The Dawn Over The Pinoy Rock Scene: A Reviewer's Review

A review by a UP Student

Posted by The Dawn on Aug 12, '06 11:17 PM for everyone

Tulad Ng Dati
by Haydee Bellen

I just came from watching the Cinemalaya Best Picture Awardee "Tulad ng Dati" at the UP Film Center. I was actually given the option to watch it either today or on Thursday. Most people egged me on to watch it then, because The Dawn will be there daw.

I finally decided to watch it today, because 1) it was on an earlier time slot, and 2) I honestly didn't really feel like it was imperative to go just because the band will be there. To be frank about it, the only affection I have for The Dawn exists because of a handful of their songs that I like, and because Kiko Reyes holds a special place in my heart just because he's cute, and sorry Niña, but his speaking voice is so rich you can just make love to the voice itself.

However, all that became irrelevant even as early as the opening sequence. I won't go into a whole slew of praises for the film; I think it's already been established that it's friggin' good. Read the reviews.

More than the movie itself (which brought me to tears at some point--more on that later), I found it interesting to note the difference between watching a movie like this in a commercial cinema and an in-campus one. For a minute here, let me wax sentimental for a bit, because I really appreciate collective laughter, and more than that, I appreciate it when I'm one of the few who got the punchline. I love that people clapped at the right places, whooped out loud at one of the final scenes, and I'm sure if we all knew the lyrics and werent too reluctant to embarass ourselves, we'd have sung along to everything. You also get to hear people from the back row talking about the technical aspects, and you'd immediately know that they're film students, there to write a review for some class.

But when the lights turn back on, and the crowd dissipates until only a handful are left, it's a wonderful feeling to be able to sit back and look at the happy expressions on everyone's faces. "Tulad ng Dati" gave its audience the opportunity to feel as though they were given a free pass to peek into this primarily private story of a band of brothers. The whole experience was not merely of watching any other "independent" film release; it honestly felt more like all of us got a glimpse into something far bigger than just the lives of four or five or six people. To say it was mostly all-encompassing would be an overstatement though. It wasn't. It was just a piece of our local music scene's history intermingling with the present, and yet, intensely personal that at certain points, guilt kicks in. You're seeing something raw, and yet, it's handed to you.

Ping Medina was, of course, superb. You only have to watch the eyes, and you're hooked. He became Teddy Diaz for a bit, albeit a little whimsical, but it was his lines that hit the most. One of them has become my new e-mail signature. It goes:

Ping: "'Ano gagawin mo kung may nawala sayo?"
Jett: "Hahanapin."
Ping: "Eh pag hindi mo mahanap?"
Jett: "Papalitan."
Ping: "Eh pag hindi mapalitan?"
Jett: "Kakalimutan."
Ping: "Eh kung hindi makalimutan?"

Jett: "....Tatanggapin".

PANALO.

The whole night came full circle for me when the screening was over, and people like Zach Lucero, Aia de Leon, and Karl Roy started filtering out from the hall. I have always felt more at home with this genre of music than any other, not because all the others are crap, but because rock/alternative always does it for me. It almost always hits home, and getting to watch a great band play live is otherworldly and exhilirating. It's not being a groupie, it's not being a fan, it's just basically being able to transcend the distance between your place in the crowd and the stage.

This is a good time for OPM. You always hear people feeling nostalgic about the early days, and a lot of people still feel wistful whenever they hear some ditty from a band like The Eraserheads. It's because music like theirs doesn't rot in just one generation's psyche. Ergo, good music will still be good music no matter what year it is. And with a lot of good bands coming out of the woodwork, some even coming from the provinces, it's a great time to bring some good music out onto the airwaves.

I'm assuming that "Tulad ng Dati" is an indication that we're starting to move on from always being nostalgic about songs from the past, once in a lifetime concerts, and bands that have long since rested their laurels. We're moving on. And it's a good thing.

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Written by a UP Student who watched the recent showing at the UP Film Institute. We found this on her blog http://haidster.livejournal.com/110196.html

intelligent review. intelligent look at a band... and i like the way the reviewer transcends her appreciation of pinoy rock music into a perspective rarely arrived at by most critics.