Saturday night, Allan brought me with him to work in Baguio. He clarified from the start that it wouldn't be a leisure trip since he had to help oversee Parokya Ni Edgar's welfare during a Bombo Radyo stint there. I was just eager to tag along for a refreshing, albeit brief, change of scenery. We left Manila Sunday early morning and made several Shell Select stops on the way before finally reaching Baguio at 6 am.
Roel was there to roadie. We felt a little wistful that the three of us were already there--- with Ayn and Ralph along, we would have been complete! Maybe they'd even have let us play front act if we were all there, since the only performers that night were Aleck Bovick, the Sooperbabes and PNE. But of course, just bringing me along was already a burden on Backbeat, and besides, hindi siguro sulit kung lahat kami pumunta dun tapos balik din the same night. But going to Baguio last Sunday did serve as an initial scan of what we could possibly do if there were to be a candyaudioline Baguio trip in the future. Going home, the wheels in our heads were turning on how to make such an outing feasible.
Anyway, I'm not really going to talk at length about my personal Baguio experience. We didn't really get to roam around and do the usual things. When we arrived at the transient house, we slept until one then woke up to have lunch at the ihaw places next to Burnham. Allan and I hadn't even bathed yet because we had only planned to eat then go home but we started browsing through ukay for a preview of things to purchase in the afternoon. Suddenly, Roel texted that they were already on their way to the radio station and so Allan and I had to nix our plans (including baths!) to accompany them. It was like this for the rest of the day--- tight schedules--- but we were finally able to bath in the afternoon, at least. So we weren't really able to do any sightseeing… we just visited the SM Baguio (which isn't all that bad with its wide terraces perfect for a view of the metro) and Allan shopped for underwear. Haha.
What I really want to talk about is the concert itself, or rather, the preparations for the concert. It was held at the oval behind Burnham Park and by the time we arrived there (7 pm) people were streaming in by the hundreds. Then, the fireworks started and they were soooo beautiful! I had never experienced fireworks like that before, missing both the Centennial and Millennium celebrations. Afterwards, the people's energy was so high and they closed in on the stage--- Bombo Radyo security had to step in and push people back to make leeway for the crew and the artists. The audience did comply, but already I was thinking that Bombo Radyo lacked a bit of foresight with the preparations if they hadn't thought of doing that at set-up time.
So the Backbeat crew started doing soundcheck. This is something they usually do hours before the program, but until 6 pm there had been another event at the venue and a different sound system was being used. When they were finally given the go signal to soundcheck, Backbeat encountered several problems: the sound system was undermanned, the board was set up weirdly and had to be heavily troubleshot, and the set-up onstage wasn't working properly. Particularly, the monitors for the drums was kaput and Roel spent more than 45 minutes pounding the kick while Rommel (of Sonnet LVIII) fixed the board. They were so pissed at the inefficiency of the sound system that tempers started to rise at nagtampo si Kerwin (bassist of Aspirin, who was setting up onstage) kay Rommel. The crowd was getting restless and so was the organizer… but of course, the guys refused to start until they had fixed everything because the band would suffer under existing conditions. It was becoming frustrating for everyone… so much that the guys started making wry jokes over the monitors. Some examples:
1. (After a particularly exasperated comment from Rommel)
Allan: O, puso mo, Rommel. Alam mo namang matanda ka na. Paano na yung pamilya mo? Yung boyfriend mo? Sino na ba ngayon--- si Randy na ba?
Rommel: Hindi. Si David na. Ikaw ba, sino na?
Allan: Bago na. Si Benjo na. Guwapong-guwapo. Itong si Sherwin may hinahada din kanina eh. (Points microphone at Sherwin the driver in talk show host fashion) Ano bang pangalan nun, Sherwin? Peter di ba?
2. Rommel: O, ayan. Umaandar na ba ang amp?
Allan: Hindi "umaandar" ang amp, pare. "Tumutunog".
Rommel: Yun na nga yung tinatanong ko, eh. Kasi kung umaandar, pigilan niyo sana at delikado na. Baka wala pa tayong magamit mamaya.
3. Rommel: May tao na ba diyan, Lan?
Allan: Ay hindi, pare, wala pang tao. Tingnan mo nga, walang laman nga yung field, eh. Ay… ah, tao ng sound system pala. Oo, meron nang tao dito. Naghahanap lang sila ng masasaksakan.
