March madness: Five events worth checking out

March sees an influx of events to make the start of summer a little more fun and a little less “Lent.” With foreign acts like Motion City Soundtrack, Grimes, and Bloc Party finally coming to Manila and the good people behind Ang Nawawala after months of anticipation finally releasing its vinyl soundtrack, there’s more than enough for culture vultures to feast upon. So get your Instagram, Twitter, and duck faces ready, because as a wise friend told us, “marami talagang ganap sa March!”

Motion City Soundtrack Live in Manila — March 9 at the SM Skydome

The last few months have seen an influx of pop punk bands that gave our high school and college days its fair share of black shirts and cookie cutter angst. Acts like The Ataris, Paramore, All Time Low, and Taking Back Sunday have come here skinny jeans and all and now it’s time for Motion City Soundtrack. While the emo tag is debatable, MCS is up there in the better half of pop punk bands such as Jimmy Eat World. While they’re most likely here to continue promoting their latest album Go, we’re all really hoping they play a lot of songs from “I Am the Movie” and if we’re lucky, everything from “Commit This to Memory.”

Grimes — March 14 at Hardrock Café

We became fans of Grimes ever since we found out she used to work for independent comic publisher Drawn & Quarterly. The fact that Lena Dunham also professed her love of the Canadian artist is the sweet hipster cherry on top. Her music is best described as “witch house” (not our words) or electro shoegaze on steroids (our words). If that sounds a little too left field for you, we’d recommend listening to Oblivion and Genesis to get you started. Then if you like what you’re getting maybe you can get into Vanessa. All in all, knowing that Grimes a.k.a. Claire Boucher produced her album through GarageBand alone should be reason enough to check her out. If it helps, Grimes will also be the best place to bring a date to and show him/her that you’re really into “cool indie stuff.”

Ang Nawawala Vinyl Release — March 16 at the Brixton Block Party in Capitolyo

The breakout movie of 2012 finally releases its much-awaited vinyl soundtrack and they’re doing it at a block party hosted by Heima, Strike Back Attack, and Young Star no less. The event promises not only the release of the record but also celebrates the opening of Heima’s Brixton branch. And yes, according to Ang Nawawala director Marie Jamora, “There will be plenty of beer, booze, foodstuffs, great music, and a celebration of vinyl! Heima will also be selling their new imported record players, which will be bundled with our LPs!” Speaking of great music, Jamora also promises that the yet-to-be-revealed lineup will be “kick-ass.”

Art in the Park – March 16 at Jaime Velasquez Park, Salcedo Village

The annual art fair where you don’t have to break the bank continues this year. Still at the same location (see above), expect even more artists and galleries showcasing their works after the very successful and much talked about Art in the Park 2012. If you missed out on last month’s Art Fair or if you did go to the Art Fair but felt your wallet crawl and hide in shame, then Art in the Park will be the perfect place to not only buy art but also meet most of the artists themselves. Who knows, it could be there that you start a beautiful little patron-artist relationship.

Bloc Party — March 22 at the World Trade Center

We still haven’t fully come to terms with the miracle that is Bloc Party in Manila. We’ve been waiting for this concert for so long and we were this close to buying tickets for their Singapore show. Luckily, the gods of Warner Music Philippines decided to bring them here and our excitement is at an all time high. The band just released their latest album in years, Four, and has songs that were meant to be heard live (Octopus and Team A) and a couple that will win the heart of that girl you really like (Truth and The Healing). Of course, we all just really want them to play “Silent Alarm” forever and ever. No matter what they play though, this is the event you really shouldn’t miss!