First Gig in Two Months and "Happy Birthday"

Candyaudioline played at Mayric's last night.

I was about to type "We played at Mayric's last night," but it suddenly occurred to me that I have been so used to writing about Soft Pillow Kisses in this blog that "we" just didn't seem specific enough. That's how long it was since we last played.

We were there to front for PNE. Allan told everyone else to be early (9:30 pm), and surprisingly, they were. He picked me up, and Roel and Ayn were already there when we arrived. Ralph made it to Mayric's by about 10 and, when Charles arrived with the guitars, we immediately set up our instruments so we could play more.

We started the set with "Broken to Pieces" and played about 7 more songs after that. It was a bit unnerving onstage because a camera crew was there to shoot some footage of us for an upcoming episode on a local TV show. They weren't really supposed to shoot US, though, and I felt really uncomfortable, especially because we hadn't practiced for a long time and I was trying to concentrate on hitting the right notes. The cameraman became downright bothersome when he started doing these "variety show" camera tactics where they film you from below and tilt the camera upward to your face and all such antics. There was one particular song which was tricky for me and I was trying to remember how it went… and then they suddenly panned to me, and I was looking down at the time, so all I could see was that annoying red light on the camera, and it almost threw me off. They should have stayed on Ralph, who seemed like he was totally oblivious to it, and besides, he was doing the kickass stuff hehehe.

But Ralph was having problems, too. His guitar socket (sorry, I don't know what you call that socket where you plug the PL cable into the guitar) was loose and acting up, so he had gaps in his leads. Sometimes, the gaps would be short and rapidly coming so that it sounded like another effect that made the song sound trance-y. Charles said he could fix it, though. And I think Allan was complaining about his effects box and how it was getting old and tired. Roel seemed to be doing well and having a blast, and I don't think that Ayn had any problems. The crowd was subdued, except for the Backbeat peeps who were teasing us hehe. Volume-wise, I think I did ok, although I really am rusty.

When we sat down, Allan and Ayn ordered a plate of buttered chicken, and all of us munched on that while Ralph talked about his recent illness and the new candy baby. Alam na namin ni Ayn ang secret mo, Ralph… "dengue" pala ha hehehe…

The buttered chicken was good, and it was funny because it was supposed to be a whole chicken, but they cut it up in such a way that you couldn't tell which part you were eating--- it was just a bunch of tasty, breaded balls with bones in them. Despite the mystery, they were still yum.

Midnight passed, and no one said anything… but then I realized that it was Ayn's birthday! Happy birthday, Ayn!!! I wished her a happy birthday last night… I mean, this morning. It's her birthday today!

After a while, Allan brought me home because I still had to go to work that morning. All in all, it was wonderful to play together again, and it's even better because we're going to do it all over tonight, too.