Basti Artadi of Wolfgang

Coca-Cola recently held their Concert ng Bayan to celebrate their 100th year of existence. Yes, 100 years. All I know is that Coke has been existing since I was born and has been part of our family meals.

I was able to catch the Concert ng Bayan at the Mall of Asia last March 23rd. We got our tickets and headed to where we’re supposed to be. I didn’t imagine that there’ll be seats but yes, there were. It’s not just seats, they’re reserved seats (at the VIP section). In my opinion, this was the most organized open-area concert I’ve ever attended. I’m not used to it so Karla and I decided to go near the fence so that we can be with the crowd and take some photos.

Wolfgang with Gloc 9

I was only able to catch a few artists such as Wolfgang, Gloc 9 and Parokya ni Edgar. They had longer sets though, which was good because usually with these kinds of big concert, max number of songs per band is 3. In this case, they sang 5 songs and also collaborated with other artists as well.

I believe that collaborations are good and healthy for artists. Mixing two entirely different genres in one song brings out the a different feel to a common song. Just like heavy rock band Wolfgang, they performed “Halik ni Hudas” with Gloc-9. It was awesome hearing two worlds combine. Parokya ni Edgar also performed wth Gloc-9, there’s nothing new to this because they have collaborated before.

Chito Miranda of Parokya ni Edgar

Chito and Vinci Performing the Yes Yes Show

Caloy

President for Happines, Caloy, was also there. It was my first time to see him and he’s really that tisoy. He was really a jolly person.

Karla and I had to leave early so I wasn’t able to catch the other artists but I heard that the gig was really a blast. Happy 100 years Coca-Cola!

Basti Artadi of Wolfgang

It was a rainy night on December 8th. Although I didn’t get to attend the press conference of Yahoo for the Y! Rocks because of work, I still managed to go to the concert at the SM Mall of Asia concert grounds. I needed a break from work and going to gigs is one of my stress relievers.

This is the first time that Yahoo held simultaneous concerts in Cebu and Davao for Yahoo Rocks. As an avid supporter of local artists, I appreciate this kind of support that is being given by Yahoo. Let’s admit it, gone are the hey days of bands during the 90′s. Sorry, I am being biased here but at that time, Pinoy bands were the mainstream and major recording labels were signing them, creating hits one after the other. But now, times have changed. Pinoy bands still exist, only a few of them in the mainstream and more are going independent. In this digital age, independent bands market themselves through online media – I guess one of the easiest and the cheapest form of marketing. The good thing is that Yahoo, one of the biggest online organizations, help promote Filipino music. It also helped that we have Yahoo Philippines which focuses everything about our country.

Gloc 9 and Vinci of Parokya ni Edgar

It is so hard to impose something but instead of us dwelling from the past, my proposal is to look forward and determine how we can keep Pinoy music alive. One suggestion is don’t just rely on what radio stations play. There are tons of artists who are already on the internet. Go to small gig joints around the metro and you’ll surely hear some fresh sound that you can dig into.

Marben Romero of Badburn

Anyway, nuff said. I only caught a few bands during the Yahoo Rocks gig. The audience had their umbrellas up so it was quite difficult to take photos from where I was (Purple VIP). Eventually the heavy rains stopped so I had the opportunity to get some snapshots. Feel free to browse through my Yahoo Rocks photo set in Flickr and the videos I took from my You Tube channel: http://www.youtube.com/rockerfemme.

Franco

Glad to see 90′s bands such as Wolfgang, Razorback, Badburn and Parokya ni Edgar. Only a few people I guess appreciated the heavy rock sounds of Wolfgang, Razorback and Badburn. I still had the urge to sing along with Basti in “Halik ni Hudas” and became my LSS until the next morning.

Kevin Roy of Razorback

“Norma Love” a.k.a Harlon Agsaoay of Tanya Markova

Sarah Marco of Taken by Cars

Raimund Marasigan of Sandwich

Chikoy Pura of The Jerks

Yahoo Philippines wants Yahoo Rocks to be a yearly event and I do hope that for the regional concerts, they let the local bands play and not only the popular ones. I know Cagayan de Oro and Cebu rock scene is alive and it would be great to showcase them as well. Not sure on the other genres but I am sure that there are existing ones!

So we left the concert grounds at around 12:30 am with a ringing sound in my ear. The next day, still feeling deaf, I went to work and returned to my boring job as if nothing happened last night.

* Special thanks to Joey Alarilla for the invitation!

