“If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe.”

Year-end gig by the Bs

Last November 28th’s gig is of course the last public one by the Bs for year 2007 and it tells us that while the audience are not really that jampacked, a lot of them were first-timers and a young kid, who has always hated their musical genre, even begun to like the Bs like a real bloomie in the end. That is sure one hell of the social contagion that Bs can cause. He was a brother of one of our female bloomies.

It was quite a great day – Bs’ way of sending their Christmas cheers to everyone who like their music and who probably like them too – on a personal level. One side of the audience, composed of medical specialists from the AFP Medical Corps went to watch and a lady doctor even has to dance alone – for all she cares if no one like her has to dance with the music. She was simply beautiful.

In the first part of the show alone, Rocky summoned an eleven- year old who came also in his turtle-neck long-sleeve white t-shirt to play the drums with the fabulous Bs and was acknowledged as the ‘6th member’ of the Bs. After the three ‘tacks’ on his pair of drumsticks, he did let go a piece that the audience truly love to hear and listen to and of course, so far as the bloomies were concerned, let alone the Bs themselves, the performance passed muster. Niels, the boy who is also known as Pepe, Jr. proved equal to the task.

It’s simply this. With great music, come great audience although they come indicatively from our middle-class caste system. At the very least, they look like part of the yuppy population in these contemporary times just wanting to get a piece of the action. Who wouldn’t, after all, like to listen to the great artists that were the Bs. As a near B-fanatic, it was my first time to have realized that Rocky, the drummer boy, has both a very nice voice and a typical style when he hits the drums. I then remember how he truly created great impact during the time that the Gary Lewis and the Playboys held a concert at the big dome, the Araneta Coliseum.

The point I am driving at is that apparently, we can now take one B in isolation. This means, that Rocky, for one, can perform alone and create the same level of satisfaction from a musical number than when he is with the group of Bs. Again, Lakan as it is with Louie and Pepe and Jayjay, for that matter, can, individually and in isolation, perform and entertain us as a consummate musical artist. This view does not of course pre-suppose we can now dissolve the band, not at all.

I am only trying to point out here that if getting the Bs to perform – as a full complement – and that the same is rather expensive, especially in a private engagement, then, by all means, we shall try to invite any of Bs as an individual artist. But that could surely dissolve the group as a rock and roll band – theoretically enough. It will be a long wait till we get to the Bs again at the Eastwood restaurant circuit – a long wait. Well, let them have their Christmas, too.

There was this lady band who also performed in the second half of the show except that, their brand of music did not quite appeal to taste (my musical bias, forgive me). That democratizes music, one way or other. Who knows others love the music dish even greater than that of our old menu? This is a free country and we will not stop to speak our mind – think loud, act in accordance with our conviction, stand and fight for our rights – much like what the people now accused of rebellion and inciting to rebellion has one in one particular moment of our history.

Speaking of musical moments, that one where Niels performed ala Rocky in a single musical number is really just fantastic. And the group of Trillanes did perform too, some days after and that political moment, by itself, is a reminder that nothing in this country is really going right. There was Dean Francisco Nemenzo, my dean when I was a former student of UP, an old Guingona, a bishop, an activist Atty. J.V. Bautista who knows his law more than State Prosecutor Emmanuel Velasco even had a clue.

Both in the musical as well as in the political realm, we nurture that sense of rebellion in a crushing social order characterized with uncompromising stupidity, arrogance, and fascist orientation. Unlike the Bs’ musical genre, that of the government is a punishing Machiavellian scare and they are trying to create in our political beach that “shark-attacks effect” to bring us all to submission.

That curfew, ladies and gentlemen, is uncalled for. It is an ‘obstruction of justice’ – musically and politically. May the crazy genius behind this move realize this faux pas or it will do injustice to the yuppies amongst us, the professionals in our midst, the military doctors who do know their left foot from their right – et cetera et cetera. Truly, it gives one sigh of relief to rather go to Eastwood and listen to the Bloomfields – that damned great rock and roll band – that has now invaded our universe.

Kudos to Rocky, Louie, Pepe, Lakan and Jayjay (in no particular order) for a show – well-done! And of course, George – thank you so much. And by the way, that little boy Niels stays in my place. Merry Christmas everyone and may God bless this country that goes to the dogs!

Bloomfields

– let the fields bloom!

