Sunday, August 31, 2008
Eraserheads: The Reunion - cont...
***continuation****

okay let me start from the beginning.

Around 1pm I was already ready to go although the concert do not start until 8pm. One should anticipate the crowd. Ticketworld sold more than 2,000 tickets after only several hours of selling it, there's a really long line in Ticketworld outlets, even in National Bookstore. and they only had 2 days before the big event. That's how badly the fans wants to see them.

At around 2 pm, i met up with Nina in Ever Gotesco. It's been a while since I saw Nina. The last I think was the Pupil gig in Makati. Anyway, so we went to Market Market and met up with some other peeps. Ricah, Miki, Miki's friend, and Jai. At about 5 we made our way to the the concert area. Before we went inside though, I dropped by Artsbar and picked up the shirt I asked him to bring: Markus Highway exclusive t-shirt beybeh! and of course the official Reunion shirt, ha ha! which was featured in Inquirer yesterday, by the way.

We were in by around 5. The security was tight. One security guard was even hustling me with the lighter. He said lighters aren't alowed. He opened my bag and saw my Marlboro Lights, then he said: "may lighter ka e" i said "wala akong lighter!" then he repeated "may light ka!" and i went "wala ako'ng lighter!" that went on for like less than a minute but he didn't find my lighter inside my bag. that's what I call: tamang hinala! haha

Below is the lay-out of the area. which Markus graciously shared to us on-line so we wouldn't get lost.



We waited 3 hours for the band to play. just there, sitting, sharing E'heads trivias. Then my fellow Listers arrived! Thea, Dino, Julieus, Yem, Tops and more. It was like a mini-reunion, only Bernz was nowhere to be found. We were at the VIP section, around 8 meters away from the stage because before the VIP section there is an SVIP section which are the band's friends and family. It was effin' hot! the lady in front of me wouldn't budge to move one step forward so we could breathe at the back. But I finally got my best position. and stood there for an hour. Then it came...

It was superb! The lights were great! the screen right behind the band was so big and it featured pictures of the band in their E-heads days. then it wrote: SA WAKAS! people were wild as wild goats! screaming and all. The stage had an elevator, hehe! Each band member was lifted up on stage through this elevator thing. They started the set with Alapaap. Apparently it's Ely's favorite. They always play Alapaap first at most gigs before. And there I went, all teary-eyed. It was my first time to see them live. And it was so magical. Goosebumps! Goosebumps! I've waited so long to be in that place, to see them play live. I've waited 15 years or so.

Below is the line-up of songs they played:

  1. alapaap
  2. ligaya
  3. sembreak
  4. hey jay
  5. harana
  6. fruitcake
  7. toyang
  8. kama supra
  9. kailan
  10. huwag kang matakot
  11. kaliwete
  12. with a smile
  13. shake yer head
  14. huwag mo ng itanong
  15. light years

If you read the news lately, Ely's mom died last Thursday of Heart Attack. Despite that, he still went on with the show. And he gave his best. He even joked a bit, after the song Alapaap he said: Thank you! Good night! and acted as if it was the end. It was evident he was dead tired. Roadies went on changing his guitars from one song to another and he was almost not moving from where he stood. Still, he went on and completed the first set. The last song was Lightyears and you can definitely see how sad ely's face was on that big big screen!

Doesn't really matter where you are
It always seem to be so far
'coz you're lightyears away
You're lightyears away from me


After the song, he sat and the roadie went to tap him on his shoulder, took the guitar, helped him stand and then he walked backstage. the timer on the screen was set to 20 Minutes but it stopped after a few seconds. we waited more than 30 minutes when Markus, Raimund, Buddy, Lyra (Ely's Sister), and the promoters went on stage and annouced that the concert has to be cut short due to Ely's poor health. Ely collapsed backstage. Then the promoter initiated a 1 minute silence to pray for Ely's speedy recovery. Then the crowd was advised to go to the nearest exits.

So me, Jai, Nina and Miki's friend head to Market Market to get something to drink. Aftera can of soda and 3 sticks of cigs we went our separate ways and headed home. I was with Nina at the taxi and I told her it was my first time to see the band play. She didn't know. I told her that I never thought the song Lightyears is about death. And we went on telling stories about the 'heads' good ole' days and hoped Ely was okay.

when I got home, i kicked my shoes off, put on my new Markus Highway shirt, and went on-line. one person posted the supposed List of songs for SET 2 he found backstage:
  1. maskara
  2. poorman's grave
  3. torpedo
  4. trip to jerusalem
  5. back to me
  6. maselang bahaghari
  7. maling akala
  8. tikman
  9. spolarium
  10. magasin
  11. para sa masa
  12. overdrive
  13. pare ko
  14. minsan
  15. huling el bimbo

Then i uploaded the video I managed to shoot through my cellphone in Youtube and showed it to Gibs, who happened to be on-line at the moment. He argued that he hated how the 'heads sold out. That they have to pretend to be friends for 2.7 million. I told him about the blog I wrote previously, which I also posted in friendster, by the way, entitled 08 30 08. The point I was kind of making was that: If you think they don't think about Money, you are deeply mistaken. They're human too. They need it. But you can't judge them by that fact alone because they are creative and talented, and it's definitely not their fault if they get a chance to play for 2.7 Milliopn pesos! and they deserve it. they worked hard for it. they earned it. it wasn't easy.

Unfortunately, Gibs didn't bother to understand me and cut me off. He went on to his "i miss you, come back home" thing and "he didn't want to loose me over this Eraserheads" crap. But now I'm kind of rehearsing how to tell him what i've been wanting to tell him for the longest time: get outta' my life!

After that, I threw myself to the shower and hit the sack. It was about 1am, I think. I woke up at about half past 6 in the morning. Breakfast was the left over doughnuts from yesterday. I read the news and Ely is awake and is in stable condition now. He only had a mild attack due to stress. And it dawned on me: If it was the first and last time I would see the 'heads play live, I am already satisfied and I don't want to ask for more. Basically, that night fulfilled all my longings for the band I adored since I was in fifth grade. It was pretty amazing.

I wish you were there.
posted by the chain-smoking loser at 9:29 AM -
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