Before I opened my blog I had a lot of things going in my head and I thought, "I should write this down now before I forget it." And what do you know, my mind's a blank.
I know I wanted to write something interesting about my record player. I just finished watching the film adaptation of The Perks of Being A Wallflower and looked up the song list when I saw that they used a different song for the tunnel scene. In the movie they used "Heroes" by David Bowie but in the book it was Fleetwood Mac's "Landslide". I remembered that I have a vinyl of Fleetwood Mac's album Rumours. I dusted it off and discovered "Landslide" wasn't in it. I played the record anyway. A quick search on Wikipedia and I find out it's the band's most successful album, and even won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1978.
My copy has several scratches so I didn't get to enjoy some of the songs but it's good enough that I listened through the skips. There's one familiar song, "Dreams." You'd know it if you're a 90s kid and watched The Corrs on MTV.
I've always been partial to sad/slow songs so my favorites are "Never Going Back Again", "Songbird", and the last three songs: "I Don't Want to Know", "Oh Daddy", and "Gold Dust Woman."
I plan to listen to its remastered version which was released in 2004. During my morning commute I usually listen to The Morning Rush podcasts, but lately I've been mixing it up with my playlists. It's been a while since I got hooked on an album. I only have two on my phone, Beyonce's self-titled and Sarah Bareilles's The Blessed Unrest. I guess I'll be adding Rumours now.
Four years ago, when I didn't care about how much things cost, I bought this record player in Rockwell from a man who then sold me other stuff, including a stash of vinyls and an antique electric fan. I've gotten a lot of jabs from my family and friends for spending (they used the term wasting) money, but I'll never regret buying my player. They're making a come back and they're more expensive now, but when people ask me, I can tell them I was way ahead of the pack.
That's all. Good night world, hope you had a nice weekend!
A little back story: I am a big music fan. I turn to music when I'm happy and even more when I'm sad. I've been a choir member since I was seven years old, and songs bring me back to certain moments of my life. I will always associate Avril Lavigne's album Let Go with our Tagaytay camping trip when I was a high school senior. Damien Rice's "Cannonball" was my 2006 theme song. Adele's album 21 helped get me through the last part of 2011 and the first quarter or 2012. "Butterfly Kisses" will always be for my Dad, and "Grow Old With You" for Jay.
Jay and I are avid music lovers. We love going to UP Fair and attending concerts when we can. One of my best memories of him is when we attended both of Eraserheads' reunion concerts: The Reunion and The Final Set.
Because he was working in Vietnam back in March, I had to take Niña to the Script's concert in Araneta Coliseum. Last month, my Mom asked me if I wanted to go to Bamboo's Musikat Jam concert with her at Resorts World Manila. I immediately said yes because 1) it's free, and 2) Jay wasn't here to accompany me.
I must admit I'm not a big Bamboo fan. Of course I know all the hit songs when he was still with Rivermaya, and I know the chorus of Bamboo's (the band) rock hits. I don't follow his music closely, it's just that he's everywhere so you can't really miss his songs.
But after watching him in an intimate indoor venue and hearing him sing live using a good sound system, I now understand his appeal. I've only heard him sing the rock songs in outdoor venues before, so I was more a fan of the electric vibe he brings to the stage.
I think the mark of a true artist is when his voice is as good live as it is recorded. I daresay, Bamboo sounds even better live. His voice is so smooth even when he's supposed to be screaming, and clear even if he's being squished by eager fans wanting to take a photo. In Filipino, the perfect word is swabe.
The first part of the concert concentrated on tracks from his solo album No Water, No Moon. But my heart skipped a beat when I heard the band play the opening chords of one of my all-time favorite songs, Bonnie Raitt's "I Can't Make You Love Me."
Now, I have to point out that Bamboo's band (not to be confused with his former band with the same name) is very good. A girl provided back-up vocals, played the piano, and also the flute. The double bass (the giant violin) player also played the guitar (I'm assuming it was a bass guitar as well). And when Bamboo sang a wicked version of "Wonderwall," I was mentally floating on musical heaven while the strings were playing their solo part. Aaaaah, strings. Side note: The violin and cello were the cool kind, the ones that look like skeletons of the actual instruments.
The second part of the concert was the rock part, the one the audience was waiting for. Bamboo started the set with Rivermaya's "214," and followed it with the other hits. I can't remember the exact order, but it included: "Elesi," "Tatsulok," "Hallelujiah," and "NoyPi." And because Bamboo is the Globe Tattoo@Home Ambassador, he also sang the LSS-inducing "Carousel," which is the theme song used for Tattoo@Home.
Until that point, the atmosphere was subdued, a bit stiff and formal since we were at RWM's Newport Performance Theater. Bamboo kept going down the stage to the audience, but because he was singing the slow songs, the people were contented taking his photos from afar.
Things changed once he started rocking. I couldn't see exactly what he was stepping on, but on two occasions he was surrounded by screaming fans while he towered over them and security personnel were trying very hard to control the crowd. The people then rushed to the stage, phones and tablets in hand, arms raised and jumping along. The technical crew had to protect the speakers from falling off the stage.
Bamboo was wired enough to grant an encore of several songs including "Adik Sa'yo," "Englishman in New York" and "Sunday Morning." I'm not sure if there were others, I was too busy smiling at him and reaching for his hand (which he shook twice! Haha). A concert-goer lives for moments like that. When you're so close to the stage you almost get a stiff neck, when you're so pumped and happy you try to make the bouncers smile and sing along.
Bamboo, you did not disappoint. I shall listen to your solo album and pick a favorite.
As I was searching for Bamboo's songs, I came across his latest video which made me smile. Listen to some good music and enjoy your Sunday dear reader! :)