Joey “Pepe” Smith and Ely Buendia

Jose Rizal’s 150th birthday became more meaningful as Pinoy musicians made songs about him and his works through a downloadable album called  Rock Rizal. You can download the songs for free and share it to everyone who know and wants to know Jose Rizal.

Listening to the tracks made me remember my PI 100 (Philippine Institutions 100) in UP. It is mandated by law that educational institutions has to add Rizal’s life and works in the curricula of public and private schools  (please see Republic Act 1425 or Rizal Law). My PI100 class was unforgettable (under Prof. Nilo Ocampo) because I had the chance to visit the Rizalistas in Mt. Banahaw. I found an old blog post about it but didn’t exactly elaborate on what I did there but all the things that I experienced are kept in my mind. At that time, I realized that Jose Rizal’s life and works are timeless and it crosses all social classes (although many say that his philosophies reflects elitism and conservatism). Could this mean that nothing has really changed since the 1800′s? Hmm.

“Bungo sa Bangin” – Ely Buendia featuring Pepe Smith and Turbogoth

Anyway going back to Rock Rizal, last night I was able to hear some of the songs from the Rock Rizal album performed live at the SM Mall of Asia, San Miguel By The Bay. Karla and I were late because I had to come all the way from Makati after work. I only got the chance to catch the bands such as Gab and Josh, Reese and Vica, Peryodiko, Ebe Dancel, Radioactive Sago Project and Ely Buendia with Pepe Smith. Super thanks to friends from Rock Ed for giving us a chance to stay at the backstage and stay in front of the stage. I was sitting on a speaker (good thing it was heavier than me) because other photographers were squeezing me against the speaker so I might as well just sit on it. I could really feel the groove through my butt! What the hell, it was an awesome and unforgettable gig.

You know why this gig was made awesome? Let me show you why.

1) Ely Buendia performed with Joey “Pepe” Smith.

Two Pinoy rock legends from different eras performed live! Actually, they should only perform 1 song which is “Bungo sa Bangin” (song from the Rock Rizal album and my favorite) but I guess both of them were in the mood to do some more. After “Bungo sa Bangin”, they performed “Teacher’s Enemy No. 1″, a Juan Dela Cruz classic. It seemed that Pepe forgot a stanza but what the heck, it was still a fun impromptu jam! Mar Dizon (former Side A drummer / founder and played with other artists such as Kevin Lettau, Jim Brickman, David Pomeranz etc.) also played the drums with them!

Another impromptu song from Ely is “Ang Huling El Bimbo”.

2) Gloc – 9 made the the crowd jump for joy.

I’ve never seen Gloc 9 perform live before so I was surprised on the crowd’s response. He engages with the crowd and I believe this is the reason why the crowd loves him. He’s not just another Francis M. but he lives by his own name and style. He also seemed humble (sorry, didn’t get to meet him in person). Here’s a video of him performing “Kung Tama Siya” with Jaq Dionisio of Kissjane.

3) Vin Dancel made the audience wave to the viewers of Digradio.ph.

The entire concert was webcasted via Digradio.ph so Vin made the audience raise their hands to the air. People who were not able to watch it live had the chance to see the entire concert on the internet! How amazing technology is now.

4) Radioactive Sago Project’s music almost made me dance to my feet but instead with my butt.

Sorry for the TMI (too much information) but they did! Like I said earlier, I was sitting on a speaker in front of the stage so when Radioactive Sago Project was next, I said to myself “uh-oh, my butt muscles will definitely be sore after this”. Well I was exaggerating then but I felt the soreness today. I was excited to hear “Sino Si Pepe” live and one of my favorite tracks.

And so if you were not able to go to the concert, all you can do now is watch the videos I uploaded (and other uploaded as well ;D ) and download the Rock Rizal tracks from the links below.

1) Ely Buendia – “Bungo sa Bangin”

2) Gloc 9 featuring Jaq Dionisio of Kissjane – “Kung Tama Siya”

3) Sandwich – “Mi Ultimo Amor”

4) Ebe Dancel – “Ikaw ang Aking Tahanan”

5) Aiza Seguerra featuring Radha- “Lupang Pinangako”

6) Radioactive Sago Project – “Sino Si Pepe?”

7) Jett Pangan – “Shine A Light”

8) Peryodiko – “Kumagat Man Ang Dilim”

9) Hijo – “Tamalee”

10) Gab ‘n Josh and Reese & Vica – “Pagbabalik”

You can also view other photos from my Flickr.

