Silver lining at Silvercity

I try to attend the NU107 Rock Awards every year but this year I was particularly curious to go for two reasons:

First there was a minor controversy involving negative reactions to some of the nominees, as voiced by a few figures in the local media and the general blogosphere.

Second was the change in venue: after several years at the World Trade Center, the Rock Awards would be held at Silvercity in Pasig—a place I’d never even heard of before last week.

On the night of the Rock Awards, I discovered Silvercity was a huge car showroom. This made for a bit of sonic awkwardness. I wasn’t sure if it was the shape of the space we were in, or the fact that the building wasn’t really built for these kinds of events. It could’ve been a faulty sound system, but the music wasn’t as clear as we would have liked.

There was heavy reverb and everything sounded muddled, or at least it did in the VIP section where I happened to find myself in.

For the first time the VIP section wasn’t entirely afforded a good view of the stage and the show proper, which kind of defeated the purpose for me.

Situated on the second floor with limited balcony space, those of us actually interested in the show had to content ourselves to watch monitors so we could see what was happening onstage. Thus I was able to watch on TV some of the country’s top bands perform, alternating with celebrity presenters and NU DJs handing out awards. Even if I was at the event itself.

Rico Blanco opened the show with a bang. Or maybe he did; I’m not sure, I was late. He did win Vocalist of the Year though. The first band I saw was Markus Highway, though it took a friend to point out who they were.

The ever-reliable Radioactive Sago Project, all dressed in white, gave a spirited performance, joined by back-up vocalists. Greyhoundz also had back-up vocalists, though they seemed to be chanting fans who were invited onstage.

Later on Sandwich gave a rousing performance of their hit Betamax. It came as no surprise that they would later be awarded Best Live Act and Song of the Year.

Listener’s Choice Awardee Urbandub let ‘er rip and had the crowd singing along.

The Dawn surprised everyone when guitarist Francis Reyes did vocal duties on Lumuhod, while vocalist Jett Pangan played guitar.

Without a doubt, though, it was Pupil’s night. Taking home the lion’s share of awards, they walked off with Best Drummer (Wendell Garcia), Best Music Video (Monobloc, directed by King Palisoc), Producer of the Year (with Jerome Velasco), Album of the Year (”Wild LifeÆ) and the coveted Artist of the Year, which meant they would close the show with an encore performance.

Earlier in the evening they played current single Disconnection Notice, but for the show’s closing performance they chose to play Nasaan Ka? with vocalist Ely Buendia’s personal manager Diane Ventura filling in for regular drummer Garcia and beating the skins.

It was a fitting choice: Ventura wrote the song about her mother’s passing for Pupil’s 2005 album ”Beautiful Machines.” Earlier this year, before the much-awaited Eraserheads reunion concert, Buendia’s mother also passed away.

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Check out http://www.nu107fm.com/ for the complete list of winners.