You’re going out to watch a bunch of racists?” That was the incredulous comment from a friend’s mother, upon learning that said friend was off to watch German-Norwegian dance-rock band The Whitest Boy Alive at their Manila gig last month.
It may not be the best name for a band ever, but it was a hell of a fun night, as The Whitest Boy Alive members Erlend Øye (guitar and vocals), Marcin Oz (bass), Sebastian Maschat (drums) and Daniel Nentwig (Rhodes piano and Crumar synthesizer) “turned Republiq Club upside down with their intense musical dynamics, geek-chic looks and quirky dance moves.” (That’s a quote from the post-event press release, which is fairly accurate, as press releases go.) Before the gig proper started, my date and I amused ourselves at Republiq by people-watching and checking out the Zippo videos being projected, which portrayed the many tricks one can do with the right lighter, as if setting things on fire were not impressive enough.
When the gig went underway, to enormously appreciative crowd got dancing and singing along, and never really stopped. Highlights: a brief spiel/lecture on the Fender Rhodes, the best bits off the band’s two albums (including Courage, possibly my favorite), Anne Curtis in a belly shirt holding aloft a sign requesting a song (a request that was honored by the band, of course, despite the fact that the song All Ears was not part of their original plan for the night), and frontman Erlend performing on top of the bar, and later, diving straight into the crowd. (This was Erlend’s second visit here last year, he performed in Manila as one-half of renowned indie acoustic duo Kings of Convenience, or KoC.)
Kate Torralba, fashion phenomenon and singer-songwriter (as well as one of the people involved in bringing The Whitest Boy Alive here), shared some tales from being “the band’s road manager a.k.a. alalay.”
“It was such a treat to get to spend time with the band behind the scenes,” said Kate. “Running errands was never so meaningful to me! It seemed like yesterday when Quark (Henares) and I were amidst the hordes of fans that watched their US debut in Coachella 2010. I love this band so much that the little mundane things I had to do for them such as making sure they were fed well, doing the headcount when they had to be shuttled to and from places, (and making sure) that all their luggage was accounted for I thoroughly enjoyed all of it. It was a joy getting to interact with them and seeing them interact with each other offstage. The most priceless gems I got were the bits and pieces of advice I’d get from them in between appointments and during car rides invaluable for a fledgling musician like me.”
And as for the eccentric Erlend: “Everyone knows how he hates having his picture taken and would rather interact and chat with fans than spend 20 minutes having a ‘fake smile’ (while) posing for photos... It was so touching to see him beaming with sheer happiness the moment I saw him arrive at the chaotic NAIA, carrying his doppelganger doll, a gift from a fan in Seoul. He had fallen in love with Manila the first time he came here with KoC, and he specifically requested to quietly return to his favorite resto here (Chef Laudico Bistro Filipino) and Cubao X the night of their arrival, so he could share the experience with his bandmates. Erlend had his mother in tow, the charming Miss Kjersti, an artist, and she garnered some fans of her own after meeting a few of the satisfied concertgoers after the successful show at Republiq.”
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Thanks to Kate Torralba for sharing her anecdotes and personal pictures (taken with a Canon G11) with us. And thanks to Zippo Philippines for our tickets. I don’t smoke, but if I did, I’d use their lighters and try to learn some of those tricks, too.