The Bs – or liking them – is culture-bound. First-timers – young or old – have always
been captive audience. To think that it
is just some purely rock and roll stuff ought to be rather unbelievable. One then tends to ask – what is with the Bs
that is well, not found in another pack of ‘rockers and rollers’ in a
‘rocker-roller musical ride’?  

 We all love
cool stuff, don’t we? And

Central

Plaza

or

Fuente Circle

in Eastwood is venue for
the Bs’ regular Wednesday gig although CP is still under renovation. FC provides a less than panoramic view with
its rather makeshift stage compared to CP. Sadly, CP is not about to open soon – not next week, not next month, not
likely soon. FC or CP doesn’t really matter, does it? Rock where the Bs rock, roll where they
roll. For life is music. And music of this type sets toes on
fire. 

Karl

Popper

wrote the book, “The Open Society and Its Enemies” and the Bs, like its
counterparts knew this as a reality. No
one is perfect. Every band, worth its
salt, strives for perfection and the Bs is no exception. Sadly, others are simply too quick to judge –
even have to rob their own sense of pessimism to the more adoring patrons of
Bs. Viewed differently, critics are
doing the Bs a favor – not a disservice.

Or, so I thought. There simply are a lot of options on how one
can best promote a musical group and the Bs has started to invade the boob
tube, the radio waves, the print, and even the web. While Eastwood is home to the Bs and their
adoring fans as it is with maybe – the Blue Wave in Macapagal Avenue, or Aruba
in Mall of Asia, or Bellevue Hotel in Alabang, or Ricco Renzo Bar in Makati –
it is of no real moment where the gigs break. Truth is, you can take the Bs out of Eastwood.  

 Bs performs
in a quite borderless environment. 

Hawaii

and Hongkong
registered in the musical Richter scale when the Bs touched everyone with their
familiar tunes, antics, and perhaps signature voices. Only

George

knows how many invitations or requests have to be turned down owing to the Bs’
fully-booked schedule until the 1^st quarter of next year. If that were any reliable gauge, it tells us
that perhaps, the Bs is the highest paid band in the local music scene. That is not said as to attract violent
reactions from some quarters, though. 

 Of late,
undoubtedly, the Bs attempted to experiment on various other stuffs. Jayjay even tried brass – blowing the trumpet
– and maybe the sound produced fell flat with what we normally expect from a
trumpeter. But even if Jayjay may have
been not much of a trumpeter – so be it. Trumpets probably match better with jazz music (or so I’m wrong?). Other songs have likewise been sung by the Bs
– one caught fire – ‘Obladi, Oblada’. In
itself, every gig is a social experiment in its musical acceptability. Playing new instruments, singing new songs,
morphing into dancers than rock and roll artists – all these – are virtual
questions in a survey. 

 What is
wrong with trying to know what appeals to the taste or liking of a larger, less
homogenous, more varied audiences? Kids
love the Bs, no matter what. Teenagers
as much as love them, too. Adults – or
those born from the 1950s to the 1960s – are willing victims,
matter-of-factly. Just everyone can
really like them perform where they do although perhaps, the Bs’ first debut
with foreign stand outs could have been that – in the Gary Lewis and the
Playboys concert at the Araneta Coliseum or the big damned dome.

 Not too
many people know that the Bs come with their families. They listen, too. If every member of the Bs is friend to one
another (is there any other option left?), their parents unto other parents
are, too. There ought to be a larger
circle of families or friends coming into the gigs for a much-deserved respite
from routine, boredom, that rat race called living in a cosmopolitan jungle.

 The Bs are
just boys who don’t have to descend from their Ivory Towers to send across a
message. They are what you see,
individually and collectively – soft-spoken, courteous, meek, average. No one tends to turn down anyone for a
‘photo-ops’ with each or all of them. Too obliging, too warm, too accessible. Perhaps, they love the audience and the crowd as much as their fans love
them. 

 Funny but
true, the rains seem to be ‘kill joy’ at Eastwood last 14 November. And who would like to get wet in an evening
of great musical numbers? But none of us
want to get wet, do we? And great
musical bands are not at all that scarce. They even have their own websites and I must state that if you ever wish
to ‘sign in’ – bring an umbrella with you. 

