Tuesday, June 16, 2009

AKO MISMO Dog Tag Day


I like the way the organizers of this activity reached out to the Filipinos. It was surprising to find a lolo, a lola, complete families with their toddlers and bagets, college students, yuppies, and staple attendees of rock gigs (the rakistas and occasionally, those feeling "emos") in Ako Mismo's Dog Tag Day held at the Fort Open Field last Saturday (June 12, 2009).

I was still drooling in my sleep when I got a text from my tropa, Calai. She said it was an emergency. I called her up and the gig was set. We were supposed to meet at the Market but I got lost. Haha! It was my first time in Boni High St. We lined up for almost three hours under the scorching sun for dog tags. That was our passport to the gig. Bili kami madami... A Dog Tag is at P40 and it's worth it. Not bad for a good cause.... Proceeds will be donated to the various foundations and NGOs that participated in the event.
The first act was Roots of Rock, an up and coming band. Followed by Juan Pablo Dream and Skabeche. What I like best about Pablo's performance is their rendition of Tears for Fear's "Shout!" Their back up dancers seemed to be stoned too. Felt like twisting in the 60s. Skabeche's got me grooving with their homegrown brand of ska music! Apart from these bands is the entertainment brought by funny guy, Ramon Bautista who happened to be more popular than Chris Tiu. He co-hosted along with Mark Abaya who liked to call himself KC Montero and whose pledge was "HINDI NA KO MANLOLOKO NG BABAE." (No Mark! Lokohin mo ako... Basta ikaw! Hehe). Hours later, the crowd witnessed him kissing a fan and dancing in front of her bare chested while singing "One Look". Damned! Why didn't I stayed in that area!!! After that performance, I told myself I got to have their new album!


One of the most awaited performances of the night was that of Kamikazee. His antics was simply out of this world. I salute Jay for being so discreet and prudent with his choice of words since a great number of minors/ kids were present. In a regular gig, he would casually blurt out his staple set of profanities which the crowd find amusing! When I was in UP Fair many many years ago, I dozed off but was awaken by loud and shocking curses. Then I realized it was Kamikazee, Jay just wearing green boxer shorts... So going back, instead of saying gagalisin sa b@y$g... "balls na lang." He was actually pleading to the audience not to patronize piracy but instead buy the original. Yung album nila may bulong... may sumpa. Those who will buy pirated ones ay gagalisin..sa.. you know where. So, let's all buy original "Long Time Noisy!" Hindi na sila bata, may mga pamilya na sila.. They need our money! Haha...

Here's some highlights..
The long queue..

The hosts...

Wonder Wall...


Freedom Wall? It's the Pledge Wall.. It was just too frustrating to find out that some stupid people have nothing on their minds but baloneys and nonsensical stuff... Makabuluhan lang ang dapat sinusulat. If you have nothing but rubbish running in your mind, just get lost! I actually told the organizer that they should have a ready bottle of alcohol and cotton that they could use in erasing those "graffiti."


Of course, the AKO MISMO photo wall... Night will not be complete without this.

One thing that we missed though was the face painting... Too many people queuing up...
My favorite performance so far was from Pupil... The legend, Ely Buendia, and his band was the last to perform. Their song Alapaap proves to be a classic... I actually find Ely so suplado. He could not even give us a glance whenever he passed by us before. But I must admit, the guy's a genius.
I decided to stay and chill out behind the crowd because I'm so d***** tired of standing. Thanks God, there was no mosh pit. I told you, the crowd was heterogenous in nature. Separating myself from the crowd made me miss Bamboo's close encounter with the audience... Kahit kailan talaga cool sha with his fans... I once told him... "Crush ka ng bf ko, picture naman kayo!" Hehe.. Close... (Whatever happen to that pic. Never got the chance to print it).

That's all! Ciao!