March 17th, 2008

That short stint with A is quite forgettable, except for a singular blessing for which she earned my eternal gratitude: she introduced me to Incognito.

I was in musical limbo that time.  I just left Highbeam and was dabbling in all sorts of music and instruments.  I was teaching myself how to play percussion instruments and reviving my love affair with the guitar.  I started listening to all sorts of jazz.  When she heard that I was on the lookout for good albums, A made me listen to Incognito's Beneath the Surface.

It totally blew my mind.

Since then I have been a rabid fan of theirs.  I used to spend my weekends in Japan prowling through the second-hand CD shops for any Incognito album and got everything I could lay my hands on.  I loved every single one of them.  They're one of those bands (or maybe the only band) that can't seem to do anything wrong.  It feels like I'm bound to love every song they churn out.

It never crossed my mind that I would actually see and hear and feel them perform live.  I am a fan, yes, but I live in a third-world country.  Nobody who's anybody ever comes here (well maybe U2, and nope, Maroon 5 does NOT count as an 'anybody').  So I guess to call the fact that I did get to see them live a 'dream come true' is wrong.  I never even gave myself the luxury of dreaming of it.

Yet, as these things sometimes turn out, my non-dream did come true. Free of charge.

Thank God I decided to stay up late that night, online, when Ishaw (God bless her) IM'ed me and told me that Incognito was going to play Manila on the 14th.  To think that I didn't recognize her ID at first.  Thank God she had access to the Artist ID's which would be our free ticket to that event.  

That night, we came, we saw, we partied.  We partied HARD!

How can I put all this into words?  Have you ever admired any living person or entity, idolized them, tried everything you could to emulate them, set them up as the bar by which you judge all others and found most of them wanting?  Then try to imagine having the opportunity, beyond your wildest imagination, to see him/them, to touch that person/entity, and (in the case of musicians) hear and see him/them make music before you?  

My much vaunted powers of communication aren't enough to express this.  I tried sharing this to a couple of officemates and all I got were looks of mild amusement.  They don't get it, and why should they?  They don't love the band as much as I do.  And they weren't there.

Incognito's set that night was pure magic.  Sometimes in the middle of it, I just closed my eyes and felt the music washing though me, while somewhere in my head a small voice of disbelief kept on muttering, 'This can't be real. I'm hearing them LIVE.'  

Oh oh oh but it's true.  I was there, with them, that night.  I have pictures to prove it (to myself mostly)!

What's even more amazing than seeing and hearing Incognito live is finding out that they're really nice folks.  Bluey is now officially the coolest guy in the world in my list.  Smart, compassionate, and intelligent.  He preached that night, but I didn't hear the usual nonsense you hear from artists-trying-to-be-activists these days.  His message is simple: Peace, beyond Color or Creed. He never said a single mean thing to anyone that night, even to those who probably deserved it (ie. the government, the terrorists, the rich, the poor, whatever).

'Let's start with ourselves, our own circles of influence. If enough of us do it, this thing is going to explode.'

Wow.  He makes it sound so easy, so doable, that by the sheer strength of our love and music, we could actually change the world.  You could almost believe him.

Sadly though, that small, loving crowd at Sofitel that night, that group was composed mostly of upper-crust people.  As for people like me, well, I got to watch only because I had the right connections.  How many of us could shell near 3000 php just to hear a band play?  Some people support themselves and 5 other people for a month with that amount.

Thing is, Incognito is a band that ought to be heard by more people.  It's just that (economic or cultural) circumstances don't allow it.  The great tragedy is that most of them don't care.  Most of my countrymen aren't ready for their music, their message.

Ah but being there that night, it also gives me hope, you know?  A small group of people saw, heard, and partied with Incognito that night.  I guess it's a good a start as any.  We were a small group, but we are a nation.

Beyond colour, beyond creed,
We are One Nation under the groove.

Peace.