Rommel: Naku. Sino ba yung gusto nilang saksakan?
Allan: Ikaw.
4. Rommel: Kerwin, gumagana ba yung bass amp? Kerwin? Kerwin?
Allan: Pare, wag mo nang utusan si Kerwin at nagtatampo yan sa 'yo.
Rommel: Ah talaga. Sabihin mo sa kanya, I love you.
Allan: I love you, too, pare.
Rommel: Hindi, para kay Kerwin yun.
Allan: Pare, hindi ka niya mahal.
Of course, this was all on the monitors, so people couldn't really hear the bastos parts. I think they should have done it on the house speakers, though, para naaliw naman yung mga tao kahit papaano habang naghihintay.
People were really pissed off by 9 pm because Bombo Radyo had promised that it would start by 7. The organizers were getting impatient, too, and Allan had to use all his self-control to be polite about the situation. The fact was that if the planning had been more efficient, even with a sucky sound system, they would have been able to fix the problem way ahead of time. In fairness to the people in Baguio, organizers and audience, even if they were really pissed off, they didn't boo loudly at the roadies as they fixed the stage; the most they did was mock-cheer when Roel pounded on the drums and Kerwin tried the bass.
At around 9:30 pm, Rommel finally gave the signal to start and the Sooperbabes came on. I really enjoyed Aleck Bovick's performance, by the way. She's one courageous chick. Hero na namin siya ni Allan.
Anyway, witnessing this, I realized how difficult the crew's job is. They're the unsung heroes of gigs.
To end this story, Rommel and Kerwin kissed and made up in the following manner:
Kerwin: (to Allan) Lan, hindi ako pwede sa Parokya Mayric's sa Tuesday ha.
Allan: Oo, sige.
Rommel: (annoyed) O baket na naman?
Kerwin: (gives Rommel the evil eye and an "I'm-still-not-friends-with-you-so-what-makes-you-think-you-can-talk-to-me" look) Basta, Allan, di ako pwede nun.
Rommel: (annoyed) BAKET hindi?
Kerwin: (more annoyed) ANO BA? Kung ikaw, makakapunta, wala nakong pake dun!
Allan: Pupunta ka ba, Rommel?
Rommel: Hindi rin hehehehe. (everyone, including Kerwin, laughs)
We left for Manila, Monday early morning at 1 am.
*
Last Wednesday, we spent the holiday resting. I went to Allan's house in the afternoon and let him listen to some funny recordings I made with the minus ones and my own voice. He said he had been doing the same thing that morning! He set up his stereo so we could make more recordings and we played around with some of the minus ones we had made. Ayn had a gig at Millennia with Matilda so it was only me, Allan and Charles who watched a movie, "Lost In Translation". I loved Bill Murray's performance and Ms. Johannsen wasn't too bad herself. I remember she was that child star in "The Horse Whisperer"… it's great that one of her first mature roles was in an acclaimed movie. An Oscar snub won't hurt her career. Pshaw. Hehe… anyway, we decided to pass by Ayn's gig, only we missed their performance. She was outside talking to Matilda. They in turn asked Allan some advice about their recording offers. Afterwards, we went inside to drink and watched a screening of one of Quark Henares' short films. I suddenly had an asthma attack (hindi na ako sanay sa beer) so my friends kindly bought me some medicine and took me home (thanks, guys!). I heard that Charles and Ayn had some more drinks later that night but I think Allan went home, too.
Tonight, Allan was supposed to make candyaudioline play at the PNE Mayric's gig but he texted Ralph last night and Ralph said he couldn't make it. Shucks. He must still be sick. Superminty is playing tonight. I really miss candy. Reeeeeeeally.
The Soft Pillow Kisses recording sounds really good! Luie has certainly shined in this one… we're very impressed at the output. Expect a good SPK EP sometime soon…
I've finished printing the candyblog! It's ring bound and ready for perusal. Allan and I were having fun reading it over the weekend… ang dami na niyang nakalimutan na funny things na sobrang sarap sariwain. 148 pages! Buti na lang I took advantage of our office supplies hehehe. Meany.
Allan made a revised track list for our recording and it sounds great! This time, the sequence of the songs flowed well so that each track complemented the next. We still have to hit the studio for two songs but that will be easy, as soon as Ralph is ok.
Wish we could play together again soon.
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