Minsan: The Eraserheads Reunion Concert in Dubai

 “Nostalgia - it's delicate, but potent. It's a twinge in your heart far more powerful than memory alone. It takes us to a place where we ache to go again.” – Don Draper, Mad Men

The heads with Sancho, old time collaborator, friend and third guitarist, who Ely introduced to the crowd
as the “fifth Eraserhead. 

I was 13, on my first year at a co-ed highschool when I first saw the Eraserheads play at the UP sunken garden. It was my first ever real live concert. I went with one of my best friends and her cool older sister who was at the time, studying at the same University.  There were plastic balloons flying around which I later learned were called “condoms”. We know pretty much all of the songs from Circus, Ultraelectromagnetic pop and Cutterpillow, but even if you don’t have the records there’s no way you can escape them on the radio. Honestly, who can resist Ely Buendia and his witty common-guy lines about sem-break and heartache?

Such was the pull of the Eheads, it wasn’t just the music per se. In a way, there was a reason why they were always being compared to the Beatles. They were our generation’s (our country’s) Beatlemania. It was a cultural thing more than anything. They had too much influence in fact that everyone, young and old, even the resident “tambays” at your neighborhood sari-sari store would most certainly know the lyrics to  Pare Ko.

I moved to Dubai in 2009, like many other pinoys, in search of better opportunities. As a music fan, and having spent most of my adult life working for the “pop machine”, the news of the Eraserheads Reunion in Dubai was just too good to be true and when it was confirmed that they will be playing at the annual du Music Festival, all of us “Kabayans” based here were psyched.  It was collectively agreed, on all our facebook accounts and twitter feeds, that we HAVE to see them. 

When you work outside the country and your monthly budget is limited, divided into remittances, loans, and other responsibilities, you think twice about spending precious hard-earned money on concerts, but the Eraserheads Reunion, was not just a WANT, it was a NEED. We needed to be there. We needed to see Ely, Raimund, Buddy and Markus play our favorite songs. We needed to belong to that special place again. We needed a piece home as we remembered it.

The Eheads reunion couldn’t have come at a better time.  It was on the same week we launched our first Tagalog / OPM FM station in the Middle East, Tag 91.1 and all streets had banners of either the Eheads or Tag 91.1 that said “serving 645,000 Filipinos in the UAE.” It felt like, for once, the whole of Dubai, was nodding at our Community with respect, and we are finally getting the recognition we deserved.    

I was fortunate enough to be invited to the press conference and while waiting for the band, I met another Filipina, Maggie Lafuente, who came out there with her husband. She skipped work for the chance to meet the Eheads up close. She was trembling.  

 “I was working in London at the time of their first reunion concert in 2008, I badly wanted to go.” Maggie shares.  “I was ready to book a ticket. My sister had to stop me and told me it wasn’t practical. Then I heard about Ely’s heart attack, I CRIED, they just mean that much to me. I never thought I’d see them live again. You see those girls on old footages screaming out, crying over the Beatles, they look crazy but I’d be one of them for Eraserheads.”

Of course, 90% of the media representatives in room were Filipino. I came with former Pulp photographer and good friend Brutal Grace and for a second there I felt like I was at home.

We were told not ask “personal” questions and only stick to the “music festival”. There was a bit of awkwardness at first, but Markus, the more laid back member of the group, put everyone at ease with his clever one-liners. I asked them the most standard thing I could think of  - what was their impression of Dubai, of the place, of the people.

Buddy was quick to answer,  “We are impressed by the camaraderie of the Filipino Community and the incredible presence and support.  We also experienced a bit of the diverse culture in Dubai, like last night we tried Ethiopian food, which was really good.”

When asked if they learned to say any Arabic words, Markus came out with “Kebab, Kebab Dylan, Kebab Marley”, that cracked everyone up and after that the questions just came pouring in until finally somebody was brave enough to ask the obvious    - why a reunion? and why in Dubai? 

Raymund playfully sang “reunited coz it feels so good.” Buddy replies “how many Filipinos are now in Dubai? 600,000? So we have 600,000 reasons to play here and finally Ely spoke up with a cheeky retort – “peer pressure”.

More than 10,000 fans in the UAE came to Dubai Media City to see the Eraserheads perform live on stage again. 

“It was simply natural progression.” Ely explains further.  “We are all doing our own thing for awhile now and then there was this clamor to get back together again and play, especially for those who are based outside the Philippines, and have not seen us play live yet. We are music fans ourselves, and we know what its like to love a band and grow up with their songs. We are just grateful that our songs still resonate with our fans.”

About the songs that they packed for the concert, Raimund shares, “we picked the ones that we enjoy playing. We didn’t really think much about what people will like, or what other nationalities will be there to see us play, pinili namin yung masarap tugtugin.”

I would say this decision just paid off big time. There is simply nothing better than seeing your favorite band enjoying themselves on stage while singing your favorite songs. I was there during the first reunion in 2008, I didn’t feel as connected to them as I was at the Dubai show. Perhaps it was the “homesickness” but I would say the Eraserheads Reunion concert in Dubai, was in the purest sense, about “connection”, about all of us, including the band, sharing the familiar songs and the memories.

