A SATURDAY filled with live music and several cups of whiskey to quench my thirst…I know it’s already 2018, but I want to go on a trip down memory lane on how music ended my 2017 with The Rest Is Noise year-ender!
It has really been a while since I last attended a gig. But never did I forget how surreal it felt to listen live to songs I’ve been hearing on my headphones and witness those bands perform right in front of my eyes, knowing they also enjoy what they do.
At 2 p.m. the Century City Mall Event Space was already half-full, as the audience patiently waited for acts like Ourselves the Elves, Similar Objects, Skymarines and IV Of Spades. The crowd definitely went wild for these young, rising retrospect guys!
Before the sun set at around 6 p.m. Aia de Leon sang her classics that prepped us to more music until dawn, followed by the energetic group of Cheats, where preggy Saab Magalona still danced her heart out—with five-month twins inside her—and Candy Gamos’s contagious smile that will make you dance mindlessly with the crowd. Moreover, Oh! Flamingo, NINNO and Ciudad didn’t fail to pump up the crowd with their iconic songs and had everyone singing along to their tunes.
Right before 8 p.m., my heart beat twice as usual when Shirebound & Busking (real name: Iego Tan) went up on stage. I swam through a sea of gig-goers to secure a nice place right in front of him, totally closed my eyes, squealed a little and felt his voice crawling through my skin. I was patiently waiting for him to pluck the chords for Waltz of Four Left Feet and Voila: his medley of “Senti” by Yano and “Waltz!” exceeded my expectations.
After my blood pressure returned to normal, people were absolutely astounded when BLKD and The Tooters performed some social commentary. Then it was the most-awaited performance of Joey Ayala at Ang Bagong Lumad together with Dong Abay!
The night went fast with She’s Only Sixteen (I fell into a deep LSS with “Magic,” mind you), Rusty Machines, the bedroom beats of CRWN (I was sad Jessy Connely was not with him that night) and BP Valenzuela.
The night was young, they say; and I knew a lot of the gig-goers in the room were already boozed up, but I think the energy, if not doubled, triple when Orange and Lemons played around midnight. Flying Ipis and MOONWLK maintained the hype as we went through the night with Ben & Ben serenading not only our weary bodies but also our hopeful hearts.
The last band—do I even need to explain how they managed to perform at 2 a.m. with the crowd dancing, jumping and singing along with their music like it was still 2 pm yesterday?—
Autotelic, was the right band to close the night, with their ever-usual hyped-up selves that left everyone moving crazy as we left the hall.
That night was incredibly awesome even after a week of stress and issues in the indie scene. Everything was surpassed as everyone stood up for music and the passion to go along with.
To more live music this 2018. Cheers!
Image credits: Jeremy Caisip