'Walang humpay na ligaya'
The Eraserheads have a truly unbelievable ability to evoke memories in people. Their songs capture and carry so many of our memories in their lyrics and melodies, and even keep them fresh and vivid. We all have stories embedded in certain songs — the jamming sessions where we strummed and sang With a Smile again and again with our friends… the person we sang Ligaya for… the road trips we took inspired by Overdrive. Everyone has an Eraserheads story.
My own story begins in the backseat of our car, with my brother Jondi driving and my brother Jason in the front seat. This was where I fell in love with the Eraserheads, when my brothers first popped their cassette ultraelectromagneticpop! in the tape deck and we started singing along. With their simple but resonant lyrics and fun and funky music, I felt they perfectly described the human experience — at least my own. More specifically, the grown-up teenage experience, which is what I desperately wanted to be when I was eight. The rest — their succeeding albums and songs, my adolescence and enduring Eraserheads fandom, and their tragic break-up — is history. For me, no other band came close to the raw talent and musical genius of Ely, Buddy, Marcus and Raimund.
It’s been more than a decade since the release of their first album, yet the Eraserheads clearly still have a hold over their fans. Thousands flocked to Fort Bonifacio last Saturday to witness the one-night reunion of their favorite band, swapping their own stories of growing up to E-heads music. There was a huge number of people present, especially given that ticket selling only began two days before. The air was electric with excitementand nostalgia as the crowd waited, and when the screens flashed a countdown to the start of the concert, anticipation mounted. The crowd cheered excitedly at the end of each minute, and during the last 10 seconds, everyone counted (well, yelled) out loud.
Screams rocked the entire place when we finally saw the band on-stage. There they were, the foundation and the mythology of the greatest Pinoy alternative music that ever was. Their entire history and track lists flashed through my mind, and so did my history with them — feeling the secret thrill of cursing during Pare Ko, recording our very own version of Ang Huling El Bimbo with my cousins, flipping through the pages of Fruitcake while listening to the album, screaming for my brothers whenever I caught Julie Tearjerky on MTV, and picking up my jaw from the floor when I found out they were breaking up.
They kicked off the concert with Alapaap, and I shrieked until my lungs were raw. I was near tears — it was only the first seconds of the show, and already I didn’t want it to ever end. Hands gripping cameras and phones flew in the air to capture the moment; bodies swayed and danced; ecstatic smiles broke out. The end of Alapaap was punctuated with a burst of fireworks in the air, and before we could finish applauding, we were already screaming for the next song — Ligaya. I was absolutely giddy, and so was the rest of the crowd.
The band sounded absolutely incredible. It was like nothing had ever happened between them. Well, almost. You could see that the band didn’t say much, whether to the crowd or to each other, except for a couple of quips from Ely. Their music, however, said enough; the excited crowd filled in the rest. We doo-doo-doo-dooed to With a Smile, pa-pa-ra-paed to Alapaap, did the second voice in Sembreak (“Seeeem-breeeak!”), ha-ha-haaaaed during Harana, and pretty much sang everything else.
As in all dreams, this dream-come-true ended abruptly. After pausing for an intermission, the concert was cut short because Ely Buendia had to be rushed to the hospital. Even after Ely’s sister broke the news and we all said a prayer for Ely, it took a while before it registered. The announcer had to ask us to leave several times before we actually started moving. It was definitely heartbreaking to leave in such sad circumstances, and I’m still praying for Ely’s full recovery. However, there was nothing disappointing about the concert. Heck, even if they had performed only one song, I would have been delirious with joy. I never thought I would ever get to see them play together, but I was lucky enough to do so… and it was absolutely legendary. It’s another story to tell and to remember along with the music.