When NU 107 signed off last February 2011, I was asking myself (and most definitely other avid listeners), “what will be my alternative radio station now that NU 107 has signed off”? Well, thanks to the internet, listeners like me resorted to listening to NU107 Cebu’s webcast.

Suddenly, Pinoytuner.com came and offered a rock radio station called Dig Radio. Ever since then, this is where I usually get a dose of rock tracks as well as local rock music. It’s just like listening to NU107, hearing some familiar radio jocks such as Kim Marvilla, Cyrus the Virus, Francis Brew, Joystick Jay, Evee, April and Shannen. Instead of them having a show wherein the jocks talk in between 2 – 3 songs, I feel like I am getting to know each of their music tastes. There are specific playlists created by the jocks every day (refer to the screenshot above). Once you have listened to the entire playlist, it will just repeat from the beginning. I think an entire playlist is about an hour or two (if I’m not mistaken). The good thing about it is that there are no mandatory radio commercials in between 2 songs. Hopefully this will continue but not sure about it in the future. If you skip songs, it will automatically play the “sponsor” which is just a Dig Radio plug and it’s not annoying unlike radio commercial jingles being played in mainstream radio stations. Dig Radio also does live broadcasts of concerts. Most recent one was the Rock Rizal concert held in SM Mall of Asia By the Bay.

Dig Radio felt like home, but only this can be accessed with an internet connection.

Mayo Baluyut jamming with Johnny Alegre

Two weeks ago, I was able to get to hang out with the guys behind Pinoytuner.com. They had an intimate blogger’s night at Shift Bar and Resto (just opposite Cafe Saguijo). Thanks to Aileen Apolo – De Jesus for inviting us, it was truly an awesome night! The plan really was not to have a formal thing so everything was spontaneous. They fed us and made us drink Cherry Beer (YOU MUST TRY this!). Although I don’t have a gall bladder anymore, I couldn’t resist this awesome, awesome alcoholic drink. I only had 1 cherry beer which lasted for almost 3 – 4 hours. Francis Brew was consistently reminding me that I don’t have a gall bladder anymore and to avoid drinking beer.

Francis Brew

There were performers such as Vin Dancel (who is also part of Pinoytuner), Mayo Baluyut, Boogie Romero, Nino Avenido and Johnny Alegre to keep us entertained.

Before the night ended, we had a tour around the offices and studio of Pinoytuner. There are recording studios wherein local bands can record their songs. The equipment there are new and state of the art. I assume that they are because people working in Pinoytuner are professional musicians themselves, therefore they know what equipment are good or not.

Vin Dancel

One thing I have noticed with these guys, like Vin Dancel, Francis Brew, Norman Bungubung and Ali Gonzales is that they are sincere in what they want to do with Pinoytuner. They want to fill the gap in the ‘mainstream’ radio airwaves and make a difference in their internet radio station. Currently, there are 3 stations in Pinoytuner.com such as Dig Radio (flagship station which plays rock and alternative tunes), Planet Jazz and Vintage Jukebox. A good point Vin Dancel raised that night, that it’s not only Pinoy rock bands who need more airplay but also the Pinoy Hiphop and Jazz groups (and many others). It was an eye opener for me because I never knew that there are other local music genres that are being neglected. Pinoytuner wishes to bridge the gap and give a “voice” to experts of these local music genres and let them run the specific station the way it should be.

I’ve seen how Pinoytuner has evolved a few months after it was launched in the web. I’ve noticed now that there are already communities within the music genre (there are already blogs and galleries!). Dig Radio has the most content, I guess because this is where most of the people from Pinoytuner came from. They are currently working with Mr. Johnny Alegre on the content and playlists in Planet Jazz. Everything is still in progress and I am quite excited on the next things that will happen with Pinoytuner. I couldn’t disclose that yet but it is really exciting! I just hope that Pinoytuner will not just be another internet radio portal for the sake of broadcasting music. I believe in the capabilities of the people behind Pinoytuner, their passion and commitment to break the walls of traditional radio airplay. One factor that could help them strengthen their website is to build on quality content that will become the “voice” of these underground / independent musicians. Also, interaction with the users of the website is important so that they can keep their audience.

According to Francis, the plans of having a mobile app (for Android and Apple OS) is already on its way before the website was launched. I had a couple of internet radio station apps based in the UK installed in my Ipod before but I did not pursue on listening on them because most of the time, they aren’t playing music and they do not show the titles of the songs that they are playing. Of course, I wanted to know the name of the artist and the song for future reference.

