more on the eraserheads… sorry i can’t help it, five days after the event and i am still raving about it. i still surf the internet about it and i still read about them. goes to show how they have been realy missed.
one really nice read about them is this article from jessica zafra in the philippine star – the end (emotional weather report by jessica zafra). she tells us the phenomenon that was (and still is) the eraserheads. why our generation can totally connect with them and have not forgotten them even after years of absence.
pieces of the article :
In the Philippines in the 1990s, the Eraserheads were the Beatles. Whether you bought their albums or not, you know their songs. They came at you from all sides, they got their hooks into your brain. You may not even be aware that you know them until years later you get stuck in traffic and one is played on the radio. Why do you know all the words, including the backup vocals?
Every other Tagalog song is about thwarted love, but which one nails it like the band’s first hit, Pare Ko? The narrator addresses the listener directly, as a friend and confidante. How can you not like a band that addresses you in this manner? To seal your imaginary shared history he adds, “Wag mong sabihing ‘Na naman.’”
I have this theory about why Ely decided to be the interviewee from hell. Apart from the fact that not everyone is thrilled to reveal his innermost thoughts to the media. It’s like this: Ely has already put the contents of his life out there. They’re in the songs.
Farewells piled on farewells; if the reunion were a work of fiction it would be rejected for lack of plausibility. But this isn’t just their story anymore. The Eheads have written themselves into our story, and really, who cares about plausibility at a time like this? The gates are open. It’s time for your last goodbye.
ayun… si ely hindi kinaya ang another set. he was over fatigued already, her mother just passed away and they have been rehearsing heavily… nevertheless, it was still for the books
phillippine daily inquirer noon – september 1, 2008.
1. the opening song was magasin! one of my favorites! the crowd wet wild, meron pang fire works sa stage! binago pa ni ely ang lyrics …. “pero pangit ka pa nun… hanggang ngayon…”, i was hoping they would start the concert with this song and they did! then after several songs… raimund handling over his drumsticks to jazz of itchyworms band to sang lead in insomya, alkohol and slo mo. he’s the one with the most energy among the four i would say during that night. he would ran from one end of the stage to the other and even sing very close to ely and they would share a mike! siguro nga talagang they have finally called truce and have set aside differences. they made a lot of fans happy with this
2. kita sa concert that it was thoughtfully staged with great consideration for ely’s condition : they started the 2nd set lounging, they did accoustic versions fo julietearjerky and pare ko. para tuloy sobrang nostalgic ang dating when they sang pare ko that way. one time in the concert, ely shouted — okay lang ba kayo? crowd — OO! then some would shout back — ikaw ba okay lang??? hehehehe… mukha namang okay sya.
3. different renditions of their all time hits : kailan – with only the piano playing, kayang kaya pa rin ni ely even thought kitang kita na pagod na sya, minsan – nostalgic again when they sang this because this is one of my favorites again being a dorm girl myself, overdrive - meron fire works sa stage! (raimund smiled when the first spark happened, he was obviously pleased), alapaap - i have never heard it performed this good ever at syempre ang huling el bimbo – which was their finale (not!) and lasted for 6 minutes tops! they sang it like it will be the last time they will.
4. the crowd is composed of a sea (yes dears, ganun kadami) of fanatics who sang together with the band song after song. ely need not say – sing! kanta! kayo naman! because almost everyone knew the song by heart. everyone knew and is waiting for superproxy but is not sure how they will considering they are planning to sing this with francis m (rip), so when they did, the crowd went wild and sang with them. ely and raimund did the rap part together. they even sang francis’ kaleidoscope world.
5. the best treat of all was when the final finale (oo meron nun). after huling el bimbo, when all the fireworks are done, ely had said thank you, we are the eraserheads! they gathered together akbay-akbay, tapos yung giant screens back to mtv promo videos na naman, we were on our way out bumili lang muna kami ng iinumin, biglang si raimund said — gusto nyo pa ba?, then andun na si buddy, mamya sabi ni raimund, tawagin nyo si ely then andun na si ely then sabi tawagin nyo si markus. the crowd went wild again! we see ely, raimund and buddy talking on what to play. finally sabi ni ely – three for the road. they performed with ely just singing nalang - ligaya, sembreak ang toyang. such a treat!
ep ep… eraserheads fans, hindi ito ang mtv nila. but check out this latest mc donald’s commercial.
nag uusap kami ng kaibigan ko minsan during one of those “long rides home” sabi namin lately mukhang mas ok ang commercials sa radio. meron humor at me kwenta kumpara sa tv. pero noong isang araw, nanonood kami ng tv (syempre) at narinig namin ang eraserheads!!!
nakuha nya ang attention namin at ang ngiti
sa wakas! maganda ulit ang commercial ng mc donald’s para sa mga pinoy
