a-choo

I couldn't help but giggle all day when I heard someone sneeze as this is the season of sniffles.

So disappointed in missing out on the Blogging party this weekend. Stopped by a friend's surprise birthday party, then I got dropped off at very last Mango Mic at Pusod where I spent the next 7 straight hours listening to a fine slate of bands and performers.

Tops of the list Tensegrity Nine, which is only two guys, but the two hardest working guys there. Peter, who hosted the entire night and Matt, who was sound engineer made the bands really sound great. Together with their synthesizers they put together a string of songs that reminded me of a VH1 80s music video marathon complete with Devo type dance routine. But these guys weren't even old enough to live in the 80s. Must be what happens when the soundwaves penetrate the womb.

The District was an excellent Indie sound band, dressed in suits as if, Peter quipped, "they were coming from the prom."

On the hardrock side, Faustus with their lead singer and Sputterdoll with their fabulous drummer rocked the building.

Going acoustic, Julia Lau and her wonderful vocals. Also unplugging, Lily Bose's band minus the bass player, with their song "Bangungot" took on a different feel on acoustic guitar and a basic wooden box for drums.

I got a chance to see Dennis Somera, Jason Bayani, and Rupert Estanislao do their performance pieces. Dennis did several pieces I had seen numerous times before but I really enjoyed how it seemed like he was finally really putting himself into the performance of the pieces, changing tone, and direction that really enhanced his work. For part of the finale, he does a performance piece where a member of the audience shaves him bald. He dedicated it to Mango Mic. I remember when I first watched Dennis do this at a maganda reception. But back then, his hair was down to his lower back, and not the shorter simple feathered shag mop he had on Saturday. Back then, few guys wore their hair long and didn't mutter much anything when the clumps of hair fell in black patches. But Saturday, you could feel some of the crowd grip the sides of their knitted caps as the buzzers hummed, as guys called to him, "oh no, dude, don't! you don't have to. not the hair!" He continues to pursue poetry as mantra. Many of the pieces a handful of words repeated with intonation and accent changing meaning and intent.

It had been a while since I had last seen Jason Bayani. When I first worked with him, he was a hyper college aged guy who had the same fire but perhaps not the same focus he has now. It's nice to see a wonderful balance and pacing he's bringing into the fire of his pieces. It's one thing to have fire, it's another thing to be able to use that fire to forge something. In his pieces I hear a man who stops and listens to the world around him, bringing us in with the roar of his voice and presence but softening it so we too can hear it.

I've only usually seen Rupert as the hard rock singer and I've only seen him once or twice doing his poetry. He started off with an interesting piece about going back to his alma mater in high school to teach a poetry workshop, a piece on looking back and looking forward, of being the student and the teacher, a transition of generations. The next piece also brought additional humor, his ode to the cardiac arresting Filipino food that he can't stop eating. It was so good, afterwards everyone was grumbling about the distance to the nearest Filipino restaurant still open at 10 pm. The afternoon BBQ was long gone, and you really can't fill your stomach up with keg beer and not be reminded of the pulutan you could also be having. Damn you RUPERT! But that's good poetry, to make you curse for what you desire.