Me, Francis Brew and Karla

Even though I went home at 1:30 am on a Monday night (it was already Tuesday), that’s fine because I had an awesome time with the awesome people of Pinoytuner. When do you get to hang out with musicians that I idolize, not very often! After all the stories that Vin, Francis and the rest of the guys shared to us (most of them are unbloggable ), I would say that I am proud to get to know Pinoytuner at a closer level. As a Pinoy rock supporter like me, I am very excited on what Pinoytuner (or Dig Radio) can do to keep the local music alive again like it used to.

So friends, URLs to remember:
www.pinoytuner.com
www.digradio.ph (to go directly to Dig Radio’s site)

Vin Dancel and Kakoy Legaspi of Peryodiko

I believe that the true soul of any musician is revealed when his/her performance is simplified. It is when the musicality is easily digested by the audience. In this kind of performance, the audience is captivated by the simplicity and truthfulness of the performer. All that you could do, when you’re actually there watching the artists perform, is to absorb every single musical note and word down to its core.

Last Saturday, I was at the Folk U Alexis and Nika 2 in Piazza Musica at the Podium, the music part of the .MOV International Film, Music and Literature Festival. This is one of the rare moments when I feel musical nirvana.

Enrique de Dios

It was my first time to see Enrique de Dios to hear him play the guitar and actually sing. I usually see him with Brigada. I saw a different kind of Inky de Dios without percussion instruments.

Tao Aves

Another artist that mesmerized me was Tao Aves. I’ve already seen her perform before in Obsidian and this time, there is something new about her music. She already has a keyboard accompaniment which gave a different “folk” flavor in her music. By the way, she is the daughter of Grace Nono. Her voice is somewhat like her mom’s but she’s unique in her own way.

Mikey Amistoso a.k.a Hannah and Gabi

I’ve always known Mikey to be the vocalist of Ciudad but this time he performed as Hannah and Gabi. I expected it to be a duo but Mikey is Hannah and Gabi. He also played the ukelele which I think was very cute!

Aldus Santos

Aldus Santos, vocalist of the Purplechickens and music writer extraordinaire, was passionate in his performance as always. This was where I saw the rawness of his music. Here’s a video I took while he’s performing a song by the Purplechickens.

Pauline Diaz of Toi

The very first time I saw Toi was during Archipelago’s Travel Advisory album launch back in 2009. Pauline is a wonder; her voice reminds me of Sarah Mclachlan and Norah Jones – very soothing to the ears.

Fando and Lis

Jesse Grinter and Raimund Marasigan of Gaijin

Ely Buendia

The line up became more and more interesting towards the end of the show. Other performers were Ace Cada of Bagetsafonik, Jesse Grinter and Raimund Marasigan of Gaijin and Fando and Lis. My favorite performance would be Vin Dancel and Kakoy Legaspi, who are both from Peryodiko. Kakoy played the intro of “Agawan Base” using a thumb piano (thanks to Vin for the name of the thingimajig!). I wasn’t able to complete the video because my camera’s battery was low but I was able to capture the intro, click here.

The highlight of the evening was Ely Buendia’s performance. He played one song from each of his previous and current bands: Animal Lover (Pupil), Wigout (The Mongols) and Lightyears (Eraserheads). As an ultimate Eraserheads fan, it means so much to me that he played Lightyears again.

I was able to attend the Tatt Awards last Friday and was actually very curious to know who will win the Indie Rocker category (which is I am more interested in). I waited long for this and then Up Dharma Down was already onstage while they were announcing the finalists for this category then finally, they mentioned the winner, Up Dharma Down.

It took a while before the band was able to play, most likely due to technical difficulties. Anyway, they performed “Tadhana”. I expected it to be their newest song “Layag”. Congratulations to Up Dharma Down!

Giniling Festival Opened the Globe Tatt Awards while other performers are Arjohn Gilbert, Maria Aragon, Paramita and Johnoy Danao. You can view the videos I took below.

