Once again, the cycle of pop culture has caught up again with rock music. Once again, riding the crest are rock bands enjoying a renewed interest from the general public, whether accidental or a natural evolution, it doesn’t matter. Everything from coffee commercials to teleserye theme songs are now all about rock bands. Not since the reign of The Eraserheads, arguably the most influential band in the Philippines ever, have we seen this much brouhaha.
It’s a good time to be in a rock band.
If anything, we should celebrate the end of Lito Camo’s streak of irritatingly ubiquitous pop songs that degenerated company Christmas parties to Spagetti, Ocho-ocho and Yeye Vonell dance fests. What were the Filipinos thinking? I mean, I’m actually surprised it lasted as long as it did. Pop culture in our third world country, was, for a short but tortuous time, revolving around nursery tunes sung to absurd lyrics with embarrassing dance moves to boot! Everyone, from politicians, to matinee idols, to the local drunk at Manang’s sari-sari store was dancing to it. At least the local drunk had his excuse. What about the rest of the country? Of course, it simply couldn’t last. Not even April “Boy” Regino late jump on the bandwagon could save this musical mutation, I refuse to acknowledge as a legitimate genre, from extinction. Thankfully, the end of kindergarten-pop has arrived.
It’s a good time to be in a rock band.
If anything, we should also celebrate the end of the band subgroup that I almost thought would forever rule the entertainment strips, the show band. Bands that, for years and years and for weekend after weekend, almost exclusively played party covers. These bands ruled clubs and parties for a long and almost as painful a time. This iteration and twisted version of the band formula was almost always fronted by good-looking girls, or at least girls who could pretend to be. They almost always opened there sets with the high-pitched call “are you ready to party!” and ended with “see you next week!” I mean for how long can people keep dancing to Fatima Rainey’s Hey and not get tired of it. Show bands may have fooled the moneyed, middle-aged crowd along with the corporate sponsors always on the money trail for a long time, but even the partay people in the house can’t raise the roof forever. Thankfully, the end of the party band has arrived.
It’s a good time to be in a rock band.
If anything, there no longer is one single dominating genre ruling today’s current band scene. Louder and badder, isn’t necessarily the ‘it’ factor anymore. You don’t need tattoos and a talent for growling to be noticed now. Schoolboy looks and good manners can work just as well today. If anything, some bands have even thrived projecting a softer, sadder side. For them, why go dirty when you can look ‘pogi’, and since for many, quiet is the new loud, why not more poetry than obscenity. But more than all that, it’s this band generation’s diversity that strikes many observers. The gamut is now wider and more evenly filled up along the whole genre spectrum. Mod, emo, reggae, ‘pogi’, dunk, you name it. Unlike previous generations, there is no single supergroup like Juan de la Cruz band of the 70’s, The Dawn of the 80’s, or Eraserheads of the 90’s. Everybody can lay their own claim to fame, whether with a single hit or even just a single gig, it is everybody’s game now. Finally, the democratization of local band music has arrived.
It’s a good time to be in a rock band.
They say there is an old Chinese curse that says: may you live in interesting times. For the band scene at least, these are definitely interesting times. For so long, underground bands have struggled to keep the scene alive and promoted its music against all opposition from the armies of plain bad taste. Now, finally, bands have emerged triumphant and recognized. Ironically, the noon-time shows and sitcoms we’ve accused of being the purveyors of cheap entertainment have once again infused bands into their scripts and programs. Once again, bands rule the pop culture endorsing fast moving consumer goods in TV commercials, the traditional territory of the famous and the famously clueless celebrities. Once again, hordes of fans now troop to stadium-sized concerts to watch gigs. Once again, band albums, original or pirated, are selling by the thousands.
Once again, in the Philippines, bands have become cool. Which now begs the question, for how long? Now that we bands have gotten our wish, are we prepared to give the Filipino public the better alternative to all the entertainment crap they’ve suffered because they didn’t know better? Or are we doomed to blow our chance, degenerate and become embarrassments ourselves?
Like they keep saying, careful what you wish for, it might come true.
