Tuesday, June 26, 2007

RIGHT BRAIN ::: Much As You Can Chew

We uzified the MTV VJ Hunt Finals at the Mall of Asia last week and let me tell you it was painful to watch. What a bunch of nervous wrecks! Wow. That just tells me whatever amount of chutzpah got them to audition in the first place quickly dissolved when they stepped in front of a live audience. So I guess that means no Pinoy version of TRL for now.

I wasn't rooting for anyone at all since my mission was purely to scope the audience. But truth be told, watching a wannabe VJ's hard sell is not for the fainthearted. Ain't that right, Brent Javier? I bet he wished he was havin' a sippy sippy at Embassy instead.

I'm coolAnyhow, Sib, former JackTV looney tune and two other girls got the job. (I still think he looks like that Tolits kid from the Surf detergent commercials.) His posse were the loudest. It's high time they took in someone who spoke straight Tagalog on his own! MTV needs a makeover really bad.

Tado did a little interview spot for each of the wannabes which, again, got me wondering why this dude still isn't part of the channel. He obviously fits the target demographic and I hope Francis Lumen, smoking in the back, made note of it.

The next day, Saturday, we were down in Binondo looking for a specific noodle place. It was "a referral". We had no idea what its name and location were so we probably spent some 15 minutes walking around searching. Finally, we decided to chuck the la mien search and settled for this nondescript place with the AC humming. It was humid and we were hungry. 'Nuff said.

Later on, I dropped by the Baywalk fountain area (Plaza Raha Sulayman) to catch a whiff of Fete de la Musique. I did that pretty much on a whim (which is how I get most things done anyway) because I learned that The Dawn and Orange and Lemons were playing.

I got there a few minutes to 8 just as Up Dharma Down were finishing their set. I thought they sounded impeccably tight which got me feeling bummed for not showing up earlier.

They were followed by Slapshock. Although I'm not a fan of their music, their energy was infectious. As soon as their vocalist got on the mic, about a hundred emo kids came rushing in from all directions to the foot of the stage to form the obligatory moshpit. It was really funny because just a few moments prior, they were sitting in groups beyond the railing smoking and talking BS.

It got rowdy as expected and soon enough, as I was standing near the soundbooth, this scrawny kid, about 12 or 13, was wobbling out of the crowd with the side of his head all bloodied. There wasn't any fight going on in there so my guess was he was one of those being hoisted on the shoulders earlier and fell. Peace tayo, indeed.

The Dawn came next. I saw Buddy Zabala go up first and looked for Francis Reyes. There were so many guys setting up the equipment I hardly recognized him with his black Les Paul. Or at least I think it was that.

They played three songs and I was hoping they'd play 'Tulad ng Dati'. Not this time.

I couldn't help noticing how restrained Jett Pangan was. He seemed too avuncular for a frontman. I guess that's just his style but it was all too conspicuous especially because he followed the monkey boy who sang for Slapshock. "Peash tayo!"

Then Sunday rolled around and it was another soaking pista done Old Bottle Cap style. (Reprezenin! *snort*) Whoever started this tradition must have been a real crackhead.

Like most places with San Juan Bautista as their patron saint, my neighborhood awoke expecting to get splashed at some part of the day. But we're not the type to cause any trouble with the namimiesta so we kept the hosing within family members. Still pretty extensive.

The highlight of this tradition--the thing that draws T.L. yokels hightailing it back--is, of course, the parada. I describe it as a religious ritual with elements of the Love Parade minus the hedonistic dogma.

This parade was like "signs of the times" back when we were kids. You could tell what year it was just from checking out which characters the paraders came as. The Golden Buddha, the Bleeding Virgin Mary, Darth Maul--they've all been seen in this shiznit. This year's wasn't all that, unfortunately. Probably had a measly prize. Oh well, they will tread again next year.

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