Gusto mo bang sumama?

We're betting on what the first song will be. I think it's still going to be Alapaap.

I'm just glad to be able to watch it this time!

song playing in my head

Big dipper, North of nowhere
Outside the room, inside my mind

I look forward to tomorrow
But can’t leave yesterday behind
How it feels so strange
To have grown and change
Now its not the same

Coz time slips and slides into another place
And try as we might
To understand each other
Doesn’t really matter where you are
It always seems too very far
It’s like you’re light years away
You’re light years away from me

Big dipper, South of somewhere
It looks much closer than it really is

I held it in my hands
But you’re forever out of reach
Far as the eye can see
Nothing is meant to be
Doesn’t mean much to me

But oh, if only i had a rocket ship to fly
I’d be right there in a minute
But it really doesn’t matter where you are
However near is still so far
It’s like youre light years away
You’re light years away from me, oh

Far as the eye can see
Nothing is meant to be
Doesnt mean much to me

----

love the lyrics, love the band!

when rock needs a rest

It's quite possible that you've "heard" what happened to the Eraserheads concert last Saturday. I am at least a thousand miles way but watching the you tube videos that shortly came out, I had goosebumps like everyone else after the final countdown and saw the fab 4 being elevated into the stage. Truly historic. It had all the makings of a good drama right from the start, and I have a funny feeling this isn't finished yet. Remember that feeling of a sudden break up you didn't quite see coming? It leaves you with a weird, floating feeling because you still have a lot of energy and emotion about it to dispose. Until you're done, you can't just "shake yer head and walk away"... I guess that's how everyone else feels right now. BUT, considering how things went down it feels almost selfish to suggest a part 2 this soon. Has anyone else noticed how well-behaved Eheads fans have been after the concert was cut short? They have treated it very sacredly with the collective message being, "just seeing them all in one stage was enough!".

The E needs a rest before the final rock out, and i think everyone is more than willing to give him that. In the meantime, read what the man has written below a few years ago in his column called "Cursor" for one of the broadsheets. As usual, his patent unfazed disposition mixed with silent rebellion over all things regular and expected shines through. Isn't that what we've always loved about him?


A Dystopian Holiday
By Ely Buendia

The skies have turned black. The wind is howling. It picks up your skin’s scent. Raindrops the size of bowling balls bombard your little nipa shelter. Everyone fears that a tsunami is coming. It’s only four o’ clock in the afternoon at the beach but already the signs of the impending apocalypse are everywhere. And this is not just any beach, and not just any day. This is Boracay in the middle of summer. You gotta feel really special.

Admittedly there’s nothing like swimming in the ocean while a storm rages all around you. A major existential conundrum presents itself: Should you bring an umbrella out into the sea? Our banana boat driver cowers beneath his speedboat’s dashboard, in a vain attempt to escape the rain. Nobody wants to get wet on the beach.

It was the third day of Pupil’s stay in what can only be described as a dystopian holiday at the country’s most popular beach resort. Of course, I was probably the only one in our party who considered a bleak future for this trip. I was never an outdoor person, definitely not a beach person, not a people person either. So why was I riding a rickety jetprop all the way to where I most certainly not rather be? Well, there’s certainly room for an exception. This one being a business trip, it’s quite easy to forego any other considerations. Plus, it was an MTV and Motorola gig, so you know you’re in good hands. Who knows? You might actually enjoy it.

On the airplane though, you actually remember why you hate traveling right smack in the middle of summer in the first place. There are simply too many people going to the exact same place that you are. There’s no exclusivity at all. Well I guess it was asking too much.

Upon landing in Caticlan, the first of many tests on my resolve began. You see, I didn’t pack anything that resembled beach attire at all, partly out of laziness, partly out of protest, mostly to see if I could get away with it. This was purely a business trip, dammit. I was a businessman, and I was going to dress the part no matter what.

But I could not stand the thought of getting sand in my pristine white Pony shoes. I secretly inched my way to a nearby store and bought a pair of cheap sandals. Well, who looks at feet anyways?

After freshening up at the hotel, we were told by the producers to go to the beach immediately for soundcheck. I put on a black shirt and jeans, feeling a bit too casual than necessary. I was in for a surprise. Walking along the well kept strip mall that served as the main pathway to the beach, I came to recognize how much people took summer seriously. Everyone was practically walking around half naked, while yours truly struggled to keep his chin up in the face of utter displacement. Frankly, I had never felt so naked by being overdressed. It was The Blue Lagoon everywhere. I bravely pushed on, thinking that what really mattered was that Diane was walking alongside of me and she was wearing a beautiful swimsuit. No one would notice how ridiculous I looked. I was wrong. Practically everyone I met at the soundcheck commented on my out-of-place outfit. Okay, they had a point. But I wasn’t going to perform in a pair of skimpy Speedos.

