ARE we there yet? Is the generation that spawned the Eraserheads and a thousand other garage bands now finally allowed to rest on its laurels and celebrate not just its failures, a compulsion that the gen x'ers are very good at, but now, also its victories? Leave it to me to complicate what is easily a fun night of nostalgia for the 40-something set, 25 years after the first time they listened to "Pare ko."
But another nagging question pestered me as I listened there transfixed to the front man without his three other UP buddies is that, am I listening to the authentic thing? Without the grating distortion and strange licks of Marcus Adoro? When Buddy Zabala is replaced by the other star of the night in mini-skirt? When Raims Marasigan is just not there behind the kit? When "Pare Ko" as arranged and rendered is slick and resigned instead of nervous and jittery?
The questions above are intertwined to a third dilemma. Now saddled with family and other adult responsibilities, is the generation of Punk Zappa, they who used to "like listening to radio, reading the comics, and eating bloody pishbols," ready to give up the angst, and all these questions; and surrender to an evening of good clean nostalgic fun with Ely Buendia, the rockstar?
Truth be told, as someone who grew up with the members of the Eraserheads at the state university in those heady days, there was very little expectation of getting entertained then and now. It was enough to enjoy the gift of the band's incomparable wit and humor and musical adventurism that seemed to have tapped into the zeitgeist of the period through the radio and cassette tapes we listened to; so much so that everyone of a certain age of that time knew all the lyrics and chords to their songs.
One went to their concert as homage and as pilgrimage to the rock gods of our generation. They did not have to be amiable and pleasing and all they had to do was to play loud and rowdy so that the punkilitos can slam and stomp a dust storm with their feet in a controlled descent into chaos until the lights are turned on, the music plugged out, and the university cops are called in. Ely can be aloof and detached and it did not matter. Another way of putting it is that he and the rest of the band were allowed that latitude to be who they wanted to be on and offstage and that was respected. If Ely gets to raise his head from his guitar pedals and acknowledge the crowd, it was like getting blessed by the Pope at church on Sunday.
It was thus a pleasant a surprise to see a different Ely Buendia preaching before his congregation last August 18, 2018 at the Limketkai Atrium in Cagayan de Oro. For the longest time, Ely had a reputation to be one among the many "enfant terrible" of the local rock scene. But that night, he was a gracious performer even engaging the crowd with a few spiels between songs. Whether the change in mood was to make up for the Davao-leg that, according to chatter, did not go so well or whether there really is a new Ely Buendia bringing with him a new kind of persona and energy that radiates from the stage is a point of curiosity. I am betting it is more of the latter if we are to gauge the over-all production and staging of the concert entitled revealingly as his "greatest hits".
For a plethora of reasons, band members come and go or disband altogether, and it must have been a difficult baggage and also a privilege for someone like Ely, who has continued to remain active in the music scene as a solo artist, to carry throughout all this time, his former band's great legacy.
But instead of scoffing at his past, or being ironic to save face, in this particular evening, there was nothing but grace and acceptance about his role as front man and lead songwriter of the legendary band the Eraserheads. With the contribution of a horn section, keyboards, and four guitars including Nitoy Adriano of The Jerks, back-up singers, with the female bassist who was a looker completing the rhythm section, the arrangements and delivery of the classic songs were fuller, intricate, and big-sounding.
It was as if Ely Buendia was playing homage to his former buddies in the band by being respectful to the songs that he and the others wrote and performed together in the circuit two decades ago by making these sound better and effective. And he did not stop there. The good vibes he was radiating from the stage somehow felt that he was also finally acknowledging the role that he and his band played in the life of a generation. Needless to say, it was a lovefest between artist and audience that night, with a full venue singing along with Ely in almost all his songs.
Especially poignant were youthful anthems that has achieved contemporary resonance given the times. There was Ely wailing with his guitar for dead starlets in Spolarium. While the venue swarmed with security personnel, it was cathartic to shout "andaming bawal sa mundo, sinasakal nila tayo!"
That evening was a one-of-a-kind experience and told the story in a dozen songs before an appreciative crowd of a rock icon surviving the adversities of being in the limelight to finally embrace his age, and his no small achievement touching the lives of a generation with his music. It was also the narrative of a generation who came to watch that night -- forty-something survivors of life, each with their own story to tell about overcoming the past, the journey reflected through the timeless songs that Ely played. No need for angst here, for now. Just grace and acceptance, and rightful celebration.
Congratulations to Kong Hua High School Batch 93 for making that night of celebration possible!