And to think that I almost didn’t go. I had very nearly favored sleeping after my busy day. But, remembering that three of the bands I’m following were going to be there, and that it was a Gary V night, I decided to go.

Thank God I did.

There was a lot of people, but there was still enough space to move around in, and it’s fairly easy to take photos, videos, and go around to chat with friends and the bands.

We had our photo with Gary (twice, because we lost our first copy—along with Judd’s shos of Archipelago—due to camera fault), and he was very accomodating and fun to talk with. The man is awezummmmmmmm!

Anyway. On to the bands.

Archipelago started the night off with MRI (which I positively love, by the way). They had a bit of technical difficulty somewhere in the middle of the set, but they just went on playing as if nothing was wrong. I barely realized that Yan wasn’t holding his guitar. Haha! Nice one, guys. Their Gary V song was When I Hear you Call.

Next came Sinosikat. I must admit that it was my first time to watch them. They’ve got nod-worthy sound… reminds me of Yosha, Up Dharma Down and Chillitees. They did a sultry, groovy version of Gaya ng Dati, which I should have recorded on video. Boo.

Itchyworms did Yokonakitamakita and Gusto Ko Lamang Sa Buhay before doing a great version of Gaya ng Dati. After that, they did the dancers’ (and non-dancers’) favorite, Freak Out, Baby. Gary danced in the last chorus! Haha! Love it.

Brigada was a surprise band. We didn’t know they were coming! They played three awesome perc songs. And Gary did Hataw Na with them! Awesome, I tells ya!

During the break, I saw two friends I haven’t seen in a long time, so we were squealing like high school girls, which is embarrassing in itself… But when I turned around, it was even more embarrassing because Ely was right behind us. Nyaaaaaaa. So I did what a normal, semi-sane fangirl would do: I whipped out my copy of Wanted Bedspacer and have him sign it. Lol.

And then Pupil came to the stage. After Different Worlds, which is always a good set opener, Yan introduced Dok to be the vocalist for the next song. I thought he was going to sing Sumasabay. But then Ely took off his guitar, and Dok began telling people how the next song was going to be his favorite Gary V song! He says it’s always his karaoke piece (haha!) and that they weren’t able to practice the song for that night… And then when he started singing, I almost didn’t recognize the song until I heard the start of the lyrics. The new Pupil arrangement rocks!

Ely came back to the mic to sing Animal Lover, and then their finale was the song that I just knew somebody was going to sing that night: Growing Up! WIN! Haha! It was a bit strange to see the stoic Ely singing “I’m growing up, getting down!” but it was super fun. Especially when he did the dance move. Haha! After that, the people asked for an encore, so the band indulged the crowd and played Disconnection Notice, but only when Gary came up to the stage and jammed with them.

The last band was Spongecola, who did Ayt with Gary, and also a heartful version of Sana Maulit Muli.

Again, happy birthday, Gary. You da man!

More photos at shootdelay.

Anyway. This year, Sugarfree is celebrating its 10th year anniversary. As part of the celebration, there was a Sugarfree Night at Route 196, featuring Julianne, The Ronnies, and Itchyworms.

The night was…well…hilarious. Haha! Whereas Julianne was pretty prepared and as mellow as usual (which is not a bad thing, of course), The Ronnies and Itchyworms were their usual fun, joking, crazy selves. Chaos over chords, lyrics and punchlines was abundant, and I think there was a point in the night that my cheeks hurt from laughing.

Sugarfree played all the favorites to close the evening. Unfortunately, though, Jal wasn’t there to play, so (fortunately) Bodgie the most awesome Sugarfree roadie was there to play bass. I’ve only seen Bodgie play guitars before, and to see him play bass and do back-up vocals was a happy sight. To be honest: I wish they’d put him as part of Sugarfree officially. Or at least make him the official guitarist/sessionist/whatever. Hehe. Go, Bodgie!

Sugarfree’s set transported me back to college last night. Like most people, the catchy Mariposa and Burnout frequently played in my head, but it was with Telepono that I truly fell in love with. They played a couple of new songs, too. The new album is due to be out soon. AND they’re having a concert on August; I hope I’ll get to go! Yey~ Congratulations, Sugarfree!

Photos by Judd.

Bands were:
Zach Lucero. I wanted to buy their album but I could not find Zach after their set. Again, I blame the manymanymany people.
Pupil who was welcomed by mass hysteria. What else is new? Good thing I already had a good spot in front. I stole Wendell’s setlist afterwards haha
Us-2 Evil-0 played a really fun set, as usual. Yey for the dance moves! (And, oh yes: Bogs is a rockstar)
Archipelago is awesome! MRI is LOVE.
Angulo had a very…lively set. Haha. Nice one, guys.
Sandwich. Raimund is so darn hard to catch on camera! He moves around so much, nearly all my photos of him were blurred. Same goes for Diego. So I eventually gave up trying and just rocked with them.
Franco has an all-star cast har
Chicosci, the red team. By this time I was sitting at the bar because my feet were killing me.