By nighttime, everyone was used to The Guy Who Liked Wearing Long Sleeves and Jeans To the Beach. The food was great, the weather lovely, the music out of this world and the crowd, primal. It was, as the song goes, almost paradise. I made it through without breaking a sweat. Like I always say, clothes make the man. And without it, are we not animals?

all roads lead to the fort tonight

The guys had their soundcheck 2am this morning. They sound good! OMG!!!

good, better, best ... and the part I hate

The good news is that ****** ****** is out of the picture.

Even better news is that next time tobacco companies will probably think twice when they try to push the limits of the law again. It happened with the Alicia Keys concert in Indonesia, it happened with the E-heads concert in the Philippines. They are not invincible, not with their deception, not with their lobbying.

The best news is that THE CONCERT OF THE YEAR is pushing through!!!* I feel exactly the way i felt when I heard Sting was playing in Manila. And I was in high school then. All I got was a Sting fan souvenir (which btw, I kept for years) and well, images of the man shirtless and oh-so-hot under the red light. It still haunts me to this day! Remember those giddy days, R? The E-heads concert makes me feel like a fangirl again.

And the part I hate is that I have a passport but cannot use it! One night only and I'll be stuck in Saigon wishing the whole weekend that I was back in Manila, in the Fort grounds listening to the opening riffs of Alapaap...

My state of mind right now agrees wholeheartedly with "Ang daming bawal sa mundo, sinasakal nila tayo". Gusto mo mag leave, pero di naman pwede!

Can't be all that bad, my optimistic self says. Ill read about it and with my intense imagination, it will feel like I was almost there. Rakenroll!




*If you have to ask "which concert" then you:

1) must be living under a rock. and it doesn't rock.
2) must be a die hard hiphop fan and you think Akon is the bomb
3) must be boy band fan circa 90's, meaning you're still stuck on the Backstreet Boys (I know someone who is)
3) were born in 21st century and too young to know and care about the E-heads. In that case, ask your ate or kuya, or hell, your parents for some rock edu.
4) must be a foreigner who thinks that when we say Eraserheads, we mean the David Lynch movie. Can't say I blame ya!

it's NOT just about the music

Yes, I was one of those people who moved from shock to disbelief to giddiness, when I first heard of the Eraserheads reunion concert. And I had to admit i flitted from getting a booking in cebu pac to checking the website of ****** ******, the supposed sponsor. So they say you have to be a smoker to register, be more than 18 years old, and you have to submit a valid ID. This whole fiasco has a name: viral marketing, or to be really straight about it, it's ****** ******'s way of getting around the Tobacco Regulation Act which bans them from advertising effective July 1st, 2008 (including sponsoring shows among other things).

Not a smokin' idea. While i love the music of the E-heads, let's call a spear a spear: this deal with ****** ****** is a sellout. Helping a tobacco company circumvent the law, allowing them to use your music and stature as one of the legends of Pinoy rock (yes we can call them that) is not acceptable and the E-heads must put themselves above that.

If you are a real E-heads fan, you know that the band is more than just the music. At one point in time, it became bigger than them and they have evolved into the voice of the youth as they spoke so truthfully about growing up in the 90's. The themes weren't new: love, heartbreak, experimentation, awareness of the world (and rebelling against the world), but the E-heads' spin on things was charming, simple, humorous, tongue-in-cheek. And we loved it, we lapped it up like our parents lapped up anything by the Beatles. They can do better than this. In fact I think they should just tell ****** ******, to go f*** off.

***

What's your E-heads story? Everyone has one, something like the six degrees of Kevin Bacon. I met Ely once in 70's Bistro because he was my papa's friend. I think they were then rehearsing for Beatles Night. I don't really remember much, except that I shook his hand and his hand was just very noticeably soft. Like maybe he lathers lotion on them every night? :) Not typical for a guitar player. Pretty weird because that was such an exciting night for me and all I could remember were Ely's soft hands. I remember though that my papa had only good things to say about him, insisting "maayos si ely, di mayabang." On one of his trips to the states, my papa had asked him to look for a music gadget (i forget what) and he came back buying it for him and refusing to be reimbursed. Perhaps there is a kinship amongst musicians that the more successful ones would help others who were still struggling out there. Or maybe some people as really just nicer than others.

I'd see Ely from time to time, but not in the music scene (one time i saw him in Smart paying for his bill), but I was too shy to approach him and teel him we had met before. If I did I know he'd be gracious. I met Buddy once too and remembered that he was a very down-to-earth guy, makes you feel comfortable and he has none of the "suplado" vibe Ely can sometimes project (even without meaning to).

What's your favorite E-heads song? Let me just say I loved every song in Ultraelectromagneticpop and Circus. My all time faves are "Wag Mo Nang Itanong", "Ang Huling El Bimbo" (classic!), "Ligaya", "Alapaap", "Overdrive", and for some reason "Julie Tearjerky" also get to me. It will be priceless to hear them play again, let the curtain fall properly for this band that shaped the best times of our lives. Maybe that will finally give us closure.

So I really wish somewhere out of the blue, some company would step up and sponsor this instead.

Yes to the reunion, No to the (rumored) sponsor!