L.A. Vie

It was a good thing the local boys, too, were aspiring rock stars. Edison had ditched the idea of packing a couple of drums for the mini tour. In fact, he decided not to bring even just his snare drum so he wouldn't have to think about being charged for excess baggage or worse, having his instrument damaged in transit.

I was getting worried that Edison would not be able to find any percussion instrument come performance time. Then the boys arrived as we began our pick-up rehearsals on the morning of our first performance. We were right smack at the Ibajay town plaza when the the kids brought a makeshift drum kit to Edison like an offering to the local patron saint.

The first thing that came to mind was to ask them if they were serious. We almost laughed at the sight of this contraption. The hi-hat was a ring of flattened bottlecaps. The snare drum was a square motor oil container (1 gallon). The bass drum was a large square water container and there were more bottle caps in place of cymbals. The kids also made an improvised kick pedal out of thick rubber bands used for slingshots and a few slivers of bamboo.

Out of courtesy, I asked the other members to jam with us but they were just happy to listen to their 'container' drums being played by who they thought were professionals.

Our performance was a variation of Lipunan ng Karahasan - a multi-media rock opera that I wrote about how kids are exposed to violence in all its states - physical, emotional, moral, etc. It's not an opera in the strict sense but more of a musical review that features my band's original songs, some poems I wrote, a few covers (Juan dela Cruz's Titsers Enemy Number One, The Smiths' Barbarism Begins at Home and Asin's Itanong Mo sa Mga Bata) while the actors dance and do other artsy stuff.

The kids stared at us like they'd forgotten why they were there in the first place. Their eyes became glassy as we performed my original songs that practically no one had heard before save for the band, the theater group and the few people who were unfortunate enough to have been to our gigs. I didn't see their apathy in the first few songs because I was distracted. I was actually pleased with our sound that had become full and tight when Edison started banging on the 'container" drums.

When I began strumming the first few bars of Itanong Mo Sa Mga Bata, there was still no reaction. It was only when I started singing the verses that they finally recognized a song from our 'set list'. I suddenly got goosebumps as they started to applaud and we weren't even in the second stanza yet.

Before flying here, we were worried that the people of Aklan wouldn't appreciate our performance. After all, we were all from Manila, alumni and alumnae of that Jesuit university along Katipunan Avenue. I guess the reception at the rehearsals was indication enough of how the rest of our tour would go.

However, I was still giddy.  I hadn't memorized the lyrics to Itanong Mo sa Mga Bata. Also, I couldn't  decide if I would use my baritone or sing it like Lolit Carbon. Worse, I still hadn't figured out the song's structure. I had already written the lyrics on my left forearm so I could just peek in case I forget.

To relieve some of the stress, we decided to troop to the nearest sari-sari store after the rehearsals and grab some beer. We were disappointed when the vendor told us they don't have San Miguel Pale Pilsen. No beer except Gold Eagle Beer which had the reputation of being more water than an alcoholic beverage. The sari-sari store also didn't own a refrigerator nor a cooler. Our only consolation was that the beer was very cheap.

Edison began praising the 'container' drum which I immediately seconded. Then Paul started telling jokes which we'd all heard before but still laughed at because we were beginning to get bored. One running joke of that trip involved the band Asin. I think it was a scene from a movie where a group of high school students were accosted by military personnel. When the soldiers checked out their bags and saw cassette tapes of Asin, they were immediately arrested and went missing indefinitely.

It was not really a joke. We were laughing because we saw Asin as musicians first. Not to trivialize the politics of Asin's music but there were some other groups/artists who were really anti-government and radical in their views. To us, Asin were  innovators in Pinoy music. They introduced using ethnic instruments. The scene from the movie was, to us, plain irony. Getting arrested for having in your bag a cassette tape with a song about the environment (Masdan Mo Ang Kapaligiran), longing for one's love (Himig ng Pag-ibig) or the diaspora (Ang Pagbabalik).

We also laughed at it because that scene from the movie could very well happen to us. Right there in Ibajay where skirmishes between the New People's Army and the military had been intermittent. Our laughter was a preparation that in case it happened to us, who not only owned Asin cassette tapes but even sang their songs, we could laugh at their ignorance - mistaking singing songs in Tagalog as an indication of being anti-government.

Itanong mo sa mga bata tells us that we can learn a lot from children. We learned so many things during that mini tour. One is to improvise like what the kids did with the container drums. Another one is never to drink beer in the morning. And if you can't really help it, stick to your brand or at least chill the bottles/cans first.

Here's the lyrics and streaming music.