Monday, December 05, 2005

Happy Birthday Wolfmann

Long time no post. Last month was hell. Deadlines, work...tons of it and uncooperative teammates... it couldn't get any better than this! :-)

The tribute gig for my cousin last Nov. 19 at Racks El Pueblo was a blast! The pinoy rock scene is so alive it gives me goosembumps. Well, yeah exagg naman yun! Anyway, it was great to get together again with the same crowd that filled the halls of the funeral parlor a few months back. This time in a better, livelier, albeit nostalgic atmosphere.

They were also celebrating the anniversary of Admit One that night and a lot of bands played. As expected, I enjoyed ALMOST all of them. Almost, I say, because surprisingly, the only lackluster set of the night was Hale's (more of this later).

Those who performed that night included SVC, Dice & K9, If Disco Is A Crime, Chicosci, Happy Meals, Drip, Pedicab, Sandwich, Imago, Cambio, Sugarfree, Twisted Halo, Hale, and of course, Wolfmann+.

My band of the moment is Pedicab. I just really enjoy the craziness and no-holds barred style of music. Yung tipong mapapasayaw ka kahit ayaw mo and once you start, you can't stop! Kawala ng poise, but liberating. For like 15 minutes, I wasn't myself - jumping, screaming, clapping... grabe parang hashish. It's worse when you know the songs (and I do) so kulang nalang tumalon din ako sa gitna with Diego and Raimund. Craziness.

My all time favorite, Sandwich, followed Pedicab and they did a great job of sustaining the momentum. Galing their new songs, can't wait for the new album. Marc Abaya's departure from the band wasn't actually a loss (others would say it was). Raimund Marasigan can handle it pretty well (is there something music-related the guy can't do?). The lost pogi points from Marc's leaving the band was compensated by Mong Alcaraz. I think Sandwich is getting better... Haha lumalabas na ata aking fan girl-ness.

Wolfmann+, my cousin's band, had a very heart-tugging set. The band sang three of his popular songs with a very emotional encore on Beer as vocalist Ebe Dancel did a sort of adlib that seemed like he was talking to Wilf. For a moment, I felt him there, listening, smiling and teary-eyed, feeling the love that brought us all together that night. Before that was a short video montage of him doing what he loves best - tweaking his electronica gadgets... making music...his friends paid tribute. His legacy lives on.

My take on the others:
Chicosci - wow... what a band. Binubuhat na ng bouncer yung vocalist nila. Mong Alcaraz. Yown.

If Disco is A Crime - aliw yung girl! I like her dance moves and her hair and her outfit.

Happy Meals, Drip - okay lang, not bad! not spectacular either. Maybe because excited nako for Pedicab and these two were playing before them.

Imago - such powerful music. band of the moment ko din sila. as in nadama ko

Cambio - enjoy! No doubt about it.

Sugarfree - they didn't sing kuarto, sayang! Pero okay parin yung set nila, parang ang dami nilang tumugtog dun!

Twisted Halo - this is the type of performance that you should just watch and feel the emotions... appreciate. hindi pang sing-along

Hale - ohmygod. I just really feel that they didn't make the most of that opportunity. Them being a fairly young band, it was time to show off at magpakitang gilas to their kuyas yet they sang the less popular songs, much to the dismay of some. That put them in a very uncomfortable position. Nobody's reacting while they were singing. They just didn't connect. I knew and liked their popular songs but their performance that night got me asking myself why I liked them in the first place. Good looks and vocal chords are not enough to make great musicians.