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‘WHOLE
Lotta Love.” “Message in a Bottle.” “Pride (In the Name
of Love).” “Enveloped Ideas.” “Titser’s Enemy No. 1.”
“Ang Himig Natin.” For one evening, I was caught in a
time warp, hearing again the rock anthems of my youth.
This night was the Nokia 5310 Xpress Music Rock Playlist
Party, a little celebration by four generations of rock
royalties in honor of the latest music player-cum-cell
phone in the market, the Nokia 5310 Xpress Music.
Nokia
marketing manager Mitch So says the party highlights the
versatility of the Nokia 5310 Xpress Music as a music
player. This handset can store as much as 750 songs in a
slim design boasting crystal-clear sound quality.
With
its expandable memory, you can load a whole lot more
songs, too. With its dedicated music keys, one little
button click or two on the phone’s front panel
guarantees instant gratification. And with playback time
of up to 18 hours and optional accessories, you’re ready
to party anywhere, anytime.
The
Nokia 5310 Xpress Music Rock Playlist Party featured
both emerging and established Pinoy rock music royalty—Raimund
Marasigan and Diego Mapa of Pedicab, Gabby Alipe of
Urbandub, Francis Reyes of The Dawn, Kevin Roy of
Razorback, and the godfather of Pinoy rock ’n’ roll,
Joey “Pepe” Smith—and the playlists they have stored in
their Nokia 5310 Xpress Music cell phones.
In the
three-hour-plus party-cum-gig, the guys really let it
rip.
Pedicab’s Marasigan and Mapa had a combined playlist
reflecting their interests and influences: French
alterna-band Phoenix, rapper Lupe Fiasco, Brazilian
great Sergio Mendes, hip-hop’s Beastie Boys,
electronica’s LCD Soundsytem, and industrial rock’s Nine
Inch Nails.
Yes,
Pedicab is all that and more. Beat-filled, danceable,
and peppered with the band’s trademark “Aysus!,” its
music is young, hip and fresh. As the opener for a night
of hard rock, the band made for a loud—make that really
megaphone-loud—opening that had us jumping from our
seats. Aside from their own “FX,” “Ang Pusa Mo” and
“Dito Tayo sa Dilim,” they wowed the crowd with LCD
Soundsystem’s “Daft Punk Is Playing in the House” and
Nine Inch Nail’s “The Hand That Feeds.” Yes, “Daft
Punk...” is now on my playlist, too.
Urbandub upped Pedicab by providing soulful rock. Too
emo for some, maybe, but band soloist Gabby Alipe wore
his heart on his sleeve in a playlist that included Sade
(“No Ordinary Love”), Lauryn Hill (“X-Factor”), and the
band’s own “The Fight is Over,” “Evidence” and
“Guillotine.”
And
what’s on Alipe’s Nokia 5310 Xpress Music playlist?
Sade. Depeche Mode. Bjork. Sublime. Lauryn Hill.
That
Friday night wasn’t just Nokia Xpress Music night; it
was also the birthday of The Dawn lead guitarist Francis
Reyes, and by the time the band’s performance crossed
over into Saturday morning, it was already lead singer
Jet Pangan’s birthday, too. You could call it a double
birthday whammy of sorts.
The
Dawn’s spot had so much retro music that night, but it
is music that really rocks. We were treated to their
hits: “Tulad ng Dati,” “Iisang Bangka” and its anthemic
“Enveloped Ideas,” which has recently been voted the
“greatest new wave” song by listeners of dwXB-FM, as
well as The Police’s “Message in a Bottle” (done in a
really slick reggae beat) and U2’s
“Pride (In the Name of Love).” We were all singing
along to it—even Razorback frontman Kevin Roy, who
stepped onstage to sing “Enveloped Ideas,” after Pangan
dared the audience to step up and sing with them.
(Incidentally, Reyes’s Nokia 5310 Xpress Music playlist
includes Radiohead, The Police, Fleetwood Mac, U2, Jeff
Buckley and—what else—The Dawn.)
The
gig moved on to heavy metal at some point. We knew
Razorback was loud and, with this band of guitars, truly
metal—and not to everyone’s taste. But you have to hand
it to these guys. If you let yourself go, you begin to
appreciate the music. Can really loud playing get any
louder? That’s when you begin to appreciate this band’s
artistry.
Kevin
Roy’s Nokia 5310 Xpress Music playlist includes Led
Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Nuno Bettencourt, Temple of the
Dog, Cynthia Alexander and Razorback.
In
tribute to Led Zeppelin, their set concluded with a
truly riveting version of Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta
Love,” with Roy sitting out this one and letting
guitarists Tirso Ripoll and Manuel Legarda rip to shreds
this rock standard. Truly awesome after getting an
earful, the evening’s highlight went onstage (maybe
casually lazed toward center stage was more like it):
the great Joey “Pepe” Smith. In a half-dazed state and
with a brandy glass in one hand, Smith cracked one joke
too many as he tuned his stainless-steel Fender. And
then we were off with his own “Mamasyal sa Pilipinas”
and Muddy Waters’ “Little Red Rooster.” Then after
changing to an electric—a Fernando that was made abroad
and played locally, one of the many guitars in his
collection, he declared—we were treated to acoustic
versions of “Titser’s Enemy No. 1,” the Rolling Stones’
“Not Fade Away,” and “Ihip ng Hangin.” (Smith’s playlist
proved to be a truly varied one: Buddy Holly, Elvis
Presley, John Lennon, the Rolling Stones, Wildman Bobby
Gonzales and Julian Felipe’s “Lupang Hinirang,” a song
he admits he never grew tired of singing twice a day for
more than a decade in school.)
Smith
proved to be the total entertainer: funny, smug and
confessional, while being a pro all the time. He took
his time, yes, puffing on a cig and reaching out for a
steel flask, but he delivered, never missing a beat as
he picked through his guitar and sang his way through
the morning. What was just missing was the Juan de la
Cruz anthem that he himself penned: “Ang Himig Natin.”
But
the night wasn’t over yet. As Smith tuned his guitar one
more time, the stage slowly filled with musicians. And,
yes, we got “Himig” for last that night, albeit an
all-star version with Kevin Roy and Razorback, Francis
Reyes of The Dawn and Urbandub’s Gabby Alipe. It was the
über-version of this song, perhaps the only time we’ll
ever hear Pepe matched by a truly topnotch band of rock
brothers. And this one should definitely be on our Nokia
5310 Xpress Music playlist. |
