Despite the rains brought by Typhoon Dindo, Cubao X was packed!
People flocked with umbrellas, hats, and jackets in hand.
People looked for little nooks, crannies and practically every little corner and space where some semblance of protection from the rain could be had. But I guess, not us!
After struggling with the sound set-up for the first two songs, the gig was in full swing.
We stayed in the back because it was really crowded near the stage.
The Rebulto album has seven songs, all of which were performed first.
1. Kilometro Zero
2. Kikilos
3. Par Que
4. Anonymous
5. Rizal Day (Lyrics by Amado V. Hernandez)
6. Bagumbayan
7. Titigas
Dong Abay
Words, Music & Voice
Raymund Marasigan & Buddy Zabala
Sound Production, Musical Direction & Electronic Instrumentation
Shinji Tanaka
Sound Recording, Engineering & Mastering
Sound Creation Studios, Quezon City
Team Manila
Executive Producers, Visual Art and Album Design
The CDs sell for only Php200 each
***
The crowd absolutely went wild when Dong Abay’s old songs, with well-loved ones like Rebolusyon, Esem, Perpekto, Tsinelas and Banal na Aso, Santong Kabayo, were performed. Everyone was singing and dancing along. (Video links for the songs mentioned are taken at Wharf Galley, Naga City; except Rebolusyon which was taken at CBI’s No Hero album launch at Merci Bar in Timog; and Esem performed with Sandwich)
Someone in the crowd screamed to his friends, “Siyet, antanda na natin!”
The crowd was awesome! A guy, apparently drunk with beer and happiness, stood on a chair, doing an interpretative dance of Dong’s songs, while all his friends held on to him, to prevent him from falling off the chair.
Someone in the group standing next to us said, “Mahal na mahal siya ng tropa nya o! Lahat nakahawak sa kanya para di siya mahulog.” Such friendships are, yeah, heart-warming. We found ourselves much amused by this guy in the red jacket – he appears in the video above, on the right side of the stage.
We hung about talking with and amongst friends after the gig. Overwhelmed with energy and high from the music, we couldn’t find it in ourselves to go home just yet.
We had a photo taken with Bheng Densing (of The Discoball), and Dong with his family, before going home.
It was a truly awesome night! Thanks Dong for the music. Thanks to the bands who opened the night: Flying Ipis, and Gaijin. And to his back-up band for the night Sandwich and Buddy Zabala, and Team Manila, and all those who made this album launch possible. Again, an awesome night!
“I am Angku and I am a believer of Filipino music.”
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As some sort of endnote, here is a photo of Dong with his back-up band Coffeebreak Island taken after we had lunch at Chef Doy’s Gourmet Restaurant in Magsaysay Avenue, Naga City last September. They were in Naga September, and then October for gigs. CBI has an album of this September trip here and their return gig in October here. Dong Abay’s wife hails from Bicol.
