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Just like I mentioned the last time, Imago was slated for SAMAPI's 3rd Kwentuhan Session, much to the delight of the Pisay students. Aptly titled "Kwentuhan Take Three", the 3rd installment of SAMAPI's year-round Kwentuhan Sessions featured Imago, who had just released their much-awaited and LONG-OVERDUE sophomore album called "Take Two".Room 103 - home of our Kwentuhan Sessions - was bustling with so much activity! Shirts and CDs were selling like crazy at the merch booth, and around 40-50 students were eagerly listening to the band as they played mostly new songs from their latest release. But of course, the most fun part was the actual Kwentuhan, where we got the usual panalo questions such as..."May boyfriend ka na?"
"Anong cell number mo?"
Of course, such inquiries were directed to the frontwoman herself, the cute-as-a-button Aia, who was amusingly game to answer them silly questions."Ang sagot ko diyan - kung anong gusto niyo! Sige, pagkalat niyo lang na girlfriend niyo ako. Ayan, dami kong boyfriend!" :)
And the question about her mobile number? The deal was that the inquirer would find out if he bought their album - 1 digit per CD! :D And lo and behold, the guy came back later cradling a number of CDs in his arms, cellphone out and ready to type the coveted phone number. LOL!Another funny moment was when this cute kid ran in front of the band, enthusiastically shouting "Tita Aiaaa!", eliciting giggles from the audience. The kid was none other than Kaio Dancel, who came to Kwentuhan Take Three with his Daddy Vin (Twisted Halo) and Mommy Kris (Cambio). Those rockstar kids never fail to amuse me.And just like Zach is crazy on the radio, baliw rin siya sumagot sa mga tanong! It was fun listening to his wacky answers (kahit seryoso yung tanong, ha). Jane from the audience also requested him to do his Puss-In-Boots impression, to which he obliged. Pero pagkaalala ko the request for Bokbok the Chicken was politely turned down hehe.As for the new Imago album, I have five words for it: It was worth the wait! "Taning" and "Akap", and the song where Gabby of Urbandub does backups (the title escapes me now) are instant faves. They've lost the world music feel and traded it for something edgier but still as soulful as ever, owing that intense quality to Aia's unbelievable vocal prowess. And although the rap parts were hard for me to digest initially, I still gave em a couple more listens and eventually got to appreciate them (same as when I first heard Kris rap on Derby Light :P )Kwentuhan Take Three was one fun gig. To top it off, I bought myself an Imago shirt and the Take Two CD with messages from the band to boot! :) If there's one local release for 2004 you shouldn't miss, that should be Take Two ;)Pictures from Kwentuhan Take Three can be viewed here.
It was a lazy afternoon on the 30th of October. I was just hangin in my room, listening to NU107, when they announced that Sydney was over at the Petron Gas Station along South Super Highway in San Pedro Laguna. Turns out there was an NU event there featuring Rivermaya and Urbandub. And so on a seemingly non-eventful Saturday afternoon I found myself an instant gig :)
Drove over to Petron, met up with Sydney before she and Dylan went onstage to host some games before the bands started playing. After a while, Urbandub started their set, and to my delight I was allowed to take pics from the stage (thanks Sydney and NU's photographer guy whose name I forgot, so sorry!). Was glad to see John Dinopol back again to do his guitar thing with Urbandub. His left hand was still bandaged though so he only played certain songs in Urbandub's setlist, the rest of the guitar duties were handled by a friend.
Next up was Rivermaya. And I never thought I would say this, but Rico Blanco actually looks good in person. Hehehe. I never understood why girls would swoon over Rico, but when I saw him in person during their set at Petron, I thought to myself, "Well, he has some charm about him naman pala." I also changed my mind about Danica Sotto, who I found out was Mark Escueta's girl that's why she was there watching Rivermaya's Petron gig. Seeing her on TV, I really didn't find her pretty at all, but when I saw her there offstage I realized she didn't look that bad at all. Dami pang nagpapapicture with her during Maya's set, hehe. Little by little, fans watching Rivermaya realized there was an artista in their midst, so they took a break from watching the band rock it out onstage and grabbed their camera-phones to have a little snapshot with Ms. Sotto, and the lady gladly obliged. At least she wasn't a b*tch, like many artistas are rumored to be.
So there I was, listening to Rivermaya, feeling extra senti when they started to play old songs by the original lineup. Then Sydney goes, "Di mo sila trip noh? You're not taking pictures eh." I simply explained that I preferred the original Maya. Maybe because they were around when I was highschool, a time that never fails to send waves of sweet nostalgia through me. Somehow, this time around, I can't seem to fully appreciate the new and revived Rivermaya. They don't seem to connect with me. La lang, di ko sila feel. I do admit they churn out good songs though. I just don't find any special connection with the songs, that's it.
Anyway, I did end up taking a few shots of the band - offstage na nga lang - and luckily I was able to get a few good photos. Was especially amused by the guitarist's light-up-sungays; the guy was really into the spirit of Halloween I guess.
After the gig, I got to meet the members of Urbandub (and Phat Boy Lim, too) and have my Birth and Influence CDs signed - what better way to end my instant gimik :)
Shots from that Petron gig here.
INTERBATCH.
