Last night, we played at Center for Arts in Timog Avenue. We've been playing in this place for quite sometime now since our comeback early 2009. The place is a great spot for Manila's underground music scene and you can see gigs here almost every weekend. Truth be told, we had our fair share of fun and good times playing in this joint and some bad ones. But so far, last night's gig was that one night where in things really got ugly.
My bandmates arrived at the venue around 7pm to reserve a good position in the lineup for the said gig. You see, if you're not that familiar with the scene's usual gig set up, pretty much it is first come - first serve basis. Who ever comes in on the venue will be able to select their preferred position in the lineup. And as what we've experienced, there are productions that has 10 or more bands playing under one night. Imagine that! You'll start the gig around 9pm and you have 15 bands in your wing. This does not include bands with this "rockstar attitude". But let's not dwell on that. Believe me in as much as I want to lament on the scene's not-so-good traits, it seems it is quite pointless and that's not the point of this post.
Anyways,there were a number of bands that came in before my vocalist and drummer arrived at the venue and we were left with the option to select either number 2 (the earliest slot) or (if i am not mistaken) around number 8 or something past the 5th slot. To be honest with you,I'd rather have the latter slots if not for the long list of bands playing that night. I mean it is best to come in first rather than play with half of the audience either drunk or tired. We've been used to that set up so we just went with the second slot.
The gig started with a band named Peligro (Danger). They played their originals and gave the crowd a boost to start the gig. These guys are also from PUP, hailing from the University's College of Engineering. We came in next after them. We gave the crowd our own brand of 80's influenced Thrash Metal with a dose of Hardcore elements. I must say that we are the only band that played that brand of music. It was a great set except for the fact that our guitarist went off time on the bridge part of our song titled 4x4. Quite a great set. We were even acknowledged by some bands on the event recognizing the old thrash vibe that we gave them. We were followed by Death Metal act Legion and I must say that these guys are really great; both on and off stage. I was amazed by their bassist/ vocalist's Warwick Double Buck Corvette. It is actually one of my dream gears. After their set I got the chance to ask him how much was his Warwick bass.Just for future plans. Hahaha.
After that, Andrea Marie came in to play their own brand of Power Metal assault. After that Me,Clark (drummer) and Aboy (Vocals) went out to get some Gatorade on a local gas station and we got the chance to chit chat with Rad and guys of Bane. We are on the works of recording our songs and we asked them what would be their recommended studio for recording our demo CD. They recommended Earbender. We asked them about few details about how their recording process worked out and after that we decided to lock in on Earbender as our main option for recording.We actually asked and spoke with other friends from the scene about possible recording studios and most of them actually gave Earbender as their top suggestion.
After hanging out with some of the bands on the place (some I barely know. hahaha), We went in to try to watch other bands play. When we came in Grace of Brutality was already playing. They served the crowd with their ala-Slayer songs and their last song was Reign in Blood by Slayer which gave the crowd more than what they're asking for. After watching some bands playing their stuff; from hardcore, death metal, grindcore or even plain modern rock, it is quite neat to see that the underground scene is really healthy until.....
We were waiting for Dave's (our guitar player for Traces of War) side project Bersikulo (Verse) to play. They took their gear and tried setting up.It actually took them time to set up because their drummer was looking for a crash cymbal. But before Dave was able to get a hold of the microphone, a guy went up on stage and started asking Dave about some issues with the lineup; and he actually scolded Dave. And mind you, he did this with the mic on, with everyone to hear it. I hate to curse on this blog but that is total disrespect!!!! It seems that there were some issues with who was supposed to play next after grindcore act Gonnorhea Infection's set. You see this is another thing that pisses me off when you talk about the scene... the politics. It seems that Dave was told by one of the guys that handles the lineup that they were next. But this guy that went on stage and started to talk to Dave says that they have a different set of line up in their hand. Tough to see that Dave was humiliated that way. You do not need to show disrespect on other bands considering that this guy was not even an established figure in the scene ( I won't be mentioning this guys name in "respect" to him. ) Another point that I want to raise out is that this guy is not even one of the Production's head. It ended up with Bersikulo going down the stage and not playing. Total rubbish.
I spoke with Dave to encourage him and at the same time, advised him to not let others do that to his band. I even told him that if that was done while we, Traces of War is setting up on stage, things will be ugly.
I left the bar around near 3am if my memory serves me well and while walking on my way from Timog Avenue to Edsa, I felt really sorry for Bersikulo for what happened to them.
By the way, catch our myspace account; www.myspace.com/tracesofwarmusic for our next gigs and please keep posted! thanks!
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