Met with Kuya Tim, Nicole and Carlo and the boys there. Fun, because there were many of my other friends there (Peryodiko, Kuya Marcus and Ate Bernie, Paul, MJ, Nye, Dyan, and the bloggers all over the place).

Outside at the lobby, the JD Peavey guitar being raffled was displayed for photo op, and there was a booth for Rock Band (though I wasn’t able to play). Also, Pirates of the Caribbean cosplayers were roaming the venue. Cap’n Jack Sparrow is PERFECT! He’s no Johnny Depp, but he got the character spot on!

Many thanks to Cris Ramos of Revolver for the invite, and to Marcus Nada for the VIP pass. Corporate Lo-fi=AWESOME! And thanks to Karla for taking the Cynthia Alexander and Nyko Maca+Playground pics while I took videos.

More photos~

Sugarfree – played songs for the new album. Feels Like (debut on a lve stage haha!), Manong Driver, Hay Buhay (I am so loving this song, srsly)

The Ronnies – usually I know *at least* one song in their playlist… But last night I knew none of the songs. Fail. But, as usual, I had fun watching all the people who knew the songs! They knew dance steps and everything.

Chillitees – played a hot set. ‘Nuff said. Oh, and can I just say that I am loving Uela’s fashion style?

The Itchyworms – ARGH! Freak Out Baby was AWESOME! First, Radioactive Sago’s brass section joins the band onstage. And then Lourd comes up for the spoken interlude. And then, in the last chorus, the three roadies (not one, like in Saguijo, but THREE!) come up and do the dance! Needless to say, the crowd went wild during this number.

Radioactive Sago Project – As usual, this band rocked. How can they not?

Bagetsafonik – NinjaKyusi’s resident band. Ang galing nilaaaaaaaaaaaa! I so can’t wait for the new album

Also, while Kel and I were getting a breather outside, Jugs asked him to do that fork trick for them. Lourd’s reactions to it was hilarious. Haha! Kel’s client base is getting so big, it’s awesome ^_^

Originally, I had already marked that night as a 70s Bistro night since Moonstar88 was supposed to play. But for some reason, the band had to pull out; Acel to the rescue! Hehe. So Sandy, Mel, Jeng and I met up and went to 70s together.  When we got there, the first act was playing (ack. I wasn’t able to get the name of the band.) And MAN the place was PACKED!

While Acel and the boys set up, I took photos with the Sticker Happy piano (again). Tim of the Circus ML was there, too. Haha!

The place was so packed, the crew actually asked us to move from our table since we weren’t eating. At first I raised an eyebrow since…well… that was the band’s stuff! Where were we supposed to put four guitar cases and several bags? Hay. But since, as mentioned, the place was so packed, we had to make way for paying customers.

Anyway. Acel and the band played a great set. People asked for Torete, as always. I loved the different version! Too bad I wasn’t able to video the whole thing; had to change camera batteries. Speaking of cameras… The only thing I didn’t like about 70s Bistro is the fact that it’s so hard to take photos of the whole band! Only the vocalist had proper lighting, and the drummer was so far to the right. *sigh* Oh well. Took separate photos, then. 

Since (again) the place was insanely packed, we went outside for some air. Chito was already there, as well as Gab and Vinci, and yey I finally got to have photos with them! And with Dindin and Darius, too. Too bad I wasn’t able to catch Buwi before they went onstage.

The boys rocked, playing Parokya hits, singing whatever the crowd asked them to.

“Ano? Picha Pie? Ngayon na? Aga, a. Sige!”
“O, anong sunod? Silvertoes? Game, game, Silvertoes!”
“Choco latte? Wag yun, hindi ko kabisado yun!” (And then Gab starts the guitar riff, and they end up singing the whole song, anyway. Haha!)

And, man, the Chito-Vinci banter was hilarious! I labs eeeeet! They also sang non-Parokya hits including Kaleidescope World, Elesi, and Hallelujah, among others. Chito does an awesome Bamboo!

By around midnight, right after Elesi finished, we piled up into Acel’s car and went for kebab at Ababu. It was my first time to eat there, believe it or not. The keema was LOVE!

By the time we got back to 70s an hour later, Parokya was still onstage. Early into their set, Chito had said, “Lahat! Kantahin natin LAHAT!!!” I think they actually did. Man. What a party. Needless to say, the night was made of win. Thanks for the fun night, guys!

More photos here!

It’s Admit One night, and the bands were:
Nicole and Carlo. I wasn’t able to catch them (I came from another event, so I was late), but I heard that they were really good last night.

Duster. When they were playing, I was currently travelling to Saguijo. So I didn’t catch them, either.

