The 2006 City Fiesta was greeted with loud cheers and a rocking audience as swarms of people began massing up at Lim Ket Kai Mall Parking Lot “E” last August 27, 2006. As 16 Southern rock bands were assembled for the show, with no less than former Pinoy Big Brother housemate Budoy and his band Jr. Kilat highlighting the rock festival, everyone was assured of one rocking evening. I was one of those eager to watch the show when I heard about the upcoming event. And No, I wasn’t there just because of Budoy. I was there to witness the gathering of the best Rock bands that Cebu and Mindanao has to offer. We have always been so engrossed with mainstream music heralded by bands from Luzon and Manila, and I thought it was just about time that we start listening and supporting bands from the southern side of the archipelago. For sure everyone knows Budoy by now, but what of the other bands that played with Budoy that night? From Cebu, have you heard of Sheila and the Insects? (A power pop/alternative outfit that fuses new wave and 90’s music beautifully), Smooth Friction (a hard rock outfit with purely humorous Visayan songs), Powerspoonz (a SKA/reggae unit with lots of raw power to their sounds). And those were just from Cebu. Also participating were bands from the City of Golden Friendship, which was highlighted by Tabularaza (A Rock/alternative band with radio friendly music that could rival those of mainstream bands.), Gasulina (a Dance/Rock band that can get those happy feet dancing), and Thoughts And Notions (A Pop/Rock band that fuses positive music to their positive lyrics) and many more up and coming CDO bands that will soon be rocking the country. There were even bands from Iligan (Old Skul) and Gingoog (Whappak) joining the event.
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| Thoughts And Notions |
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| John Fernandez |
The gates opened at around 5pm, and I was there curiously observing the crew preparing for the first band to play on stage. These are hard working student volunteers who are all here making a contribution for the local music scene to flourish. A band named Red Whiskey started playing to serve as crowd drawers for the event. They played an assortment of well-known rock hits to the audience’s delight. The band from Iligan named Old Skul formally opened the show as they played 3 songs. A Female fronted Emo band from CDO named Maria My Star came in next with a very energized performance that left me stunned in delight. A fusion of Rap/Rock tunes greeted the audience when KBC came in to play next, which also come from Cagayan de Oro. Gingoog based band Whappak was next up on stage with their awesome repertoire of songs. CDO band Ikabaud Krane followed next with their set of veteran presence. Another CDO band named Swerve came in next bringing astounding sounds to the ears. Thoughts And Notions, CDO’s first CCM Pop-Rock band, was next up on stage. They opened their set with a cover of Imago’s Akap. The crowd by this time began to cheer in approval of their excellently choiced cover. They also covered Jars of Clay’s I Need You as well as played two original songs from their album, Thoughts and Notions: In Awe of His Amazing Love, namely the rocking sound of Brand New Day and the soothing Earthbound Angel much to the people’s delight.
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| Tabularaza |
With the first half of the show done, I began to move around and saw familiar faces, Faces who were a while ago up on stage performing and now mingling with the audience. These rock bands has a good rapport with their supporters, no wonder they continue to thrive despite the hardships of being in the local band scene. Meanwhile, Red Whiskey, who earlier served as the crowd drawers of the show, returned on stage and continued their awesome performance. The eerily haunting but deliciously beautiful to the ears Screamo outfit from CDO named K9 was next on stage. They effectively created a stir when they began singing (or screaming to be exact) as bands from the band area rose and took a look at their performance. Then one of the city’s more popular Rockoustic performer, Fayeed Tan (who’s coming out an album soon), went up next on stage playing his flurry of recognizable hit songs, which set the stage for the coming of CDO’s biggest band of the moment, Tabularaza. The band played all original songs from their album Shewowah, which was highlighted by their carrier single Shewowah. The audience by this time began to sing along with the band as everyone had a blast. Tabularaza graciously played an amazing set peppered with so much gusto after seeing the humongous crowd all there to watch the bands perform. Another big band from CDO named Gasulina, who pioneered the Dance Rock phenomenom in our city, followed with their danceable tunes. Playing their radio hits Fueled and The Pill among others. I also came to know that they would also be coming out an album before the year ends. Gasulina prodded the audience to let those dancing feet start jumping as they set the audience ready for the special guests of the evening, the bands from Cebu.
Sheila and the Insects was the first band to play. Everyone was left gaping in awe of their excellent poetic songs and their mixture of power pop/alternative performance. I for one was so impressed with the band. By the time Powerspoonz came up onstage, everyone was beginning to jam with the band. People were jumping up and down to the band’s Power SKA performance. Smooth Friction, makers of the famed Solid Ug Lawas song, followed with their hilarious songs. Their brand of hard rock music and their tongue in cheek lyrics continuously left the audience laughing. So by the time Budoy and his band Jr. Kilat started playing, everyone was already primed up to do more dancing and rocking. Budoy’s electrically charged performance brought the entire house down. People were beginning to have a really fun good time listening to Budoy using our own Visayan native tongue in singing his Visayan songs. The event ended at around past 2am in the morning. Everyone was still so energetic to continue on the fun. It was one great way to greet the City Fiesta. I was happy to be able to witness such a rare event. A collection of all the best southern bands (especially from CDO) all-waiting to be heard. For those of you who weren’t able to watch the show, you have definitely missed more then half of your life. But you need not despair, because events such as these will keep on coming. Now that we have witnessed all these excellent bands, it’s about time that more people begin to appreciate the local pride. And as what one politico has been crowing about during this year’s Fiesta celebrations, it’s about time that CDO will be going Global!
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| Budoy of Jr. Kilat |
You can hear/requests songs of your favorite CDO bands with albums out nationwide over at 89.3 Killer Bee and at Sandy 101.5. Tabularaza has an album out nationwide called Shewowah, which is available locally at Musicvision and at Maan Video and Sounds. They also have a music video for Shewowah now airing at MYX. Thoughts And Notions also has an album out nationwide called In Awe of His Amazing Love, which is available locally at Musicvision, Maan Video and Sounds, and at all House of Praise branches located at our favorite Malls. You can request/vote their song Earthbound Angel at Killerbee and Sandy. Fayeed Tan and Gasulina will soon be coming out with their respective albums before the year ends. Hopefully you guys will support more CDO bands and be proud that we have all these great bands in CDO. Go Kagayanon!
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| Fayeed Tan |
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| Gasulina |
2022 UPDATE!
Since 2006, we were honored to share the stage with these bands. From Local CDO bands to Legendary bands from Manila. From Rock to Pop Stars. From Christian Music to Secular Music. We honor them with this playlist as we look back on the years when we played our songs to a live audience.
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