Paramita

Arjohn Gilbert

Giniling Festival

Maria Aragon

Up Dharma Down

Other winners for the different categories are:

Wordslayer – Loi Reyes Landicho of professionalheckler.com
Video Slinger – Mike Bustos of youtube.com/MikeyBustosVideos
Thought-Mover – Bianca Gonzales of twitter.com/iamsuperbianca
The Artiste – Jin Joson of jinjoson.com
The Advocate Award – Elizabeth Angsioco of dswp.org.ph
Indie Rocker – Up Dharma Down of updharmadown.com
Stylismo – Laureen Uy of breakmystyle.com
Ball Breaker – Lea Salonga
Tech Junkie – Mark Macanas of techpinas.com
THE ONE Award – Filipino Freethinkers of filipinofreethinkers.org

Logo from www.movfest.org

Just got news the news (and PR) about the upcoming 4th .MOV Fest from a friend and for this year, it will not only cover digital films but it will also include music and literature. MOVfest will happen on September 1 – 6, 2011 in 3 separate venues such as Podium, Ayala Museum and UP Film Center. The event will kick off on September 1st, just in time with the death anniversaries of slain film critic and journalist Alex Tioseco and Nikha Bohinc.

There will be three special events which will cover the film, music and literature genres. These are:

• Launch of the DVD of “Short Films for Long People” : a compilation of short films from previous SILVERSHORTS winners
• Launch of the book “Under the Storm”, an anthology of poetry from 150 poets in the country both critically-acclaimed and newbies
• Launch of the album “Songs from the End of the World”, a compilation of today’s best singer-songwriters in the local scene.

Artists, musicians and poets such as Bienvenido Lumbera, Pete Lacaba, Lourd De Veyra, Joey Ayala, Ely Buendia, Vin Dancel, Kate Torralba, and more will be gracing these launches.  Please do check MOV Fest’s website and Facebook page for updates and pre-event activities.

Schedule of events are:

September 1 – Opening Night, The Podium Activity Center
6:00PM

• DVD Launch: Short Films For Long People Cinema is Love: The Best of .MOV”

September 2 – Literature Night, Ayala Museum
6:00PM

• Book Launch: Under The Storm
• Poetry Reading: 24 poems, to be read by 12 poets and 12 celebrities

September 3 – Music Night, The Podium Activity Center
6:00PM

• Album Launch: Songs From The End Of The World
• Singer-Songwriter Shindig: Musical performances by 12 singer-songwriters

September 4 – Film Workshops, Mogwai Cinematheque, Cubao Expo
1:00-9:00PM

• Free Workshops by Vanja Kaludjercic and Joel Shepard

September 2 – 6 – Film Screenings, UP Film Center
1:00PM – 8:00PM

Pupil just launched the official video for “20/20″, one of the catchiest tunes from their album “Limiters of the Infinity Pool” last week. Great to see the band again after their album launch. I decided to shoot in black and white (and in film grain using Lumix FZ35) because I love this setting whenever I shoot live gigs. Grainy black and white photos just give concert photos a more “rocker” and “film noir” feel on it.

Francis “Brew” Reyes performed 20/20 with Pupil. He also played the guitar in the album. It was awesome seeing Francis again plus, my favorite gig photographer, Niña Sandejas was there too. That’s already a signal that Francis will be there.

Pupil’s 20/20 music video is now being played on local television. The video is actually a breakthrough, Pupil stopped traffic at EDSA. How amazing it is to see EDSA without vehicles passing by? The video will make you appreciate EDSA, cleared from bumper to bumper traffic. I appreciate the blurry effects all throughout video, seemed appropriate with its lyrics “I wish that I can see the world in your eyes“. You can view the video teaser here, I can’t find an official video online yet.

The bands that opened for Pupil are Outerhope and Mayo Baluyot. Outerhope performed with some members from “Ang Bandang Shirley”. I initially thought that “Shirley” will be performing but instead it was Outerhope! It was my first time to see Outerhope, their kind of music is what you should listen if you want to experience zen.

I got the chance to go to the FHM’s 100 Sexiest Women Victory Party at the World Trade Center last night. Thanks to San Miguel Light people. I didn’t really bother to sneak myself to the front of the stage filled with men (and a few women) hungry for flesh because of my current condition. Being there already satisfied me. My 35x zoom point and shoot cameraallowed me to become a “mini voyeur” to what is happening at the ramp.

I actually always thought how it feels like to be in an FHM party, now I know. Anyway, I didn’t finish the whole show because I had to leave early. I only got the chance to take a photo of one celebrity, Eula Valdez – who I think is still hot at her age. By the way, she is number 46 out of 100.

So we’ve got the booze, the condoms, the magazine. A man’s world as they say but FHM cannot just be only for HIM but can also be for HER.