Category: Music

Perfume World Tour 1st, Part 1: Starting and Deciding

There were  two concerts by international acts in the past three decades that I take great pride to have attended: Rage Against the Machine  (1997), and just recently, Deftones (2011). The gigs with Club 8 and Shonen Knife come close, and there were the should’ve-been-there’s: Metallica – 1993, Pearl Jam -1995, Beastie Boys/Sonic Youth/Foo Fighters – 1996, Nine Inch Nails – 2009. Stuck in 90s music? Not really, but maybe writing and relating the experience I just went through the past week by starting with all this may make everything else after a little easier to understand

There were few post-2000 acts that made a significant dent in my music consciousness. I did keep tabs on what music was current, and what made the critics sing in praises. By 2006, I actively participated in the local music scenes by doing photo-documentation of the better bands out there. By 2007, my discovery of post-rock music was taking a good hold of what I listened to daily, and some of the bands were Japanese. My previous impression of Japanese music wasn’t of high regard, but I got curious, so curious I went out of my rock music comfort zone, which I somehow reluctantly confessed over this post: I Don’t Think It’s A Phase Anymore: On J-Pop.

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On OPM (UPDATED)

This article could have been written a decade ago, with the same whiny tone, packaged as a deeply concerned critic’s tirade.

Yep.

So, you mourn lack of mainstream success of local bands these days, and the absence of NU107. I say, you don’t go to enough gigs of bands you don’t know, and would’ve said NU107’s playlist reeked of shit and payola, if they were still broadcasting.

To be fair though, if I weren’t this old and tired and spent witness to three decades worth of Pinoy music, I would’ve voiced the same sentiment. It would seem appropriate. However, hearing someone else say it made me prick that bubble easily.

Also, why does everyone have to bring up 90s-era local rock bands into this every time? Oh yeah, because that was the height of OPM.

Really.

Continue reading On OPM (UPDATED)

Deftones

Deftones

Shot with an LG Optimus One phone, with the Vignette Android app

I had no plans to watch the Deftones concert last February 12, since I had to prioritize more important things. I got a Gold ticket for free though (right after the VIP section), so I went. As much as I wanted to shoot the concert, as apparent in this photo, I was too far from the stage to get good-enough shots.

No regrets here. My view wasn’t all that bad, and as much as I should be jealous as to how much interaction the band had with the VIP audience, I did get in with the only expense being going to and from the venue.

Also, I did listen to the Deftones voraciously before I got into photography. Oh, and would I even dare to slam at the pit (during the last few songs) with a DSLR in tow?

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NU107: A Listener’s Story

NU107 Last Goodbye
Kim

I learned about the news like most did, I guess. Contacts from the social networks were linking to a blog post hinting at the almost sure news that NU107 will be reformatting. My initial sentiment was indifference, since I haven’t listen to the station for such a long time. After being exposed to people exclaiming their sadness about the station going off the air, and by actually tuning to that end of the FM dial three days before its demise, a lot of the old memories I don’t usually delve on came back. Eventually, I found it important to be physically there during the send-off.

Back in the 90s, people I know listened to 97.1 LS or LA 105.9 for rock music. The norm would be LS, and since I was pretty much ahead of most when it came to listening to new stuff, I’d be one of those kids to ask about this Ligaya single by a new act called The Eraserheads that was gaining airtime over Triggerman’s show. The edgier rockers were of course pro-LA, and would involve themselves in the then popular hip-hop bashing movement, which I didn’t participate in. I think I was the only rocker kid in high school who can safely hang around with any of the warring factions.

Listening then to NU107 that time is like partaking in something reserved for the elite. That’s how I saw it, since only a handful from my social circle ever did make that claim to be a listener. However, I’m that guy who started listening to jazz from 88.3 Citylite by himself in sixth grade, and that guy who also listened to the Top 40 fodder from 99.5 RT early high school, while no one from my family or from school listened to any music played on either of those stations. Obviously, I had a huge appetite for music, and labels never really mattered much to me.

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