Trial By Disaster: How a Perfectly Good Buzz Night Can Go Wrong

Ayayay. I think this incident has shown me once and for all that I’m still something of a prude.

So there I was, with my tacky glittery shirt feeling all positive. Ayn picked me up earlier and we went to Mayric’s together. Allan and Popular Days were already there; and most of the bands had come early so we were able to set a sequence with no problem. Allan wanted Soft Pillow Kisses to go first because he still had to go to a Backbeat gig at Amoranto, but Lara took a while to arrive.

Buzz Night September 2004 started off with Bagetsafonik minus their percussionist. They played a great set, and Ace their vocalist sounds like he’s really in control of his voice. Maybe internal hemorrhage did the trick (hehe, just kidding). Then, Soft Pillow Kisses came next and we played a great set. Sunset Drive followed. Napaka-showbiz ng vocalist hehe. Ang kulit!

Popular Days played after them. Jann Paul askd me to shoot a video of them, and I was so stupid about it. I kept wondering why the LCD only registered black and then Allan pointed out to me that I had kept the cap on. Stupid me. I was so embarrassed haha.

The following is an honest account of my perception on the matter. I know I’ve promised to be objective in narrating events in this blog, but this I absolutely cannot do for this particular event.

Next up was supposed to be Tether. Unfortunately (and you’ll understand my choice of word as you read on), they opted to swap places with the band they recommended Schimouche-whatever. Because we trusted that they were going to fit in or at the very least be decent, Allan had agreed to give Schimouche a try. They opened their set with the intro of “Magasin” by the Eraserheads, which immediately made us cringe, and then they transitioned into Blink182-ish tunes. Fine. Tolerable… barely so, but tolerable. And then……… the vocalist was apparently hoping for a bigger reaction because he actually begged us to clap hands “Sang Linggo nAPO Sila” style. By this time, Allan had already left with Lara and Kelvin for the Cheese gig, leaving me and Charles in charge. The vocalist said, “Uy, bahala na kung anong mangyayari pagkatapos nito ha, pero para sa inyo to!” then he turned around and took his shirt off; I thought, Ok, big deal, he’s gonna show some skin. Then he took his pants off; Ok, so he’s gonna do it Kamikazee style in his boxers. Then he took his boxers off, and I saw his pasty-white butt which was absolutely disgusting, and I put my head down before he faced the audience again, completely naked. The audience shouted, but it wasn’t exactly the “go for it” thing he was expecting because he kind of hesitated and then said something vaguely like, “Come on, this is for you guys!” then they continued their last song. I think the audience wasn’t exactly thrilled he had done that---- some of them were laughing, but most of them were kind of nervously heckling him just because it was something so unthinkable at Buzz Night.

I’m not really sure what else happened because I was on the phone outside to Allan, panicking and asking him what to do. He was helpless because he couldn’t get out of his work, so he just said grimly, “Hayaan mo na lang. Kausapin ko na lang sila mamaya.” Oscar was really mad and he said we shouldn’t get that band anymore… duh! I was furious, but I couldn’t exactly go up to the stage and make them come down because I was revolted at the thought of facing more than his butt. If Allan were there, he would have dragged them off, I think… but I asked him later that morning and he said he probably would have talked to them instead.

Thank god Soda Jerk took the stage after them. They were probably pissed or else morbidly amused at what just happened, but who wasn’t? Thankfully, they played a great set; covered a Pavement song, easing my frayed nerves a bit. Their mantra of “mature pop” made me focus on the high points of the night, some of which were to come. Next played Tether, who shamefacedly admitted they had no idea that other band would play and do the things they did. Oh well. Tether played a good set, too, and their vocalist was doing better than last time.

Lastly, Carnival Park played. I love the vocalist’s voice. This was the first time I got to really sit down and watch them play. I used to think that she sang in the generic indiepop-high-cute-notes way, but there’s a certain quality to her technique that’s different. It was great that they got to perform at Buzz Night again, and I hope they get to play in the future. Wish they had played earlier in the night.

Okay, more ranting about the naked guy. I’m sure this is all Freudian of me and I’ll get to see it later on, but for now I am really pissed. Did they not have ears? Could they not tell that the crowd was different??? The biggest thing that pissed me off was that he didn’t exactly leave us a choice on whether we wanted to see his dick or not!

Oh well. I guess shit happens, especially if you’re trying to start over. Lesson learned. We’ll laugh next week. You, however, are entitled to it now.

:P