 The point I
am trying to drive at is this – there are other websites or links hostile to
the Bs. Any of these could get you
wet. In other words, sometimes we can’t
really think that loud. Fact is, an
audience’s round of applause for the Bs might be enough to break the ear drums
of Bs’ unpatronizing audience. 

 For those
of us who never miss a gig at Eastwood on a Wednesday night, evenings are safe
but even the place is not at all ‘off-limits’ to even the non-adoring
viewers. Be the better judge whether a
first-time visit deserves a second time. Meantime, let the Bs do the rock and roll – beyond its limits. So guys, how about seeing you at Eastwood
come 21^st of November?  

Batasan blast – what’s this?

JDV was uncharacteristically too
quick to point the accusing finger to terrorists or  anarchists right after a bomb that exploded at
the South Wing Entrance of the Batasan killed three, badly wounded other
individuals, destroyed cars and government property.

 GMA, on the
other hand, appeared on national TV to caution against those spreading  unverified claims as to who the culprit is to
this rather bastard act of cowardice as she promised to go at the bottom of
things on this incident.

 DILG chief
likewise theorized, albeit prematurely, that the blast was directed to

Congressman

Akbar

as some
weeks before this incident, there had been intelligence reports of an
assassination plot. If it were something
known to the DILG chief beforehand, had there been enough precautionary
measures taken as would have precluded this bomb explosion right at the
home-front?

PNP

chief claimed to have known the owners of the
two-motorcycles that were suspected as the bomb carriers, parked as they were
near the casualties’ cars. The
post-blast operatives appear rather too slow to make public its findings on
what kind of explosive materials may have set off this tragic blast. 

 Against
this backdrop, one might ask – what is happening to this country, Madame
President? Is this not part of a larger
scenario that would set the stage for a military regime? Could this not be the work of media genius to
deflect public attention from the more mundane societal issues to the less?

 Tri-media
(TV, radio, print, electronic), as usual, now train their focus on this event
as though the recent Glorietta bombing and the fatal vehicular accident that
killed

Atty.

Saguisag

’s wife have now become
less of media value. The Congress’
payola, more importantly, has been hidden from public view. This turn-to-to-the-next-page
practice in news reportage is really beyond comprehension.

 Batasan
blast and that of Glorietta really share a lot in common. In both, the cause of the explosion is not known
till now. The perpetrators, likewise,
are yet to be identified. The extent of
possible damage of such explosions is basically the same – more casualties with
more people, less with less. Versions,
coming from independent sources, conflict with one another.

 A viewing
universe is at a lost – awaits only the more official theory on all these. Is there an emerging pattern of more
explosions that would kill or harm target personalities, inflict death or
injury to innocent people, create damage to private or public properties, sow
chaos, intrigue, and all that? Are there
paid mercenaries to pull al these tricks from their dirty departments?

 Come to
think of it, the blast inside the very premises of the Batasan Complex is not
one that could normally be undertaken without being nipped in the bud. And this one, escaped notice. What is this? Even veteran coup plotters are not about the group that can launch such
kind of an attack – right at the heart of Batasan. How then did it happen?

 The
assassination theory is a self-contradictory claim given that the radius of
possible damage the explosion would cause is illogically too large. It is shotgun approach – and as such, could
not have been directed toward a particular target. The theory of motorcycle bombs is an
untenable one even highly stupid given that motorcycle riders are vulnerable to
checkpoints. To blame the “tiangge” is
another scapegoat to provide alibi for a possible serious security lapse.

 In the
higher scheme of things, it just might be a political statement. It takes away from our collective
consciousness the otherwise fresh but issues of overriding importance at this
point in time. The move on whether to
unseat JDV for some indicative involvement in the issue of payola shall be automatically
shelved for now. The equally pressing
move to push the impeachment case against GMA will have to placed in the back
burner in favor of what is neatly and skillfully projected as a better option
given this series of explosions.

 How indeed
the Batasan blast was caused by motorcycle bombs when there were no footages at
all of a single motorcycle torn into pieces? Why did the

PNP

remove all
the fallen debris, flashed down with water nearly everything that should have
been preserved as crucial evidence? The
assassin would again be a fall guy just to close this page in history, pray
tell. 

Bloomfields

’ walk to fame!

