ava and jing were nice enough to bring me to a small dinner marking the release of an anthology of essays celebrating the legacy and influence of the eraserheads . (jing wrote the afterword.) it's a pretty slim volume but what was curious (and therefore great) about the book was that it wasn't merely about the eraserheads. the pictures included could pass off as practically a history of the 90's rock scene in manila. there were lots of band pictures, samples of posters of gigs, pictures of the famous joints which are now legendary (and mostly extinct), little bits and pieces of that wonderful time in the 90's when pinoy alternative rock was this fireball of musical energy and love.

and so it was a trip seeing the four members back when they were skinny guys with the requisite hairdos of the time. at the same time, it was equally a joy to see snapshots of the people who made the scene alive. in a moment of a 'what if' hypothetical scenario, i figured had i not listened to my high school teachers and filled out that upcat form to make up diliman my first choice of campus instead, i would've seen all of these first-hand. but no, los banos was my undergrad world and my only resource was la 105.9, a station which played both teeth's laklak (it's all about the cute lead singer, ha!) and pavement's cut your hair.

how apropos that this venue to wax nostalgia capped off a week that started with an important tuesday for me - watching my first gig in a small venue in years. i sorely missed the intimacy a small venue provides. sure, that intimacy includes seeing the edge of the guitarist's underwear and practically bumping into everyone as you worm your way to the bathroom. yes, as with many fabled joints in metro manila, it has the space equivalent of that room your shared with your brother/sister. (i suddenly rememberred durga's dead-on description of the venue they played for their reunion gig - a hole that smelled like ten guys lived there.)

the silliest thing about it was the fact that i was in qc full-time last semester and didn't go to any single gig. worse, there is at least three joints a walk or a trike away from my place. it was a combination of laziness and exhaustion at the end of the day but it was more of the fact that i didn't have anyone to go with. either potential companions aren't from the qc area, or they're married and have stricken off late nights altogether or even if they're from the area, they're merely acquaintances and not the type to be dragged into a smoke pit.

and so, even if i was dead tired from the trip to qc, i dragged my ass out of the house and walked to mag:net to see jing's band play. oh yes, the old loving feeling is back, the feeling of stretching that php 150 (150 na? dati 100 lang binabayaran ko sa 70's bistro!) with consumable of one beer, the feeling that after three bottles, that third band sounds like they're the greatest thing since, well, a cold bottle of beer. (kidding. the third band was actually great.) and thank god the bathroom was decent. and yes, i still went out by myself. it's okay. everything's cool. and so, to quote howie from the backstreet boys, it's all about the music.

p.s. aimee mann's name is popping in my head lately and so, as a reminder of the blog post that shouldn't be (prinsesanglabandera is in mind and she'll understand once she finishes reading this post)...

save me by aimee mann

you look like a perfect fit
for a girl in need of a tourniquet

but can you save me
come on and save meIf you could save me
from the ranks of the freaks

'cause I can tell
you know what it's like
the long farewell of the hunger strike

but can you save me
come on and save me I
i you could save me
from the ranks of the freaks
who suspect they could never love anyone

you struck me dumb like radium
like Peter Pan or Superman

you will come to save me
c'mon and save me
if you could save me
from the ranks of the freaks
who suspect they could never love anyone
'cept the freaks
who suspect they could never love anyone
but the freaks
who suspect they could never love anyone

c'mon and save me
why don't you save me
if you could save me
from the ranks of the freaks
who suspect they could never love anyone
except the freaks
who suspect they could never love anyone
except the freaks who could never love anyone

p.p.s. do try to see stranger than fiction before ayala cinemas pull it out. if you're into literature or even if you're one who has a strong opinion of happy endings in stories and movies, then beybeh, this one's for you. and for those who has read italo calvino's if on a winter's night a traveler, dustin hoffman's character puts in a wonderful quote from the book. me giddy.