A wild Saturday night in Legazpi City
When this year's Tanduay First Five tour kicks off on March 30 with Parokya ni Edgar, Kamikazee, Wolfgang, Rico Blanco and Urbandub, it will do so at the Embarcadero de Legaspi Parking Lot just outside Legaspi City.
The venue commands a view of the mountain at the back and the sea out in front, a fitting starting point to a nationwide tour. I know because I spent a rocking Saturday night there with last year's batch of Tanduay First Five.
Legazpi City was the final stop of Tanduay First Five's weekend swing in the Bicol area. As the crowd trickled in around 8:00 p.m., Wolfgang hit the stage with the force of their highly melodic hard rock. Sandwich followed it up with infectious servings of their electro-rock concoctions. The energy flagged down a few notches with ChicoSci's fey emo-metal-Goth pastiche before Parokya ni Edgar pressed on with rocking versions of their hits.
The roar at midnight
Near midnight, during the lull for the concert's finale, the background music slowly escalated to a blistering roar. From behind a cloud of smoke, Kamikazee vocalist Jay Contreras came out singing the opening lines to "Darna."
He subsequently preened before a crowd of 20,000 people issuing nonsensical tips about respecting one's body before launching into the hardcore-punk of "Wala."
Another song then a strange thing happened -- behind a charging hardcore beat, Jay greeted Raimund Marasigan of Sandwich a happy birthday then sang the opening lines to Sandwich's "Sugod. Raimund slipped behind another mic and by the time of the chorus, various members of the touring bands sought their places onstage, singing along with Kamikazee.
Air guitars and moonwalking on stage
Bassist Myrene Academia found her sweet spot aside the drum kit. After Diego Castillo air-guitared in front of the two drummers, he began to moonwalk around the stage—donning a cut-up carton box that made him look like a poorer cousin of the Tin Man.
Wolfgang's Basti Artadi jumped off the stage, looked out to a sea of a surging faces then serenaded the jostling crowd in Filipino. Wolfgang's Manuel Legarda, meanwhile, was happily singing and swaying near the edge of the stage while flashing the peace sign to all.
The entire ensemble howled to a climactic end, then just as quickly dispersed off stage with crazy smiles plastered on their half-drunk faces.
Kamikazee would move on to their back catalog of even crazier metal anthems but it was the happy mayhem in the middle of their performance that made the Legazpi leg one of the most memorable concerts I've been to in recent years.
