Transcending 90s music two decades on

Video by INQUIRER.net’s Ryan Leagogo

MANILA, Philippines—When two of the 90s biggest stars gravitated towards each other, a supernova of musical genius broke out outside a glass-encased booth.

Ely Buendia, the nucleus of one of the great Eraserheads, and Bamboo Mañalac, whose first name alone is enough to send jitters down one’s spine, came together for a night that would transcend the 90s to a new decade.

“I could say that we did not exactly unleash the 90s, but we pushed it forward,” Mañalac said.

Ely Buendia and Bamboo Mañalac. Photo by RYAN LEAGOGO/INQUIRER.net

Though both of them have rocked and rolled to the tune of screaming fans one Thursday evening, both of them would have to settle playing their hits inside a booth where the only sounds they would hear are from the band and themselves.

“It was a one of a kind experience for me, I was happy but I had a difficult time connecting with the audience,” Mañalac said.

As the artists were enclosed in the booth during the “Silent Concert,” the only way to hear the acts were through headphones that were connected to the booth that Sony Philippines concocted for one night of music and nostalgia.

Mañalac, who was the first vocalist of Rivermaya, started his set with songs from his newest album No Water No Moon.

He first tapped the glass describing the booth as “crazy” as he sang In Shadow then Please, Morning Rose, Back on My Feet, Questions, and finishing it off with Down the Line.

But the musician was not done yet, after the No Water No Moon set, it was time for the “hits.”

Starting off with Alpha Beta Omega, and a rendition of John Lennon’s Imagine, Mañalac slowly upped the ante with Tatsulok, then not getting enough energy from the crowd who were also getting into the jam, went out of the glass cage during Hallelujah.

“Hallelujah, that’s just a song where I need the crowd, Hallelujah and Noypi,” Mañalac said. “For a song like that, I need to get out, I need to make some noise and break stuff.”

Calming down for his final two songs, Mañalac returned to the booth with his Rivermaya hit 214 as his back-up singer launched the nostalgia bug with two lighters inside the booth.

He finished it off with their “cigar song” Throwing Away My Pride.”

The Eraserhead

As one of the voices of the 90s, Buendia came to the booth wearing a black-and-red coat and sporting sunglasses.

Buendia started his set with the Eraserhead’s Alapaap.

He then followed it up with a true to 90s pop rock hit, Ligaya which tells the story of a courtesan on the college years, followed by Maselang Bahaghari, then ditches the sunglasses and the guitar to sing Huwag Mo Nang Itanong as the crowd sings in unison with the icon.

Buendia then gets his guitar back for the eerie ballad Spolarium.

For his penultimate song, Buendia turned to the happier Magasin as the crowd took the responsibility of singing the centerfold part.

“Thanks to all of you,” Buendia said just before he performed his last song, the song that put the band from the University of the Philippines-Diliman to the world consciousness, Ang Huling El Bimbo.

With the crowd still listening through the headphones, Ely took it to himself to end the set with the Eraserheads’ most famous song, and the audience sang with him.

Come together

As the lights inside the booth faded, and the final string strum, it was time for the two 90s legends to come out of their cage and give the fans what they wanted.

Belting out their rendition of the Beatles’ Come Together, Buendia and Mañalac stood atop a makeshift stage as the crowd surrounded the galaxy’s nucleus.

“It takes a lot of hard work and it is quite a humbling experience when you think about the three decades that our music has transcended and we are still pushing to be better at what we do,” Mañalac said.

He added that he would like to play with Buendia, and any other artist for that matter, for one more time in a bigger stage.

“That’s what we love to do.”