Bonehead and yonder some rock stereotypes

Before continuing on to my main blah,  allow me to state that this post is not of a single musical experience, nor a study on rhythm and musicality. Rather, it  is an exploration of memories - beyond a time when everything seemed to be associated with a certain groove.  

In the 1990's, yours truly was a huge follower of  Pinoy Rock music, a preference, perhaps, that indulged my instinct of taking the side of the underdog.  Those of us who were true to our angst, then, only had to tune into LA 105.9 to get a load of hard and heavy metal sounds that mainstream listeners scoffed at.  Thanks to the station, emerging local bands were given a platform to share their music. The ones that were good got signed, while those not up to par were given the opportunity to grab their "15minutes of fame". All the bands had airtime.

Kargado by Bonehead

Being the second child of a pair of baby boomers, I was blown away by the local artists' astronomical manifestations of talent, creativity and passion.  Suffice to say, such principles which elevate the concsiousness of the human race drew me in uncompromisingly, that my inclinations still lean towards raw undertones of social commentaries. At that time, the music was pure, unadulterated, loud and reverberating woeful cries. Parodies and ironies were contradictions to the cadence of the hopeful youth.  All or nothing. No compromise. That was the rocker's unwritten testament. It was a culture spawned with - and by - a  principle that was buried along with the underground scene in 1998, when LA 105.9 shifted to the electronic dance genre.

Despair, we did.  We held on to our cassette tapes and cd's, treated them with care and planned on purchasing copies of recordings that were difficult to find.  Some threw away unsent demos as if throwing away a dream, and tried to find alternatives to that rich Pinoy sound.  And over shots of the local brew, we strummed our guitars and toasted about songs of our eternal youth. The rest is history.

Tonight, July 28, 2012, from 8 p.m onwards, such music would again come alive for one nostalgic, hard-rockin' party. At the Craft Pub and Grill, Fort Bonifacio Taguig, Tour de Force features Renegades of Rock.  Hosted by Bianca  Saldua and the legendary Pinoy Rock Music Icon, Ramon "The Doctor" Zialcita,  it shall be a trackback to the early '90s  head-bangin'  line-up - a recall for pure Pinoy Rock Music, to make way for the Megadeth Live in Manila Concert. 

Performing bands include Gnash, Dahong Palay, Erectus, Death by Stereo, Charlie Ysmael of the Breed, Thy Holy Water, Loungee and the Cherry Bums, Revelation with Darwin Aguilar, and, after more than a decade and a half of hibernation, the "kings of variety", Bonehead is out to play!

Bonehead: Phil, Chico, Monjo, Paul, Dino

"Bax, just to clarify, we're not opening for Megadeth, so don't think you'll be getting free passes to that act. We'll be playing, along with other early 90's bands the night before the concert," he said after our long-winded catch-up last week. Dino Navarra, vocalist/songwriter of Bonehead, in all the years I've known him, has never failed to set realistic expectations.

Finally, I get to see how they rock!

A group of Catholic high-school kids that emerged from a closely knit, highly secured community, Bonehead was referred to as 'the boys from Alabang.'  Moving beyond the stereotypical silver spoon, privileged clique, their music was an experiment in progressive sound and grounded lyricism, as punctuated in their sole album Kargado.  Their rendition of Saro Banarez' popular Pinoy folk-rock song, Ang Bayan Kong Sinilangan, was an an angry piece, a cry of shame for the loss of one of the 70's top songwriters. 

In other words,  Bonehead transcended age with their music. Originally composed of Dino Navarra on vocals, Chico Cristobal and Monjo Balinghasay on guitars, Phil Recto on Bass, and Paul Lacsamana on drums, Bonehead, although made up of adolescents, were musikero lehitimo.   

"It's sort of like a reunion thing with all the bands. [...It's the ] last leg of a series, [...and I]  would really appreciate if you can make it," he humbly continued, rambling on to say that the invite comes with a PhP 200 cover charge at the gates, and that the cover charge comes with 2 beers and a license to poke fun at his old- school Pinoy Rockin' ways.  

And I thought, just like the old days. Sweeeeet!!!

See you all there!!! :)

Photos courtesy of Bonehead on Facebook.