03.05.2009
I'VE BEEN WANTING TO TAKE YOU THERE (P2)
AN EXCLUSIVE ACCOUNT OF A DAY IN THE LIFE OF THE MOMENTARILY-REUNITED ERASERHEADS (PART 2 OF 2)
[Part 2 of 2 parts. Read part 1 here.]
As everyone knows by now, August 30, 2008—though a most exciting night—didn't go about as planned, as Ely had to be rushed to the hospital on account of his heart condition. The band, it goes without saying, are all bent on rectifying this. “Siyempre, nagulat ako; parang nag-hang 'yung utak ko nu'n, eh! Kaka-reboot lang ulit!” Makoy, as Adoro is also known, recalls, adding, “Bitin din ako, personally; parang 'yung mga tao, bitin—inaabangan nila 'yung group hug, eh.” He is referring to the crowd's war cry during that night, which is somehow comparable to utensils being struck against wine glasses during a wedding reception. “Kinuha na ngang [title], eh! Nakita ko sa mall kahapon, kinuha na ng The Company, eh: The Group Hug Tour! So, pa'no na kami n'yan? Wala nang group hug! 'Yung fans na lang ang mag-group hug!” he shakes his head in amazement. Buddy would later on add, “Bitin—how do you translate 'bitin' to English?—'unfulfilled'? Ganu'n 'yun, eh. Ako, I was expecting the full thirty-, thirty-five-song set, and then, we only did fifteen. So, that's pretty much not even close to halfway. So, when Ely got sick, sadly, bitin—that's how we felt.” Raymund, meanwhile, would pipe in, “I wanna do it. Parang, 'Hindi tapos, eh! Tapusin natin!'”
All of a sudden, the Eraserheads, who have long been dead and gone as an active unit, were playing onstage together again. During a time when all their individual endeavors are at an all-time peak—with Pupil's Wildlife, Sandwich's <S> Marks the Spot, Pedicab's Shinji, Ilabas Mo Na ang Helicopter, The Dawn's The Later Half of Day, and Markus Highway's Behold! Rejoice! Surfernando is Here Nah! all doing reasonably well—the enforced walk down memory lane is greeted by the boys with mixed reactions. As a matter of fact, the clamor for these reunion shows have since gradually translated into clamor for new Eraserheads material. “Everybody‘s been clamoring for it, especially the fans, but it’s just not feasible. Unang-una, we don’t wanna get back to that kind of situation—agad. I’m not saying it’s not going to happen, pero, right now, it’s definitely not in the works at all, kasi we wanna enjoy this—getting back together for the fun of it. Kasi, once you start writing new material, alam mo na, babalik na naman sa dati, eh: you have to think about marketing it, and then the whole machinery starts working again,” Buendia would opine, something which Adoro would inadvertently echo, “'Yun ang laging tanong, eh. May stock answer si Raymund, eh: masyado kaming iba-ibang klaseng mga tao na, baka hindi namin ma-stand 'yung mga sarili naming magkakasama nang more than two hours, creatively. Hindi ko alam; hindi ko naiisip—'pag nangyari 'yun, napakalaking production na naman. Parang, hindi yata muna namin kailangan 'yun. Baka hindi pa ulit panahon para [maghalo] 'yung mga personalities namin.” Marasigan, “always the busiest one” as described by Zabala, says, “Mahirap siguro, kasi maraming history, eh. Siguro, not at this point; talagang hindi pumapasok sa isip namin. Mas, 'Sana, kaya nating matapos 'yung pangalawang [show]. Let's all do a better job; let's all play well; let's all have fun.' 'Yun muna. Marami kaming naka-pending na project personally, aside from our own bands. I know that Ely is doing an album with Francis M. Buddy and I will be working on Ernville and other artists. Si Buddy is actually producing it, and I'm supposed to be working on The Dawn's new album soon.” The bassist, meanwhile, will claim of the undying adulation, “A couple of times, [it has frustrated me]. And then I realized that that was really wrong of me, because what people love are the songs, eh. It's not the fact that the Eraserheads are playing together; it's the songs, and the fact na the four of us are together again onstage, that they can watch and see and hear us playing these same songs, it just gives a whole new dimension to the experience that they got growing up—the first time they heard the songs—it has a lot to do with nostalgia.”