The band kicked it off aptly with “Walang Nagbago”, then went on to perform 27 of their best hits, among them the well-loved songs -  ‘Maling Akala’, ‘Ligaya, Huwag Mo Ng Itanong’ , ‘Kailan’ ‘Overdrive’, ‘With A Smile’, ‘Julie Tear Jerky’, Magazin, Minsan and Super Proxy which they dedicated to the late Francis M, who were with them at their last concert in Dubai back in 1999. With over 10,000 fans in attendance, the Eraserheads Reunion at the du World Music Festival last 4^th April was one of the biggest, and possibly the loudest, Dubai has seen this year. 

A friend wrote on his facebook status the night after the concert –

"The best thing about watching Eraserheads is not about the band itself, It's about having the greatest time with your friends, friends that mean the whole song to you, people who you can sing and relate with, banging and just having a great time!Thanks mga pare ko!"

He is right. There was this magic moment, when everyone out in the open field of Dubai Media city was  all singing along to “With a Smile”. We all knew the lyrics to the entire song by heart. It’s hard not to get sentimental, coz the song was about us, about my friends, old and new, about every single struggling overseas filipino I've ever met in Dubai, including myself. 

Lift your head, baby don't be scared / with the things that could go wrong along the way.
We'll get by with a smile / We'll get along with a little prayer and a song.

Homeland Security and My Alternate Life

I don’t think I ever told anybody this story.

Sometime towards the tail end of 2008, I was getting restless and well, bored , when I stumbled upon a “work abroad” site that had an opening for a “copywriter” to be based in the UAE.

Moving to an Arab country, at that time, to me, sounded absurd and dangerous yet strangely appealing.  Dubai, of course was being hyped as this city of big easy money, extreme luxury, and endless job openings. Still our people had their doubts about Dubai and it wasn’t exactly what one would consider “cool”.

Anyway, I clicked on the link and soon enough I found myself walking into one of them old recruitment agencies in Manila, the type that are always packed with applicants, with wooden floors that creaked and rooms that smelled like old forgotten cigarettes.

I looked around, most of the people were either out of jobs or in this quest for their dream to “work abroad” and provide for their families.  The first thought in my head was guilt. There I was, young, single with a stable career in what many would actually consider a dream job, I really shouldn't be there. It didn’t seem right to hoard opportunities, at least that how I felt initially and then I reminded myself that the Philippines is a democratic-equal opportunity- country and I was after a specific copywriter job that, given this dingy hole in the wall, I’m pretty sure not many copywriters worth their salt would consider. I would say there wasn’t exactly competition.

So we waited, for like a half day, for the so-called “Principal”, the much revered foreign recruiter who flew all the way to do a 3-minute interview with each of us lucky participants of the job lottery.

I was expecting some Arab guy to meet me, but when I was finally called into the interrogation room, I was surprised to find an Indian Lady. She handed me her card. I did a mental note to research this company online.  She told me she belonged to a group of companies that had a growing ad agency in the Middle East, and that they were looking a copywriter.  Predictably, it ended with “we will get in touch with you.”

I thought that was the end of it. I was somehow relieved that it didn’t go the next level, because the truth is, I wasn’t really ready to rock the boat just yet.  Then it happened, I got the call that said I passed the first round and that they will be needing me to fill out a “copy test ”.

This is where it becomes interesting.  So I got the copy test on email, and the test was to come up with a Press Release for ….well, of all things.... an upcoming HOMELAND SECURITY expo.



The reference material was for something like this.



See, I did have some experience writing Press releases for expos because in my first ever job I was writing a lot of them for the annual Travel Tour Expo, but Homeland Security -  in the Middle East -  is maybe something that is not up my alley.  I looked at the reference material, and it was indeed a brochure intended for just about any country’s Department of Defense or your regular terrorist-next-door guy, depending on how you look at it.

Despite my apprehension, I did honestly think about what to write for the next couple of days.  I tried to imagine the audience for the PR, images of military men, the secret service, arab leaders, war and terrorist attacks slowly trickled in and I finally decided that staying for the next Twilight soundtrack launch and writing radio scripts for Josh Groban might just be for the best.

I don’t recall telling anybody (especially my parents) the story, because it just seemed like the kind of thing that you keep to yourself. I eventually managed to land a job in Dubai, but nothing as deeply unsettling  and as undeniably interesting as that first overseas job offer.

I was a sheltered little girl who believed in peace and in a perfect world of pop records and movie franchises. Maybe if I knew then what I know now,  I would have grabbed the opportunity. I guess today I’ll have to be content in thinking that somewhere in a parallel universe, I am receiving Homeland security brochures, working on press kits for the latest military tech, sending out invites to some rocket launch and handling inquiries from the CIA…..

Ok, I know, I should probably stop watching Homeland.



Isn't it ironic? Don't you think?



 

Ps. I am not able to access my old yahoo account (where the copy test has been sent) for over a year now. Suffice to say, the said email account has been “compromised.”