That word probably doesn't mean anything to most people, but for the men and boys of Philippine Science High School (for those over ~17 at least), The Interbatch is one of the most awaited events of the year.
Recently baptized as The PSHS Alumni Basketball League (PABL), what has always been referred to as "Interbatch" is the yearly basketball tournament of the alumni batches of Pisay.
By tradition, the host for the year would be the batch celebrating their 5th year as PSHS alumni. Last year, it was Batch 98's turn. And they almost made it to the Finals, too. However, fate would not have it that way so Batch 92 and defending champs Batch 91 were the ones who fought it out during the intense final match (92 won that game, by the way).
This year, the tournament was spearheaded by Batch 91, since Batch 99 could not commit to organizing Interbatch 2004. Although it was almost another 92-vs-91-Finals (would've been the 3rd time in a row), Batch 98 ended up facing the unstoppable men of Batch 91. And indeed, they were unstoppable, because Batch 91 snagged that coveted championship trophy and concluded this year's PABL with a bang.
Thing is, the Batch 98 guys really put up a fight during that Finals match. The game was so close, we COULD'VE won. But we didn't. And yet it wasn't so disappointing (for me and Andrew at least), because it made me proud to see that our boys COULD actually play such a beautifully intense game. They proved that they did deserve that slot in the finals - vs 91, no less.
So for 2002, Batch 98 found their way to the Quarter Finals. In 2003, they made it to the Semis. And in 2004, they actually battled it out vs a very powerful team during the Finals. Sa 2005 kaya...? ;)
More Interbatch 2004 pics here.
The place to be on Saturday, November 6, is Freedom Bar, Anonas, QC. Why? Because the most kick*ss gig in town is celebrating 3 years of rock n roll partying!
Too bad I can't be there, though. Hehehe. But anyway, may part two naman sa Guijo, so malamang dun ako makikiparty =)
ADMIT ONE PRODUCTIONS, you rock! \m/
Read about ADMIT ONE
at Peyups.com: http://peyups.com/article.khtml?sid=3847
Postscript:
Ended up not going to the Saguijo gig anymore :( Had to ipon paalam points for watching a very important basketball game the next day, hehehe. Details here.
Ten years ago, I was a freshie at Pisay, idolizing the Batch '95 pipol - especially the Samapi folks. SAMAPI - Samahan ng mga Manunugtog ng Pisay - was the school org for student bands and music enthusiasts. I clearly remember the gigs back then, particularly Supernova Jam (Samapi + Astrosoc gig), and bands such as Killer Kamatis and Studfarm.Today, I am yet again experiencing my first year in Pisay - not as a student anymore, but as a 2nd Year Biology Teacher. What's cool, though, is that I also get to be Adviser of Samapi! ;) And as Samapi adviser, I've taken the liberty of launching some sort of Indie Awareness Campaign - to let the students know more about the indie scene and its many players. In line with this campaign, Samapi holds a monthly gig called the Kwentuhan Sessions. Kwentuhan is an acoustic gig in a classroom setting, featuring a different indie band every month. The Sessions kicked off last September 6 with one of the indie scene's heroes, Twisted Halo. In fact, the idea for Kwentuhan Sessions was born while yours truly was exchanging emails with Halo's vocalist Vin Dancel, who suggested just that - an acoustic gig in a classroom where the band can just talk to the students about their music and the scene in general.
Kwentuhan Sessions, featuring Twisted Halo (minus Monmon, plus Raimund & Tim) [09/06/04]So last September, the Kwentuhan Sessions were born, and the students of Pisay got to know a bit more about Twisted Halo and their first full length album, In Loving Memory of the Fearless Exploits of the Bolo Brigade. Not long after (like, the day after), Echo Singson of Boldstar, who heard about Kwentuhan from Halo's Joey Odulio, was already signing up for the next Kwentuhan =D
Kwentuhan Sessions, featuring Boldstar (minus Marie & Justin) [10/29/04]This month, Samapi's Kwentuhan Session resumed, with none other than Boldstar as our featured indie band. I was impressed by the effort Samapi showed for the 2nd installment of Kwentuhan, lalong lalo na dun sa Boldstar Fact Sheet that they made (thanks to Nikki!). It was a really big poster containing bits and pieces of Boldstar factoids, which Echo and Jazz Nicolas actually wanted to take home. The poster, however, was to remain with Samapi and will be displayed as part of the Samapi archives in upcoming Samapi activities.Samapi's Kwentuhan with Boldstar was a fun gig. Best question of the day was addressed to Echo: "Totoo ba yang sideburns mo?" =D Panalo din ang tripod-turned-micstand na ginamit for Jazz. Well, when there's a will, there's a way. So when there's a mic, there must be a micstand ;)All in all, Samapi's Kwentuhan Sessions have been successful events, and we're really looking forward to the November Session. Word has it that it'll be Imago this time - yes, they are now indie, currently under the wing of Guilty Pleasure Records. Not many days ago, they released their long overdue sophomore effort, aptly called "Take Two", which includes "Taning", the current #1 song on the Midnight Countdown. Can't wait to get my hands on that album.Pics from Samapi's Kwentuhan Sessions can be seen here (Twisted Halo) and here (Boldstar).
