AcidRadio – Symphonies of September – Zero82 Lokal – September 2, 2017

Last night we played with 4 other amazing bands at Zero 82 Lokal. It was for the Symphonies of September gig under Juggerknack Productions and Exaltation Clothing.

It was a great night!

It was also the first time we played in a live in a long time. We had all but broken up at this point because of in fighting and lack of motivation to perform as a group.

For those who’ve followed this blog, you can see that there are long gaps between entries because there’s really nothing to write about. Plus the fact this serves as kind of my diary for the band as it continues to grow.

To get you all back on track, I moved to Davao 5 years ago and decided to stay here for good. Manila just wasn’t healthy enough for me anymore what with all the temptations that abound in that place. I spent a lot of time away from the music scene for the past couple of years.

I did get to play in a punk band which was good while it lasted but after that I had basically retired my guitar and other toys. They were simply just rotting away in storage.

Until last year when I joined a show band (just so I could get back onstage and play). We had a few rehearsals but nothing really came out of that so we drifted apart. My other band mates (guitarist, bassist and keyboardist) in that show band decided they want to continue on and tapped me to be the fourth member. I agreed but on the agreement that we’d play compositions and a few covers when the mood hits us.

Wait, lemme backtrack a bit, Mac, the bassist found out I had some original songs and shared it with the other guys and that’s how they got the idea that we should create a new band entirely.

Roy (we call him Amay because the other guy in the band is also named Roy), came over and listened to the songs and secretly copped the entire album before telling me he wanted in. He is the de-facto band leader so to speak among the three.

We didn’t have any drummer then. The other Roy (we call him Duroy so there’s no confusion) volunteered to learn drums. His main instrument when we were in the show band was the keyboards but he’s also a multi-instrumentalist. He’s equally good on guitars, bass, singing. Heck the kid could be a one man band if he really wanted to.

So, with the lineup complete, we tried it out and everything seemed to fall into place.

We juggled a few names but ultimately decided on keeping the name AcidRadio just so we didn’t have to worry about what we’d call ourselves anymore.

In essence, this is AcidRadio 2.0.

I immediately booked a few gigs and because of the chemistry we had onstage, we were able to get ourselves noticed very quickly. I think too quickly.

I don’t know why but Mac eventually decided to leave. If it was the pressure of things moving too fast or something I don’t really know. He just decided to leave. We had to replace him with another bassist but that didn’t really last too long.

I still wanted Mac in the band. I still wanted the entire group I started with in Davao in the band.

We ultimately had to stop because of work related reasons (Amay works at DCWD and I had a lot of writing related tasks that needed my full attention).

A few weeks turned into months. Gig organizers started calling when we’d be back. My reply “I don’t know”.

I basically gave up on the idea of being in a band and playing onstage again.

Fast forward to today…. Well maybe 2 weeks before today, Mac and I started communicating again and he expressed his desire to go back onstage. It was great timing as Exaltation Lokal contacted me and asked if we’d be willing to play.

I also have to thank the band Die Glocke for recommending us in the first place. If not for them, Exaltation Lokal wouldn’t have had any idea who we were. So yeah, thanks to Die GLocke a truly awesome band who I’ve now come to watch twice and each time I always make it a point to go up to their guitarist and tell him he’s awesome.

Yeah, I like Die Glocke.

 When I saw the lineup, I immediately said yes to the organizer, Chris. It’s pretty rare for me to be onstage with bands I really like. The lineup consisted of Die GLocke, Amana and Spooky Serna. Really, really great local bands who are truly passionate about what they’re doing onstage and the caliber of music they produce, man… let’s just say I have riff envy every time I get to watch these bands.

Back to the gig.

It was a great night.

Spooky Serna went onstage first and their brand of music immediately transported me to a different dimension. God, the layers and layers of ambient guitar sounds these guys have going on just takes you to a different plane. I was lost in the hypnotic bass lines driving the song forward as each nuance of the guitars rang out. It was a trip.

I wish I was smoking something else other than my usually Marlboro Reds.

Next up was ERBOS who also played all of their compositions (we all did) with their brand of Grunge taking me back to high school days. I wish they didn’t have that many technical difficulties though because I really love that Proco Rat type of guitar sound.

There’s just something about that distorted sound that really speaks to me on a primal level.

They ended up staying longer onstage to deal with the technical difficulties they were having but got through their set all right. Kudos to those guys for not storming off in frustration. The show must always go on regardless of anything untoward happening onstage.

Finally, the band I was waiting for took the stage and I prepared myself for some heavy metal riffage. Die Glocke! I heard someone complain that the guitar was too loud. I said that’s the way it should sound. If the guitar is too loud, turn everything else up to 11. Hehehehe.

I was not disappointed at all. That was riffage worthy of being on the Cowboys From Hell album. I miss DImebag but Die Glocke is as close to hearing those types of riffs all over again. And I was there. In front of the stage with the amps at full blast. I probably tore my ear drums again. It was all worth it.

As soon as they were done, I went up onstage to congratulate the guys for a great set making sure I tell their guitarist that he clew me away.

Since we were up next, our performance was greatly affected by them. We had to make sure we measured up to the hype.

And we had a lot of fun.

I rarely see Amay moving onstage but he was full on guitar hero mode that night. Mac and Duroy were totally in sync while I did my best to match the intensity of my band mates and the bands before us as much as I could.

We started out with “Kung DI Rin Lang”, followed it up with crowd favorite “Sa Ilalim Ng Buwan”, dropped our tuning to D and started off again with “Fuel Drive”, and then “One Moment Please” before ending it with “Waraynon Ako”.

I knew Amay was a great guitarist but his inhibitions onstage sometimes stop him from being that. Last night, he was all over the fretboard as we traded solo spots all throughout our set.

Mac was the ultimate hype guy as he bounced around right beside me keeping in time with the music and driving us with his ridiculous bass lines. Each time I stepped back towards the drums, he’d step up in front filling the gap created. Perfect onstage showmanship.

Duroy also seemed to have found some untapped wealth of strength as his drumming was louder than what we were originally used to. Kid must’ve been working out or something. He also kept us all in time the entire set. I could see that the renewed friendship between Mac and Duroy also helped create a more synergistic bond within the band as they continuously communicated throughout the set.

Yeah, he’s still the guy girls look at when we play which is fine since he’s the good looking one. And, young too.

When we ended our set, I could barely stand from the amount of energy I had expended. Good thing I didn’t fall over from exhaustion. The crowd’s applause was great and we really appreciated that.

I’m glad we gave that level of performance because the next band to perform was Amana.

And if Die GLocke set the standard level of energy for the night, we managed to keep it and Amana took it all the way up to the stratosphere!

Goddamn, I have never seen a band so perfectly made up of very accomplished musicians. And the fact that they all look good is a plus.

To me, Amana is what a really good band looks like. Properly dressed for the event and playing the music that fits them well.

Never mind that one of the guitarists is one of my heroes, Glenn Santillan, driving the riff machine forward with his black SG. Never mind that the bassist Mitjero had arguably the best sounding bass that night pummeling us with their brand of heavy metal music. Heck, never mind the fact that their vocalist Dat-Dat is one of the best heavy metal voices I’ve heard in a long time.

Amana is one hell of a band and I wish more people would come and see them play.

Over all, a great night filled with great music and conversations with friends, new found friends and new opportunities.

Here’s hoping there are more gigs like that.

And as Exaltation Lokal’s tag line goes: Local Is The New Mainstream!