The big fish among local indie music labels, Terno Records, home to Radioactive Sago Project, Up Dharma Down, Musical O, and Sleepwalk Circus, among others, marked its first decade of bringing music to the song-starved masses the other week by bringing in French indie pop band Tahiti 80 for a gig.
Held at the Tents at Alphaland Southgate, Radioactive Sago Project began the evening’s festivities with a rousing set and Up Dharma Down followed with their own brand of electronica-tinged rock.
Tahiti 80 took the stage to a chorus of welcoming cheers and screams. The Rouen-based band looked happy to be there as well, vocalist Xavier Boyer even attempting a few phrases in Tagalog (always a hit with the crowds). They kicked off with Big Day, one of their better-known singles, off the album “Fosbury.” Their set was a good mix of new material from their latest album, “The Past, The Present, and The Possible,” as well as older songs that pleased many of the fans present (like Heartbeat). The crowd were appreciative, dancing and continuing to whoop and shout approval and cheer when bassist Pedro Resende would be up to his antics, performing short dances and displaying the many elastic expressions his face could muster. Julien Barbagallo and Raphael Leger alternated duties on organs and percussion; every member is an avowed multi-instrumentalist. One of the more pleasant surprises of the evening came when the band performed a cover of New Order’s Blue Monday, giving it their own light twist. When they said their farewells and au revoirs, people screamed until they came back to deliver an encore. The band later blogged about their Manila trip: “The audience seemed ecstatic while we were on stage, singing along, dancing, etc. Nothing can beat the feeling of watching people knowing the words to our songs.”
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Cinemanila’s week-long run is ongoing at Market! Market!. There are some interesting films to catch, from Takashi Miike’s 13 Asssassins to a retrospective of classic Nora Aunor vehicles, which includes Ishmael Bernal’s Himala and Mario O’Hara’s Tatlong Taon Walang Diyos. There’s also a focus on soccer films this year, with the excellent documentaries The Two Escobars and Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait, and a free outdoor screening of the 2002 film Bend It Like Beckham.
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Komikon 2011 is this coming Saturday at the Bayanihan Center on Pioneer. I enjoyed last year’s con very much; they’ve finally found a proper venue with Bayanihan Center.