 At the rate
and pace it goes, the fast-emerging retro band – the

Bloomfields

– will soon become a national security issue. There might come a time when there are more children, kids, teens, young
girls and boys, even adults from across the age spectrum found in Eastwood (and
beyond) than in their respective places of abode. When this happens, the National Security
Adviser is well-advised to keep tabs of this development before everything goes
out of hand. Sounds McCarthyst? No sir, but it is not an overstatement to say
that all we see on the surface of this little localized ‘planet’ is a rock band
now known to an expanding population of kindred souls. The

Bloomfields

– Jayjay, Pepe,

Louie

,
Lakan, and Rocky – at the exclusion of all other bands is now making the
waves. And soon enough, everybody else
will see them coming. 

 That 31^st
of October in Eastwood is truly awesome, by Rocky’s very words. Indeed, it was never like that before as an
entirely very juvenile group, aged 3 to 19 from presumably middle class
families – invade Fuente Circle in Eastwood – to get a piece of the
action. All tables were filled – not few
– were standing but glued to the show they are watching. It was such an evening and Pepe, some minutes
before the show has reason to be worried as to be apologetic that they might
already be some kind of a ‘bad influence’ to my three kids. Thinking out loud, the

Bloomfields

is not
a bad influence to my kids. To us
parents – the kids are. The ‘generation
gap’ has just been bridged by this evolving and patronizing fondness for the
members of the band. To see other
parents with their kids as well truly relieve us from any moral responsibility
over our own. Right or wrong, music is
all there is to it.

 The original
pack of bloomies doubled in size that evening and it is axiomatic that parents
have become the bad influence over their own kids as they trooped to Eastwood
for what was to be a simple Halloween party. There is no passing the buck now. In the spirit of clean and wholesome fun, the

Bloomfields

met
the universal criteria of what a good rock band is. Some degree of TV exposure is partly
responsible for this craze. Now more
people will go to where they will find the

Bloomfields

in their regular gigs – north, south, east and west of

Manila

. It is not about how much one family will shell out for each viewing
session. It is a common therapy from our
pestering collective existence in a country ran by evil-doers, bootlickers,
criminals in uniforms, ‘commissioners’.

Bloomfields

is set to become the next phenomenal rock band. Its mercurial rise to fame is a group project, call it that. Molecular

Louie

– less ‘eye contact’ with a revering audience – is superb by any standard. Leader-of-the-band Jayjay is not King Creole
for nothing – long live Jayjay. Magnetic
Pepe and his glueing stare – full eye contact (and its captives) - is
no age-specific (pardon me). Lakan and
his rare voice put more fingers to the keys than are necessary. Rocky-drummer boy Rocky discovers every new
tone where he hits his sticks to.  Even

George

, the disc-jockey out of the box has voice that
is too prompting. All the six are
definitely doomed to fame, if you follow my drift. After all, each performance is created as
though it were the last and thus, the musical recital is one for

Guinness

.

 Not
surprisingly, no two performances of

Bloomfields

leave the same and
identical trace. Each performance is
always different from the last – the relationship being moment-specific. Thus, it does not bore anyone who goes to
Eastwood as a matter of unstoppable habit or addiction. There could really be one of a problem on
whether

Bloomfields

can connect to all kinds of people in the Great Cultural Divide. Mall experience tells us that indeed, in mall
tours,

Bloomfields

does not quite connect with the rest of the pack. More TV appearances at drowning frequency may
yet be necessary to pole-vault the retro band to highest status as the
‘national rock band’. Eastwood, Blue
Wave,

Aruba

, or else where – these are but
music laboratories for just the middle class of society writ large. 

 Whatever
segment of our realpolitik

Bloomfields

’
brand of rock music caters to – is of no moment. If others will tend to accuse the group for
its inherent middle class bias, let them be proven wrong. In music, there are no social classes. No such thing as elitist rock. Remember that if we light others’ candles, we don’t have to lose the light. Thus, if

Bloomfields

are out there to pluck
their guitars, punch their keyboard, bang their cymbals, hit their drums –
perform to their own excesses – let the listener be the better judge. A lot of people from all walks of life love
the

Bloomfields

.  Whether
there is only one Wednesday in a week, in a month, in a year, or in a lifetime,
it is worth listening to this band – one gig at a time. 

PRIMER

C.

UP Diliman,

Quezon
  City

 Email: nielsky_2003@yahoo.com Cell: 09164985265