EARLY this September, the local music and indie communities were blown away by the news: One of the biggest stages that housed the “grandest of the grand” music-and-art shows, B-Side, is soon to close down.
This is very saddening for folks in the music scene, as B-Side was considered as a “safe place.” It is where one can talk to random people about passions for music, or maybe just about anything under the sun, over beer, loud sounds, smell of mixed piss, and cigarette butts.
B-Side memories will always include sweaty foreheads, beer breath, and shrill echoes.
According to Anna Sobrepena-Ong, one of the owners, the reason for B-Side’s closure was the local government’s “proper zoning and gentrification.”
“[It’s] mainly because the neighborhood has become more residential, and so we need to respect change and the residents around us. Also we believe that, in order to create something new, we need to let go of what we have now.”
Safe haven, mecca
B-SIDE has become a safe haven for young artists around the metro. For the past nine years, it has catered to music fests, “flip-top” battles, fund-raising gigs, music-video shoots, events, exhibitions, and being home to the legendary “Irie Sunday,” a weekly celebration of reggae music.
The music mecca will soon be added to the list of bars permanently drawing its curtains, chaining the doors, and biding good-byes to its community, together with the likes of Revamp, Selda Dos, Black Kings Bar (or BKB), Chrome Box, and Dark Side Bar.
Local band Autotelic shared how special B-Side was to its members. On their social media page, the group showed their utmost gratitude to the establishment where they hosted their “Papunta, Pabalik” album. It was where they met EJ before they became bandmates, and where Eco del Rio of Chicosci proposed to keyboardist Kai Honasan in the middle of their set.
‘Thanks for the memories!’
INDEED, the local scene would surely miss B-Side’s vibe. For years, it has become a hangout spot for artists, musicians and writers who wanted to chill and enjoy cheap beer and listen to music during weekends, and even on normal Monday nights under dim lights and art-covered walls.
B-Side was scheduled to host its last gig on Saturday, September 29, with a show entitled, “End of an Era.” The indoor line-up would have included Red-I, Soul Steppa, Toro, Big Answer Sound, Don-P, Mulan, Digital Dan Boi (Uk), Dott Seki (Live), Jay Ru, Super Mikki and Rastaro.
The outdoor cast was supposed to be headlined by Greyhoundz, Cheats, Brass Pas Pas Pas Pas, Kapitan Kulam, Bawal Clan, Hernandez Brothers, Comic Love, Queso, Ourselves The Elves, Tarsius and Goodleaf.
For B-Side, this is the end of an era—but the memories will live on forever. (Share your memories online and on social media by using the hashtag: #BSideMemories.)
Image credits: ANDREW GREGORY N. SON