Sound Check, Puhhleeaze!

Finally, i've seen Up Dharma Down perform at an intimate audience. We were strolling around some place in Makati when we came accross a directonal poster to a cafe. It came with their gig schedule and with no second thoughts we decided to see my fave band. And so we went right ahead, made a reservation though we figured Up Dharma won't play until around 12midnight. We did some more strolling. We waited. Patiently.

After getting more veins popping out my root crop feet after a night of walking, we decided to head back the cafe and get our reserved seats at 9:30pm. We kept ordering food (those which were not at all good for our bodies), we talked almost about everything already, when finally, two front acts started playing one after another.

Then Up Dharma Down. At around 12 midnight as we've predicted. I was super excited. Took some pictures of them (zooming in on Armi most of the time) even before they began playing. In no time, they were already playing their first song (which i believe was for their sound check).

They played on. I was being forgiving on the first few songs because the sound mixing wasn't going well. Oh my, it went worse towards the end. I shot a fierce look at the sound technicians at their loft/nook. You woudln't believe what i saw: the two men were both staring at the ceiling with their arms crossed, counting sheep.

We left the cafe right after their first set. I wasn't happy, obviously. I didn't know who to blame. It reminded me of the superb performance we watched for FREE at Moma during one of their summer garden concerts. Before the jazz band started playing (before the organizer even introduced the band), the first person the host gave recognition to was the sound engineer. That's how they revered these people in the industry! And back here we had two men sitting with a loft-view, dreaming of cream puffs while the band was playing. Again, i did not know who to blame. We have so much great local talent. Man, hats off to our local rock scene. Even the front acts were great. Except that they weren't taken care of. Sad.