The Sponge Show

Watched the Sponge Cola show last week at Dish, and dude, it was a blast! See, I’ve wanted to see them perform live. I’ve wanted to see any decent local band perform live actually. That had been my wish ever since I got myself busy with work. The last time I went to a band concert was still in 2000 when Byron had his birthday celebration in 70’s Bistro during its Beatles Night. No, wait, it was during UP Fair 2001 when Gen and I got lost in the moshpit during Parokya Ni Edgar’s performance. Correction again, the last time was when Mich Dulce invited me to her 2003 bohemian burgis birthday party where local indie bands including Monsterbot played for her. Doh, how could I forget last February’s UP Fair! Mira and I went and were able to catch Kjwan and a few other bands. But see, those last times weren’t really because I planned to see the bands perform. The Sponge Cola case was different. I really wanted to see them perform. The minute I found out they’ll be performing near my work place, I knew I'd go there to see them perform even if I will watch the show alone!

Okay, I admit, I’m a fan. They just stand out for me from all the other similar sounding pop local bands whose songs have sappy lyrics and simplistic arrangements. Not that Sponge Cola is that excellent. They’re simply good and I know they’ll get better. I’m a fan because I like their sound. I describe their sound as a cross between early 90’s Radiohead and Bush. Their song arrangements are unpredictable yet familiar. The lyrics are poetic without being artsy fartsy (Hello, Dicta License!) I also would kill to have Yael’s raspy-good voice. Sponge Cola, together with Sugarfree, are my two favorite mainstream local bands at the moment. Their current albums (Palabas and Dramachine respectively) will be classics, I predict, and I dare you to buy them if you still don’t have copies. Hindi nga ako fan, heh! :)

Like I wrote, their show was a blast! They played most of the songs from their first album including my favorites Neon and Jeepney. They also played two new untitled tracks. Fans were delirious when they played their ubiquitous cover of Madonna’s Crazy For You plus covers of Gin Blossom’s Til I Hear It From You and Eraserheads’ Pare Ko. (Incidentally, an Eraserheads tribute album will be released next month with local bands covering their classics. Yes, Sponge Cola is part of the album and Pare Ko is their contribution). My only gripes maybe are that I think I’d have enjoyed myself more if I was watching it with a fan (I dragged non-fan Monjam with me so I won’t appear that pathetic) and if I was able to scream and headbang to their loud songs (Dish crowd was a bit stiff. I belong to the jologs moshpit crowd. Haha!)

To cap my crazed fan persona that night, I had my Palabas CD signed by them after the show. They told me I’m astig and all that while signing their autograph. I told them I’m just jologs. Heh!