then we saw the stars again

So the week-end came and went, and what a week-end this has been. If I ever needed a reminder as to why we go through the highs and lows or composing, recording, believing, doubting and (hopefully) gigging, this trip sits at the top of my self-motivational experiences. And it’s really all about the people you meet.
I can only imagine what life on the road for prolonged periods of time must feel like, but taken in occasional trips and festivals, this has got to be one of the most effective ways of truly enjoying a holiday. And since we know that we’ll be leaving Asia for (almost) good at the end of July, I’m taking all my chances.

The first thing I noticed about Manila was the traffic. And much to my expectations, traffic was intense. Not unlike Bangkok actually, but I had the feeling that there was a lot more movement going on at any given time. It feels like everybody is converging on the same impetus, and it seems also that there really is only one massive highway cutting across the Metro Manila megalopolis. Most main streets branch out of it, or at least that’s what googlemaps showed me. But in fact, as much as there is a lot to be said about the road congestion and the actual state of streets and highways, I felt almost at home there, considering that traffic is really not that much better in Sicily and I will always have the memory of my dad overtaking in the middle of two lanes, swearing, burning red lights when needed and what have you. You stop thinking that going from point A to point B is an exact science but rather something almost artistic.
It’s just a matter of knowing when to go and knowing when to give way, and it almost magically sorts itself out. To be perfectly honest, I am more nervous on the road here in Singapore, where drivers display the kind of aggressiveness that comes out of hours of frustration and pent up anger being stuck in a cubicle or pushing paper. And you really can’t blame it on the infrastructure here. It’s all about the people, once again.

So the people, precisely. I had to pass up the first edition of A*FEST last year because of a conflicting schedule with (real) work, but I wanted to make sure to accept Joff’s invitation this time. Joff runs Kindassault, an indie label and gig organising outfit, pretty much like my own KittyWu family here in Singapore. His cousin Paolo helps out for the festival, and writeups and overall MC duties, which he usually does by wearing a luchador mask. A self-professed cultural studies geek, I learn that he is the founder of a Facebook geekfight group. And when he picks us up at the hotel with a big Mercedes van and we load the gear at the back and start talking, I have this odd sense of familiarity: I am reminded of the small clubs I used to go to all the time, back in Lyon, or in London. I remember the friends I lost touch with after years of moving around, the same people with whom you know you could just pick up from where you’d left if you’d see them again at a gig.

And I think this is how Errol feels too. When we get to SaGuijo for the Friday night set of shows, half the people there already know him and remember him from last year. Keith, one of the “official” photographers who took some amazing shots of I am David Sparkle during the first A* FEST, Alice, who hands out handwritten questions to each of the bands for new-slang, a beautifully-written, beautifully-laid-out website about music, musings of all sorts and insights on everyday Filipino life. It feels like I’ve met them all before, and even though we all grew up in very different places, there is a connection that goes beyond boundaries and social constructs.

We quickly check that everything sounds all right and enjoy the bands for the night.
Bottlesmoker, an electronic duo from Bandung, are just so refreshing and irresistible. Their rig consists of a keleidoscope of musical toys, bells and circuit-bent contraptions. They create melodies that are as easy to remember as they are hard to get out of your head.
Sleepwalk Circus totally took me by surprise, and this is what i love about festivals. Their sound was reminiscent of Silversun Pickups in a way, only with more ambient leaning at times and an almost post-rock aesthetic on some guitar textures.
The Standards worked the crowd to a frenzy, and it’s not hard to see why: as a frontman, Matt would not be out of place among the iconic figures of Britpop. There is little you can do against a barrage of arpeggiated moog lines and post-punk guitar riffs, really. And we all got to dance.
Closing the evening at 2 AM after such a livewire act would have felt like a comedown, but i don’t think anyone expected me to up the ante. And that’s the beauty of a place like SaGuijo: the crowd is there for the music, for the bands and for a good time. We are all sharing a moment together. And when that happens, the feeling is magical.

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For more pictures: click here