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Front Act on The Youth Concert in Roxas City

We were invited to do a front act with the band called The Youth.  They were known for their strong lyrical protest on certain issues like politics and/or politicians, waste disposal, pollution, untoward officials and even citizens that are headache to the society.  Anyways, so much intro for the band.  We were invited by Christian Blanco, the lead singer of the band Gremlinz who's one of the organizer of the concert.

The weather during that evening was not good as it was raining heavily, although the gig was held in our Civic Centre but the people were hesitant to come because of the bad weather.  Well as they said, the show must go on.  We were the first band to play as we are the front act, and we thought nobody was around during the time slot that was given to us, being the opening act.  But when we had our first song which is Shine by Collective Soul and I was the one singing that time, the crowd just rushed in front of the stage out of nowhere. I can't remember exactly that setup that night of what amplifier was used or drum kit but my gear that night was Lyon Sunburst Strat by Washburn borrowed from Louie, Boss Distortion made in Taiwan borrowed from "Daboy" coz he wants it get signed by the band, Ibanez Flanger and may be Fender or Peavey Amp.  Then our second song was Lightning Crashes by Live and still I was the one singing the song.  The Ibanez Flanger was perfect on that song.  Then, Louie sand Lakas Tama by Siakol, Dolores sang Na Naman by Color It Red and Im guessing either Zombie by Cranberries or Ironic by Alanis Morissette.

The funny thing about this gig was, Barbie Almalbis showed up and during that time there's no HYP (Hungry Young Poets) or Barbie's Cradle yet.  She was solo artist with her guitar and harmonica and because I've known her during the battle of the bands in Roxas when I borrowed her Boss Distortion, she approached me and said, I need a bassist and a drummer can I borrow your drummer and bassist?  I replied I can play drums, not because Im a good drummer but because I was mesmerized and then she replied Oh yes, you do play drums, then just get me your bassist.  I called our Jingle, our lead guitarist as she also knew Barbie and said to him that he'll be playing bass for Barbie.  So we had a short briefing about the song and it was Hands In My Pocket by Alanis.  Jingle and I were familiar of the song but we have not played it yet plus Im not a drummer and Jingle's not a bassist.  Anyways, Barbie said it is on the key of G and said to us you will know it later when we start playing and that was it.  My bandmates were surprised seeing us on stage again with Barbie Almalbis and we played Hands In My Pocket.  My bandmates called us cheat because first of all Im not a drummer and Jingle's not a bassist plus Barbie looked for our drummer and bassist but we snatched the opportunity.  It was a very nice gig though most especially when The Youth played on stage.  We were in the mosh pit and people are doing stage dive and push push and slam dancing, and I saw my ex who enjoyed the gig as well plus I was with a friend where my ex got jealous thinking I got a new girlfriend.

So much for that. The Youth is like The Nirvana of the Philippines because not only they are a 3-piece band but also the Lead Singer/Guitarist setup is the same with Kurt Cobain.  A flanger and a distortion.  All throughout their concert or shall I say most of their songs you can hear the flanger and distortion combination.  I will never forget that gig in my life not only because I jammed with Barbie Almalbis and enjoyed slam dancing and headbanging but because I was rubbing elbows with one of the famous bands in the Philippines which is The Youth and not to mention I saw my ex during the gig.

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