Peryodiko. Even though I’ve heard their album hundreds of times, and I’ve seen them live seeral times the past weeks, they never fail to amaze me. You guys rock. And it was awesome to be able to take good photos of the whole band (really amateur ones, but decent ones, nonetheless). I had a really hard time taking photos the other night at 70s Bistro.

Sugarfree. Again, they didn’t have a set list, which just made things fun! They played the Eraserheads’ Tikman, which I haven’t heard live in a while. They also played three songs from the upcoming album! There’s Hay Buhay and Manong Driver, and Hangover. I’ve heard Hay Buhay a few times, but it always still gets me smiling. Especially with Bodgie, who helped out in a few songs, rolling out his dance moves and stuff. Haha! The highlight for the set though, has to be when Kaka handed the drum sticks over to Mitch, the first Sugarfree drummer, for Mariposa and Burnout. It was like a reunion! Thanks for jamming, Mitch!

After that, we made our way outside to the parking lot. Nicole, Carlo, Kuya Tim and I went for fishballs, but there weren’t any fish balls, just squid balls. How can there not be squidballs? Hung around some more with the bands. Got to get a picture with the two Sugarfree drummers! (I was so frustrated, by the way, because I already had my Sugarfree CDs in my bag earlier that night, but I took them out and left them home because the current members had signed them already. And then here comes Mitch in a gig! ARGH! I shoulda brought them CDs… T_T)

Oh, and I MUST share this photo of Vin while he was selling the album. Haha!

I actually got there early, while the room was only half-full. Anton let me in, but since Kuya Tim wasn’t there yet, I chose to sit at the bar. I was sipping my Cali Shandy when I turned to the right and—leGASP!!!—I saw something I didn’t think I’d see in a long time. Ever again, really.

IT’S THE STICKER HAPPY PIANO!!!

Those present in the recent Eraserheads Final Set can probably remember that this piano was set on fire (literally) and jumped on, but LOOKIT! It’s ALIVE!!! Not working anymore, of course, and the wood on top is already warped, and the keys are all dislocated, but… but… It’s THERE, and looking oh, so rockstar-ish! And I was able to take photos. And touch it, even! Bwahahaha. If Anton wasn’t so busy, I’d have gotten him to take photos of me with it.

Anyway. By the time I got over staring at it and “playing” Blue Moon on the non-working keys, Sugarfree had already finished setting up. Here’s where the whole laid back, jamming with friends feel comes in. Turns out that the band didn’t have a set list, so they asked people to make their set list for them. Requests ranged from the possible (Mariposa, Burnout) to the unlikely (Allan Song, and my personal favorite, Wag Ka Nang Umiyak) to the downright WHUT?! (Bilanggo, Agawan Base).

Sugarfree has a new lead guitarist, by the way. RD…something. From Alabang. Ack, I forgot his family name. I’m not quite sure if he’s going to be a regular, or just playing for that session. I should have asked Ebe about that.

After their set, I got to get my CDs signed (like, FINALLY) and got photos with them. Thanks, guys And nice to meet you, too, Trixie (tama ba spelling?), the road manager forever. Haha!

On to Peryodiko. Well. What else can I say? They’re awesome. After they played their long set (which consisted of nearly the whole album), the people asked for an encore, so they played Sa Magkabilang Dulo, which wasn’t in the album, but a great song, nonetheless. And after that, Dong Abay came up to the stage to jam with them! Yeyyyyy that was so awesome.

Needless to say, I had a blast. The next leg of the tour is tonight, March 18 at Café Saguijo, Makati! Bands will be Nicole and Carlo, Sugarfree, Duster, and, of course, Peryodiko. Entrance fee is P150, which also gives you a free drink.

Check out my photo album here.

Revolver 72 in cooperation with ENCM
presents
The Revolver Sound Expo

Read more about the Revolver Sound Expo here!

It was my first time to see and hear Out of Body Special, and WOW they are one huge band! (Obviously, I know nothing about them. Forgive me.) The only bad thing, though, is that the huge band overpowers the vocals. I could hardly understand what they were singing. Not sure if it’s my unfamiliarity with their songs, or maybe the sound mix. Or maybe it was intended to be that way, I really don’t know. But the sound I heard from the band was an enjoyable, rocking jazzy groove.

When Pupil started playing, many many MANY people came to sit in front of me. (Meh.) So I mustered my guts and went to sit on the empty chairs in the NU107 table, right in front of the stage. Bwahahaha. I got great pictures from that angle! And of course, Pupil was awesome. I think that was their best performance I’ve ever watched live! Look at my photos of Pupil at Hard Rock Cafe.

Pupil’s Set list:
Different Worlds
Sala
Monobloc
Teacher’s Pet
Dulo ng Dila
Talon
Nasaan Ka – the band dedicated this song to Francis Magalona
Disconnection Notice
Encore: Set Me Apart

The Mocha Girls performed after the event, and Mocha had me sing one line lol! But I didn’t stay long enough to finish their set so I can get a photo with them, though.