Dubai – 2 years and counting

(on the road, photo taken from my lomocam, march 2009)

March 15 2009 --- I packed my bags  and journeyed 4000 miles or so into the unknown. I just quit my job (which after almost 5 years became -quite literally- my life) two days back, left loving friends and family in a daze, that it all seemed unreal to me and to them.  I  wasn’t scared, I wasn’t that sad, or you know how it feels when you feel too much, you stop feeling anything that you just want it done and over with.

After few hours on the plane (and several glasses of white wine), I caught myself crying non-stop. As if  I was grieving the loss of my old life, and the fact that It will be a very long year before I can ever see the people that I loved the most again, and even then I just know it will never be the same.  So I cried my eyes out on the plane that by the time we landed I was somewhat relieved, cleansed by all things past and managed to find enough courage to move on to the next big adventure.

I am not gonna go into details of what happened next, but suffice to say that after 2 years of living here as an expat I have seen , done and gone through a lot things that I would probably never would have thought of if I was still in my sheltered cocoon in Manila. They’re not all good, they’re not all bad, but I am happy and proud to say that I have officially no regrets.

They say there is no better teacher than experience and I found this to be true in all aspects. Living in Dubai – 2 years and counting, is where I've learned some of the most important life lessons :

1. To be a woman, realize what it really means , and learn what it takes to be one.  It is tough to be a woman in a country where people have a different view of women in general , Asians & Filipinas in particular. I have said this before, and I'lll say it again, I have met so many fascinating, inspiring, strong, independent, talented beautiful (inside out) pinays out here, that knowing them actually made me a better person.  Their lives, their experiences....I have just met a woman who at 37 has been jailed in Saudi, almost died in drunken car accident in Dubai, her sea sailing husband has left her with 2 kids and no kind of support, yet she surfaced strong and vibrant with  a cute flower tattoo on her  knee to show, and that’s just one person.  If after 2 years or so in the Middle East and you haven’t learned to be a proper woman, I’d say you’re either very dense or very dependent or both.

2. To be a Fiipino and learn to  appreciate my country and my countrymen.  Living away from home made me realize what I love most about the Philippines and what I admire most of about Filipinos –resiliency, resourcefulness and positivity.  The best traits of a fighter.  

Of course when you love someone its like you're seeing them for the first time and you also find the worst in the them, but the good thing is you now have that desire to make it better, by avoiding the same pitfalls.

I was just talking to a French friend the other night and here’s what she had to say – that she found her Filipino workmates very easy to get along with, always happy and smiling, they work hard, but the only bad trait is that they chit-chat too much. Chizmiz, the buzz, you tell them one thing and the next minute everyone will know. Its really sad, but its something we can’t deny.

Chismis (gossip) is our ultimate downfall. Pinoys like to talk, and when they do they talk about other people, I am guilty of this sometimes, but I am proud to say that have successfully managed to control this thanks to the help good friends who feed my thirst for sensible and enlightening conversations .  So please the next time you’re with someone you just met, pinoy or otherwise, please try to think of something else to say other than “may boyfriend ka na?” or “when was your last relationship?”. Really its lame.

3. To Love more and judge less. Love is the simple solution to most things, but unfortunately because we are vain and blinded by self-love we do not see that we are all connected, we are different but we are the same. I’ve met so many different nationalities, so many different,  annoying quirks and the trick is just to find the thing that makes them tick and from there build your understanding of them. I am hardly ever the best in this, I am still judgemental in a lot of ways (I blame it on being Pinoy) , but the thing is now, I try harder.

4. To believe in music more so than I ever did before. Its true, music is the language that connects us all. Its my lifeblood. it fuels me, it defines me and I am better person today because of it. It has helped me relate to others better. Truth be told, I would not have survived Dubai if not for my Ipod. When there’s nothing else, find your song and play it loud.

5. To find God. I found that in your darkest days, when there’s really no one else, when there’s nothing or no one to hang on to, not even yourself, He is there and whatever happens happens for a reason. I found that life is only meaningless if you think that everything happens at random, If you don’t look up to something bigger than yourself. 

Now Religion  is something else, people make it complicated, to a point where you only see their politics but not the Truth. I have found that my devotion should not be ruled by what these people have got to say. My relationship with God is my own and as long as I have faith, let the self-righteous be damned.

Also, that i may not like the Church or the congregation so much, but I like being Catholic. Its good to know that I made that choice for myself and not by anybody else.

6. Lastly, I learned to appreciate and respect myself more. I learned my worth as a person and that I don’t need to settle for loose change from people. You teach people how to treat you, so you don’t let them get away with treating you like crap. Anywhich way, I say,  Whatever, I am fabulous and its their loss, bwahahaha

So there you go 2 years and counting. Pretty heavy stuff, I doubt if I’d have come face to face with all this things if I didn’t leave the comfort zone. If you managed to get this far, thanks for reading. I highly-recommend jumping off the cliff to the unknown. Its not safe but hey - You live, You learn.