Nananaginip Nang Gising, UP Asterisk's 7th anniversary party

Last Friday, I was in Conspiracy Bar in Quezon City to support my friend Stefan for Nananaginip Nang Gising.  The event is the seventh year anniversary and cult night of Asterisk, the three-time Outstanding Arts and Letters-Based Organization in UP Diliman. Stefan handles social media, and he does a great job of it because I usually get events to feature for Supreme from him. He did the marketing for the event and he invited me, Nikko, and Erin Emocling to represent When In Manila

On a side note, I would also like to congratulate Erin for landing a gig as writer for Yahoo! and VERA Files. She's a great photographer and writer!

Prior to that, I attended the reception of my officemate Rhea Ramilla's wedding. She and her now-husband Bryan finally tied the knot after 13 years of being a couple. She looked absolutely stunning that day and I wish that she will have 13 more years, then 13 more with him. Bryan's a lucky guy.

Nananaginip Nang Gising featured the music of Wilderness, Slow Hello, Plagpul, The Oemons, The Jeffrey Zulueta Experience, TABAKK, Ciudad Tribu, Super Lolo, Sheenola, The Strangeness, Justin Pinon, and poetry by UP UGAT, with live art by Ang Gerilya.

Wilderness played a great set that night, but totally different from the last gig I watched. According to Stefan, a neighbor complained about the noise the bands made and threatened to report them. Wilderness was affected the most because their music can be really loud, what Erin describes as a "bombastic love explosion." At one point, I was handed a tambourine and I jammed with the band for a few songs. It felt really good.

The Oemons were pretty good, too. They look like rockers in a jazz band, complete with a trombone and trumpet, but they play ska. They're a riot to watch and though I didn't exactly understand what they were singing (they mentioned burritos, white men, and bukkake), they were an entertaining band and their music was addicting. I might go to their other gigs.

I enjoyed The Strangeness' set the most. My friend Shinji plays the tambourine, and they describe themselves as a "lo-budge narco country psychedelic garage punk n' soul band... from outer space." It sounds like a lot to digest, but their songs are laidback and perfect for chill Sunday afternoons. They performed one of my favorite Strangeness songs, Being Sober is a Drag. Which really is.

The rest of the event went great. I got to meet Bon, who runs Indiebon, this artist from Ang Gerilya, and Geli Bolinao from Clavel. We promised to collaborate on projects soon. Exciting times ahead!

Asterisk is perhaps the coolest student organization. They hold these fantastic cultural events from Lav Diaz screenings to talks with established cultural creatives. In fact, I'm seriously thinking of going back to school just to join Aste!