Rowdy, smoke-filled and noisy beyond belief; giant mugs of beer spilling on the wooden counter top as people guzzle from their macho mugs and one or two heckling fools bash the game that's on the telly-- This is Cable Car in Pasay Road in Makati City on a normal night. And for however long it's been there, it's never failed to be a great place to spend the night and your hard earned cash on.
However, last July 2010 the barely lit bar glared with studio lights from the inside. The TV turned off to give way to a whole different "loud" that consummated the casual walk-ins, as those same hecklers that bash games nightly delivered what is simply one of the proudest moments in local music history. Yes this is still in Cable Car, and that group of rabid drinkers turned history-makers is Kerplunk!
Not far from the watering hole is a studio that has, for the last five years, committed itself to great independent music and spent all of those five years trying to constantly up the quality and flavor of the sound that it loves. Kerplunk! has been recording music as long as its contemporaries have, and has been throwing gigs even longer than that. Last month culminates the past half-decade into what will be its biggest contribution to the industry to date, Evoke. A party that puts the past half decade in perspective through sound, and what a party it was.
Several bands took to the stage that was set up with cameras, dollies and lamps. People walked around and drank merrily as the gig was being filmed in all angles. And Kerplunk!'s main man ran around and fiddled his switches to make sure that the sound was just right and that this moment's auditory balance was in check. Just what it needed it to be?
Kjwan and Mayonnaise were the "heavy hitters" and Pitik was the new kid on the block with the radio hit and respect. Astrojuan rocked a tight set despite being away for months. Beachhead spread good vibes with their trademark beach and (ehem) nature loving sound. Enemies of Saturn provided the latent attitude and talent with their trademark “testosterock” while Carlos Castano serenaded everyone's sensibilities away. Firefalldown was the foreign punk act. Archipelago was the indie force. Favored Enemy was the heavy opener while Angulo, the eponymous flag-bearer, closed the show with a thunder. This is the show in a nutshell and I can't do it any better than to enumerate the bands that played because this show is better documented the way it was intended to be-- under the scrutiny of producers and the gazing eye of cameras, a watchful director and a team that'll present it ever so wonderfully. This is an experience that will only be given justice in two ways, one of which has passed and the other coming by the ends of the year.
This is history as these independent bands performed their hearts out in an undetaking that is a first, a whole show caught on tape without the trappings of the "man". A statement's been made that these commonly drunken sorts can and have achieved a seemingly impossible task.
I have nothing but respect for Pat Jalbuena, Greg Garcia, Niles Chong, Kelvin Uy and Ga Mendoza along with Russ Davis and Carla Clavano and everyone else who made the night possible. This is Kerplunk at its finest and they have it immortalized for us to relive.
And so the next time you're in Pasay Road wanting a drink, pass by that quaint little boar and know that history was made there. That history was evoked there.
Grab the copy of Evoke, Kerplunk's Fifth Anniversary DVD this December.
Evoke was made possible by Kerplunk! Studios and Productions, Wombworks Studios, Cable Car and Blue Rain Multimedia.