WHEN IN MANILA roused every corner of Hard Rock Cafe with Canadian duo Japandroids last August 19 on their first show in the Philippines. That night may have been cold and stormy but inside the bar, it was fiery.
The calm during the storm (or something like it)
A day before the Japandroids show, the rainfall in Metro Manila was insane. Overnight, the typhoon went crueler and I was worried if the event would still push through (that among a lot of more pressing things).
I texted Joff Cruz of Kindassault to ask about the event’s status and he informed me that the band just checked in their hotel.
Nevertheless, the rock show must go on. So after some dilly-dallying, I temporarily brushed off my worries, braved the freezing tap water, and got ready to leave the house.
Fortunately, our best friends are also going to see the show. Thanks to them and their car, we safely drove from the semi-farthest south of Manila and we arrived at the venue just on time.
A few people were already waiting at Hard Rock’s door. Everybody, including us, was dressed in jackets and high-cut boots and giddy smiles were plastered on our faces.
My partner photographer and I went inside to grab our passes. It took quite a while before they let people in so everyone’s excitement grew immensely.
Flying Ipis was the night’s only front act band. They may be an all-female group but what they lack in testosterone made up with girl power. They stirred up the crowd with their angst-coated kick-ass songs.
After they played, everyone was a lot more eager to see Japandroids play.
(Photographer’s Note: It was halfway through the Japandroids’ set that I took a break from shooting to enjoy the rest of the show knowing I have a good set of photos. After a while, I checked my camera to review the photos and It was when I realized there were a lot of missing photos. Turns out, my SD card malfunctioned somewhere during the main act’s first few songs and (maybe) formatted itself, losing all the photos from my first shot up to that point. As soon as I noticed, I rushed back to the front of the stage, knocking people over in the middle of a mosh pit to retake photos. I would like to apologize to Flying Ipis for losing those awesome photos. T_T)
Japandroids in Manila: Burning Down the House
