Muzak

Eheads Reunion Concert reminded me of Jonathan Buencamino of Introvoyz

I didn’t feel the need to put up with a killer article as to what transpired a week ago . You have all seen it, heard it, and even felt it. You have seen the laser lights, fireworks, elevating stage, psychedelic videowalls, unison chants, plus a bunch of college misfits with a renewed passion to play music together.

The fever that is the Ultraelectromagnetic Eraserheads Reunion Concert — an addiction that left me wanting for more (rest of the gig was cut short as Ely got sick and had to be rushed to the hospital, but the rest ‘Heads promised a sequel in the coming months), wondering when I will get it out of my system. For a week now, in my daily corporate routine at the office, I still play their music to keep my sanity intact and to relive my fond memories of my youth. And what a natural meth it is to experience, slapping you with a slice of nostalgia on a melodic roller coaster ride down memory lane.

Reminiscing my so-called “Wonder Years”, I can’t help but back track my concert-going days when I always get home either with a badly bruised body or a mild concussion for a souvenir. In those days, slam dancing is somewhat your rite of passage, or a prerequisite to enculturate a growing Pinoy underground scene at that time. Such is a form of brutal celebration and/or physical display of anger. And with my flimsy high school frame that time, you might have an inkling as to what I had gone through. Not so lucky, though, for my friends and not-that-close friends who had been stabbed, punched and kicked to the curb. And coming out of the mosh pit barely alive is an accomplishment enough already.

And so, yes, it was fall of ‘93 (ok, Fred Savage. I’m filling in your shoes now). From out of the blue—during that episode of my high school days when we headbanged into Gun N’ Roses and danced the Running Man to Vanilla Ice’s “Ice, Ice Baby”—there came a cassette tape of a bootlegged version of an album from an up-and-coming indie quartet hailing from UP Diliman (I have to put this one so that I could have bragging rights to show that they are my schoolmates). The novelty and freshness of the album spread like wildfire that it was even played during breaks when we have programs in the school auditorium. Titles of their songs were even written alongside vandals on the ceramic confines of the school comfort rooms. Every shade of every tree, every bench and every corridor floor was filled with eager spirits playing the guitar to learn the chords and humming along every melodic journey of each song. Rumors had it that this band sounded so ill (defined as “cool”) that they even had a song with profanity in it, which already induced controversy at that time.

Then, me and my friends get to hear it. First thing on my mind was the Beatle-esque sound it induced. It flew on the pleasantries of singing along with the songs, but holds with sheer zest and anger of youth. Technical-wise, it was nothing short of banal. They were even out of tuned in some of their songs. Vocalization? Like an APO GI Sheet ripped into pieces you hear in a nearby construction site (no rockstar pipes there). Over-all packaging? Just some college dropouts trying to pursue their rock n’ roll dream. So I told to myself, “Nah. This band is just like us dicking around trying to score chicks with their radio-friendly, bubble gum pop-rock tunes while living out the rockstar dream. Typical wishful thinking, basically.

The night after our Christmas Party, my two friends tagged me along to watch a major concert at the PICC. The gig featured The Dawn, After Image, Introvoyz, and the Eraserheads. I felt cool about it since I was a The Dawn fanboy at that time (and I still am, FYI), considering that this was my chance to see them perform again. Last gig I saw them was way back my elementary years. I was too young to go to San Miguel Beer “Oktoberstorm” concert series then. By the time we got inside the plenary hall, an ecstatic sea of humanity welcomed us. People were jumping, slam dancing, singing their lungs out. “I wonder who’s playing,” I asked myself. It was the Eraserheads’ set going through to their 2nd to the last song. And as the strumming of the key G got into full swing, a deafening roar from the crowd drowned the guitar riff. “Pare Ko” had just been christened to be the anthem of the times.

Of course, the other bands (After Image, The Dawn) had their own share of the limelight. Except, I thought, for Introvoyz, whose thunder seemed stolen by the Eraserheads’ “coming out party” set as rowdy fans booed and threw seat foams and plastic bottles while vocalist Jonathan Buencamino desperately trying to get the job done. This part I pity them, since they were just there to play and entertain the ticket-paying patrons. But I guess it was the wrong crowd that they had played for that night. No finger-pointing here since it really happens in a concert, especially if you have been tagged as sellout by some. And yes, call me bias, I hate them because they booted out “More Than Words” for the number 1 position with their song “Dee Nuh Kow Aasuh Puh Mulee” at the Top 20 at 12 (97.1 LSFM).

Going home after that bout with music history, something hit me. It was that time that I realized that I was guilty of falling into the Eraserheads trap, blinded by my ignorance of the universality of music and how transcendental it is to influence the masses. Forget about the technical virtuosity, or the baritone/shrieking rock star voice. Save the boy-next-door looks to Kuya Germs. What they have is this amalgamation of elements that make up a stripped-down, human-ness entity which every one of us can relate to. Their songs successfully encapsulate the very sensibilities of the millions of Filipinos – encompassing the whole social strata. We fall in love, we miss our friends, we hate school, we rejoice, we weep over a loss of a loved one, we bask in triumph, we think about life. These are the types of songs so well-written and tightly-played that you wouldn’t miss them for the world since these are the sounds that they have felt and experienced—just like us. They are the phonographs of our lives.

Simply put, we can sing into them even while playing the guitar ourselves—with our hearts pouring out. Whether drunk or not.

PS

I need to confirm if the picture of the ticket above is the 1st major concert of the Eraserheads. Comments, suggestion, violent reactions very much welcome. Thanks to the Technographist for the “Alapaap Shot”. Really made the glowing digicams look like lighters during the concert.

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