Issues at Sonic Boom's 4th Anniversary

I wasn't even planning on going in the first place. Yet my cousin successfully dragged me to WhiteSpace Makati with hopes another epic night much like what happened to the 2nd (Rico Blanco's first ever solo gig) and 3rd (Sheila and the Insects' reunion) anniversaries -- I wasn't there for the 1st one.

I also had hopes of changing my opinion about Franco, a "super" band fronted by Franco Reyes. I say super band cause they're made up of 2 Urbandubs including frontman Gabby Alipe, Parokya ni Edgar's Buwi Meneses, Queso's 8 Toleran, and of course Franco himself. I also used quotation marks cause after hearing their album, I honestly thought they could've done better (or could they).

Franco has 3 guitarists and they never fully utilized them. All you hear is a bunch of over distorted guitars on top of each other and minimal guitar riffs. I'm not a music genius or anything, but I know great guitar playing when I hear it. And mediocre guitars from 3 guitarists who come from 3 separately successful bands is just not acceptable.

My cousin probably gave me the best excuse so far, baka minadali kasi yung recording kaya ganon. At some level, I believe him. The recording process is very tedious and hard. I know this because I recorded a song with a professional friend of mine, and it was no joke. I mean, I only did the vocal parts and it still took a lot from me. However, for 5 very experienced music veterans, I don't care if you've had time constraints, you should've been able to produce a great guitar solo during the writing process.

Anyway, that's just me bitching and moaning cause I'm really disappointed and a bunch of my friends really like them. Which is cool, cause we're allowed to have our own music preferences and whatnot.

I can't believe I just used 4 paragraphs to explain why I don't like Franco. Moving on...


Here are my other issues, in bullet form:

• It's in WhiteSpace. Too far.
• No Nictynasty, which is one of the really underrated local bands.
• Paolo Valenciano cut off his 'fro. What, is he trying to look pogi? Cause he already was with the 'fro and all. Lol.
• Marc Abaya is becoming a really big douche with the way he performs. Not saying he's a douche, only when he performs. Sobrang rockstar niya, ok.
• Taken by Cars is losing their mojo. People were literally sitting down during their set. How disappointing was that for them?
• Typecast's played a half-hearted set. I still love 'em though.

My last legitimate beef, is that nothing special happened that night. Last year, I discovered a nice, down-to-earth, Singaporean post-hardcore band (A Vacant Affair) which triggered my desire to move to the mighty mighty SG. I think 3 foreign bands played last year, plus a tear-jerking reunion set Sheila and the Insects. Two years before that, Rico Blanco's first solo gig gave me the chills. This year, this year was mediocre at best. They didn't even have Faspitch.

I wouldn't leave you without highlights:

• My friend Jewel was one of the two hosts and she was amazing. There were technical difficulties at some point in the middle of the event (the other stage wasn't working), and no dead air in between. Which made me realize that hosting these events is much like improv.
• The Line Divides set was amazing. Their singer is how every singer should perform. Also, they were flying to Davao after the event for another event. Now, that's what I call lagare.
• Salamin also had a nice set.
• My friend Goldie was there. She was so pretty that night. Too bad she has a boyfriend lol.
• My cousin introduced me to this really hot model friend of hers. Hot hot hot. My only words.

In retrospect, if my cousin, whom I haven't seen in a year, wasn't going, I probably wouldn't have gone as well. I'd have been at Last Home for another friend's birthday gig, or at Cubao X. However, my only regret was wasting 500 bucks for it.