NU 107 School of Rock

       With my potential blog posts still brewing, I've decided to re-post something from my old blog for the meantime. This was when I was able to go to a live rock show featuring the finalists of NU 107's School of Rock years ago. Yes, I love going to rock shows!

September 16, 2006

     
          It has been awhile since I’ve gone to a live rock show - November 2005 to be exact. I was "supposed" to be on sick leave after being hospitalized for having pleural effusion (aka ‘fluid in the lungs’) for one month. Dr. Rivera, the chief resident of the IM department, wouldn’t allow me to go back to work after 2 weeks of rest; he insisted on a whole friggin’ month. Instead of actually resting, I had to look for fun things to do. So I was able to watch both the MYX concert in the CCP open grounds and, more importantly, the MTV Summit concert at the Fort (I rediscovered the rock group "Kamikazee" years after they came out and they performed their phenomenal hit song "Narda" months before it hit the mainstream). And add to that my regular dinner meetings with my best girls. Booyah! Of course, I kept it a secret from my attending physician, Dr. Pascual. Shhh! I know I was supposed to be resting.
    
          Fast forward to the present. My younger brother Rex got hold of tickets for a little rock show scheduled to be held in Suburbia, Malate. It included rock bands which were finalists in the School of Rock contest sponsored by NU 107. The night started out as ‘ha-humm’ since the up-and-coming bands were slated early in the show. The lineup’s style was reminiscent of music from "A Perfect Circle" meets "Urbandub" meets "Simple Plan". Pwede na. I guess I was looking for a little more originality. But to tell you the truth, I liked them better than some of the bands in the mainstream coming out these days with their ‘itching to impress’ melodies but having lyrics lacking substance and authenticity. You can’t give me profound words that have been mentioned a million times before while acting out a shallow performance. I simply won’t believe you. Yeah, call me jaded or cynical. Whatever.

          Near the end of the show, it was time for the famous bands to perform: Sponge Cola, Pupil and Dicta License. Sponge Cola always gives out a fun performance which can also be serious and sincere when they have to be. They started with songs from their new album, so I was only half-interested. I like their new song "Bitiw" which has a faster pace than most of their previous ones. Then they ended their set with their ever-famous chick song "Jeepney". Panyo mo sa aking bulsa… Buong kahapon ay naroon pa rin… Subalit ngayo’y wala na… Naaalala ko ang mga gabing nakahiga sa ilalim ng kalawakan… Naaalala ko ang mga gabing magkatabi sa ulan…


          Pupil came up next, and they also started with not-so-famous songs. Funny thing was, they performed that song from the Bagets’ era ("Going up! Getting down!"). Remember that one? Of course, the younger members of the audience definitely couldn’t relate to that. And they ended their set with their initial hit single "Nasaan Ka" which, ironically, isn’t their own composition. It figures, taking into account the ‘mushy’ lyrics (com’on, you have to agree with me). After their performance, majority of the audience members left the place. Haha! Big mistake.

         The last performer of the night, and the best among the three for me, was definitely Dicta License. Their rap-driven melodies are extremely suited to their socially-relevant lyrics. The wooden floor was actually vibrating with the force of their songs! And the lead singer’s performance was really out there inspite of the small stage. He easily established rapport with the audience. I loved(!) the way he introduced their song "Ang Ating Araw". Sa lahat ng umaasa! Sa lahat ng naniniwala! Sa lahat ng naniniwala sa pag-asa! It is really rare nowadays to hear songs with a positive message. Most songs are gearing towards the usual subjects like lost love, hopelessness or violence. I bet it must be hard to make a positive song that won’t come through as being pseudo-happy and smothering especially with today’s music listeners.

         And then Dicta License ended the session with their song "Alay sa Nagkamalay Noong Dekada Nobenta" which is one of my anthem songs, really, considering the fact that it was during the early 90’s when I was first exposed to rock. Booyah! Amazing performance! We even got to snap some pictures with their lead singer after the show. We were actually hoping to catch Ely Buendia but I guess he left right after Pupil's set. But good thing we were able to meet Yanni instead.

My younger sis Michele, me, and Yanni of Pupil (even cuter in person!)

Me, Pochoy of Dicta License and  my sis

Impromptu

            

           Once again, my restlessness attacks me from nowhere. It’s almost 2 AM. I was sort of sleepy about half an hour ago, but I was reading my friend’s blog (hi Meg!) and somehow all of a sudden, I’m dying to do something.

            But I should have known that the night was off to a bad start, coz I specifically told myself to sleep early. (And my body never listens to me when it comes to the important stuff). I’m supposed to have my blood checked out tomorrow morning (no wait, it's later this morning). A friend of mine who’s a med tech offered to do my blood chemistry for free and I have to fast for 10 hours for accurate results. I’m certainly hoping that lack of sleep won’t tamper with it.

                         

            I’ve been meaning to start another blog after I had my birthday which was a week ago. It’s an ongoing trend with my friends nowadays. I used to have a blog in my friendster account which I eventually deleted – there were some entries which should be forgotten and discarded (for my sanity’s sake). And anyway, I don’t want to read about that version of me again, someone who was volatile, emotional and spontaneous without caution half of the time. Don’t worry though, the lessons learned then are still etched in my psyche, almost instinctual. And once in a while, I go back to those lessons and they jolt me back to reality (that I’m much better off now). Nursing regrets has never been part of my mantra, and it never will be. It goes against my “always go forward” policy – even if they’re just baby steps, I still have to move forward no matter what.

            Why start a blog? Well for starters, you may consider me as a frustrated writer. I used to write poems, and I mean lots of poems, and a couple of half-finished short stories in the mix as well. I even contemplated taking comparative lit or creative writing in UP Diliman instead of premed in UP Manila. But then I realized (and acknowledged) my stubborn nature and I didn’t want someone dictating how I should write. After my medical career has run its course, when I’m old and grey, I will have all the time in the world to write that one defining novel I’ve always dreamed of doing.

           To finish off this starter post, I wish to share with you two of my old poems. And as you will notice, the titles of  my poems are actually the dates when I wrote them. 

September 18, 2006

I wish I could write about you.
     I wish I could say you were mine for a time.
     I wish I could simply say your name out loud.
     I wish I could kiss you under the rain for everyone to see.
     I wish I could stand in front of you and say ‘I hate you!’ to your face.
Don’t worry, I will never think of you in this way again.

March 1, 2008

if i had my way,
it would be autumn all day

no snow, no rain,
just a dewy hint remains.

with the rustle of leaves,
i hear you breathe

silence.
happiness.