I walk over to the trailer-tent whose door is modestly felt-penned with an unsuspecting “M.” It is the one tent of the day that is not as busy as the rest, and its two inhabitants—Marcus Adoro and Mica Solmoro—usher me in for lunch. The Adoros may not look like it, but, apart from the impending second show, their forays into other non-musical fields have also been taking much of their time. The man of the family has screened two indie films (The Artist is In, Violator Copy) under the tutelage of renowned director Tikoy Aguiluz, whose modest two-person video crew has been frantically chasing after individual Eraserheads the whole day. Mica, meanwhile, is reading up on her culinary lessons in between takes, as preparation for a test in school. “Mas madaling kabisaduhin 'tong French [cooking] terms 'pag nakasulat, eh; ang mahirap, kailangan mo ring i-memorize 'yung mga pronunciation!” she complains to me while flipping through her textbooks, as her other half leafs through a new Bob Dylan biography. Makoy then jokes about his old band, “Okay siya—side project! May side project kaming apat!” Funny, but that is really how things are now, if you come to think about it. He says further, “I made peace with my past already, so, okay siya sa akin. Not necessarily 'love,' pero, walang bitterness or something. [Kaya], we made it a point na, kung mangyayari rin lang, eh, 'di, itodo na! Lakihan na talaga!” Buddy would say later on in the day, “I think it's good, because everybody has grown older. I think all the four of us have grown as musicians. Ako, I have, and, someday soon, as a songwriter [as well], I hope. But, more as musicians. It felt different, eh: when we got up onstage in 2008, iba na 'yung pakiramdam, eh. Raymund's playing was different; my playing was different, of course from all the exercise I got from playing with The Dawn, 'di ba? Ely has a couple of new [musical] habits; si Marcus also. We play better now. [These are] the good habits, not the bad habits!”
I don't remember how many times the adjective “enigmatic” has been dropped in the context of Ely Buendia. If anything, he is like that Douglas Coupland catchphrase from Generation X, “emotional ketchup burst,” which denotes someone who is pretty much mum all the time, but who, when the time comes, spurts out all his bottled-up thoughts and ideas, comparable to, well, a ketchup burst. “I was in a bubble, and 'yung mga taong nasa paligid mo [who are] close to you ang aasahan mo to give you [an] objective [perspective]. And, part of that, of course, was [speaking] to my family, who remain big, big, big E-heads fans. There was a time when I was irritated with my family—every time na pupunta ako sa bahay, parang wala nang ibang lumalabas sa bibig nila kundi E-heads din; para silang fans din, pero, since family sila, mas nakikinig ako sa kanila. And Diane, also—who was not a fan ever of the E-heads—was like telling me, 'You guys were good.' I mean, it's sad that I had to hear it from somebody else, but ganu'n ako, eh. You don't really know anymore, eh. After that, slowly, you just come to [the] realization [that] a big factor in the decision [to reunite] was 'yung time: growing up and having children,” he muses pensively.
Everyone, it seems, is aging, and aging well. While it may not be true for everyone what Buddy says—that it's all about the songs, and not really about them getting along as people—a faint ray of sunlight is at least peering. If their individual attitudes of eagerness, excitement, and everything else about the show are any indication of emotional reversals (for the better), then maybe, just maybe, there is hope for all. As Raymund said, “Mas civil, mas relaxed. Obviously, 'di na rin kami barkada, eh, but, obviously, we still play well together. Coming from the first rehearsal last week, p'wede na kaming sumalang today, eh. Everybody's playing even better than the first time. Puro isang pasada lang 'yung mga kanta—all three-hundred songs!” Buddy says eloquently, “Hopefully, the last song or the last good musical idea that stuck in your mind, it came from the Eraserheads. The 'Heads are all about ideas kasi, eh, and we've just been lucky enough na we had enough of a vocabulary in the studio to pull off all the ideas. We just have enough words in our vocabulary to pull it off. 'Yun 'yung effect ng 'Heads, eh. 'Yun 'yung strength ng 'Heads.” Ely, meanwhile, is reassuring about his health, saying, “I'm doing good. My doctor will be on standby on that day, and confident naman ako. He's also confident, so there are no worries about that. I just wanna get enough sleep—'yun ang binabantayan ko.” Makoy, meanwhile, is on a natural high, advising everyone about the show, “Ingat kayo. Magpaalam kayo sa mga ermats niyo nang matino. Isama niyo 'yung mga ermats niyo! Bawal daw 'yung backpack, ha.”
The day is gradually turning into night. The skateboarders have stopped after a whole day of teasing danger and injury. The food has gone cold. Still, there is work to be done, songs to be sung.
TAGS: Eraserheads Reunion Concert Final Set Ely Buendia Raimund Marasigan Marcus Adoro Buddy Zabala
Aldus, Oliver 'to! Di mo na pinirmahan ung book... :(
Posted By: oliver6000 on March 06, 2009 at 10:15
i love you Aldus! galeng ng article mo...
Posted By: hermione on March 06, 2009 at 10:12
woohoo... panalo!
Posted By: hermione on March 06, 2009 at 10:05
