magasin, to the last stray note of toyang, the eraserheads (plus jazz) gave us the show we've waited 6 months (and 6 years) for. made especially poignant by the passing of a friend and collaborator, the final set (or to be accurate, four final sets) was all us fans could hope for and more.

the energy. the crowd. the shared knowledge, and the new tricks. the hard banging and the smooth sailing. the effort to make this not just a sequel but also an experience in its own right seemed to have paid off.

tease me. buddy, why did you have to run the bassline for the fabulous baker boy (and not sing)? same goes for marcus and combo on the run. hmpf.

versions. huwag mo nang itanong, di ko sasabihin sa 'yo (eh di 'wag.); kailan lounge ( so pretteeeeeeee); and alapaap lite. headspin.

name that tune. i admit that i'm not the biggest eraserheads fan. but my friend lin, who i don't think is as rabid a fan as i am, stumped me by beating me to the title of spoliarium. though i managed to beat her the other five times.

what genius. as the show went on, lin realized just how many eraserheads songs were actually really good. as in non-alienating, radio-friendly good. and because my head was muddled by alternative poser shit, i also just realized, they were good.

it was not a perfect night; for me, it was perilously close to being ruined. but you know what? i don't care anymore. because when ely called out for marcus for the impromptu set, i heard the proverbial click. history was made, and they made it good.

why i wasn't happy at the eraserheads concert

make no mistake. i enjoyed the concert last night. really. the music was great, no question about it. and the effort to make this a different show from the last time really paid off.

i just feel shortchanged.

in fact, a lot of us were feeling shortchanged. i was in the silver a area, and when we got to the venue, the people were like sardines. i wouldn't have cared about that too much, because generally the people were pretty decent. but when you can't see shit you have to take issue.

the main culprit is the smart tent (or tents, i might as well include the one further front) put up in the gold area that was right in front of the railings. given that it was close to the exits, so the people in the middle of the field have an unobstructed view. but those close to the edge 1) couldn't see the stage (unless they played hide and seek); 2) could barely see the 4 video walls on top of the stage; and 3) couldn't even view the videowall in the middle which was where we would've watched the concert anyway.

the secondary culprit is the layout of the videowalls. sure, it's inevitable that some people would have a better view in some areas, but surely not to take away from others who paid the same tickets to see only people's heads. and the silver a area where i got to was so narrow that people didn't have much room to move about and see beyond people's heads. i couldn't help comparing it to the rihanna concert with videowalls everywhere. and even if there were a lot of people in our area, we had a lot of room to move around especially in the middle so we wouldn't be stuck at the side and behind a frigging tent. behind the frigging tent would have been fine because we had a good view of a videowall which was mounted at the side. but noooooo.

the clincher? i had friends who were in the bronze section. and they had a better view of a videowall than i did. now tell me, producers, why my ticket was worth one thousand pesos more. i certainly didn't feel the difference got me anything better.

where there's smoke, there's fire

still on a high from last night's school of rock gig. (coincidentally, i loved that movie.)

then i read my pinoy blogosphere mail and got the biggest surprise.

now, i don't have anything new to contribute to what has already been written, so better just read it yourself.

all i can say is, it seems raimund's segue last night may have more meaning than i initially thought it did.

it would be a really brilliant 30th birthday gift. kahit next year na yung u2.

gusto mo bang sumama?

one in the morning. one of the rare moments i got through three chapters of my humres book, albeit haphazardly. after indulging my senti mood with doses of d'sound and julia fordham, i decided to finally break the seal of my week-old eraserheads anthology cd.

i bought the newly-released 2-cd compilation despite already having copies of my two favorite eheads albums. i figured, since i won't be buying the latter albums unless someone twisted my arm, this would be a opportunity to have a good cross sample of their songs. the first cd contains the hits of the first three albums, which were the most popular ones. the second cd took off from fruitcake, the thematically-cohesive but commercially-panned christmas album. it featured songs so divergent, a testimony to the varied musical styles and techniques the eraserheads employed in their later work.

starting off with the first cd, i skipped ligaya and pare ko and eventually landed on my favorite eraserheads song: alapaap. then it hit me. as the song progressed, several things came to mind.

1. i missed playing in a band. notwithstanding the fact that i'm not a really good bass player (well, not as good as buddy zabala anyway), i can coast through a few songs without sticking out like a sore thumb. and although guitar was really my first instrument (after piano of course) i'm more used to thinking in terms of playing bass. well, having my own bass guitar does help.
2. my favorite songs are usually the ones with kick-ass bass. kama supra (eraserheads), in the blood (better than ezra), this love (maroon5), aeroplane (red hot chili peppers), bullet with butterfly wings (smashing pumpkins), tea in the sahara (the police), it's my life (no doubt), are you in? (incubus) are some of them. i get more inspiration to play the really groovy songs although they're quite a challenge to learn.
3. buddy zabala is brilliant. (tagal ko nang alam 'to.)
4. did i already mention i missed playing?

sometimes when i think of what-ifs and what-might-have-beens i inevitably go back to this non-talent of mine. i wonder what would happen if i had been more industrious in learning, if i bothered to take lessons, if i wasn't oido-deaf. one of my brods has a never-ending struggle with songwriting; he's luckier than i am because at least he can compose songs (although they're all incomplete). it all goes back to my perennial problem of being a "jack of all trades, master of none". at times i wonder why i wasn't given one thing to really excel at, rather than having several things that i'm able to do but never be good at. maybe it's just my lot in life. or maybe i just needed to push myself a bit more.

i don't care what other people say about this song. a song is a song is a song. and this is a great song.

may isang umaga
na tayo'y magsasama
haya at halina
sa alapaap
o anong sarap

hanggang sa dulo ng mundo
hanggang maubos ang ubo
hanggang tumulo ang luha
hanggang mahulog ang tala

masdan mo'ng aking mata, 'di mo ba nakikita?
ako ngayo'y lumilipad at nasa langit na
gusto mo bang sumama?

'di mo na kailangan na magtago't mahiya
'di mo na kailangan nang humanap ng iba

kalimutan nang muna ang lahat ng problema
huminga ka ng malalim at tayo'y lalarga na
handa na bang gumala?

pa-parap-pa-pa (gazillion times)

ang daming bawal sa mundo
sinasakal nila tayo
buksan ang puso at isipan
paliparin ang kamalayan

masdan mo'ng aking mata, 'di mo ba nakikita?
ako'y lumilipad at nasa alapaap na

gusto mo bang (gusto mo bang) (7x)
gusto mo bang sumama?

-- eraserheads, alapaap