~* BROWNMAN REVIVAL FIX *~

'Had my Brownman Revival fix last night at Xaymaca. Twas just my second visit there, still with Abbie (namesake of Abbie, my high school friend. She's my sister's friend...) and my sister. This time we were joined by my sister's friends Rechie and his sister Kel, Ate Ga and then later on, Archie, Lot and her boyfriend joined us.

This time we reserved seats :) We took the far end of the tables against the wall, the ones with the cushioned long bench. Our prime purpose was to have something to stand on again when the band starts its set.

They started setting up around 10ish. Dino Concepcion (the vocalist) didn't have his shades on yet but it was kinda dark on stage and like we only saw his side view. So the mystery remains... Hehe. Is he cute or not without the ever-present trademark shades? Malay ko ba if he's sideviewgenic?!

Dino's profile on their site reads:

WANTED : for slander, libel, moral defamation, character assasination, smear, crime of conscience and adding insult to injury against a strong republic and its conspirators; for abuse of right to free expression and assertion of right to a decent way of life.

ALSO WANTED : by titillated fans (teens, kolehiyalas, yuppies,models, drag queens, homosexuals, deranged fans, sugar mommies, expat hotties, local hotties, showbiz personalities and yes, even lesbians), sexually aroused by his passionate wailing and complimented by hypnotic riddims of his co-operatives, also known collectively as BROWNMAN REVIVAL.

DISTINCT FEATURE/S : wears shades during performances (once he was asked why the fancy for his eyewear, he replied: "it's for me to wear, and for you to find out" )

One of 'em turned out to be layogenic. I'd rather not say who. Basta when we met him up close two weeks ago, we all went "Ay?! Ermm, ikaw ba yun (on stage)?" in our minds! :P Oh well.

Brownman Revival started playing their first set around 11ish. They sang my fave song in their line-up... that Lionel Richie (yes! ackkk, right?! But their reggae version is just sooo good) "The Only One". Yebbah :) A coupla minutes into their first set, Abbie and I stood up na on the cushioned bench and danced. Yup, that's why we love those seats against the wall ;) You can just stand on the bench and dance, you ain't gonna annoy anyone by blocking their view since it's already the bay windows which are behind you. Plus, you get to see the entire stage (and of course Dino;) ) and of course, groove to your heart's content ;)

You, turned me inside out and you showed me. What life was about. Only you, the only one that stole my heart away. ~ The Only One, Lionel Richie

During Brownman Revival's first set...


Our feeble attempt at using my fone's night mode. That's supposed to be (L-R) Ate Ga, my sister and me.

Basically, the place starts to get packed after 12mn. By the time they did their second set around 1am, the place was a sweat house. Well at least this time I came prepared ;) I wore a black tank top (the first time I went there, since it was a spur-of-the-moment thing, I was like in an office blouse with long sleeves. Shiyeeet. How uncool. Mukha ako masyadong kagalang-galang na yuppie. And imagine how super-init that attire was! NOT good for dancing at all :P ). I swear, it's like having a work-out with all the sweaty dancing goin' on. Ok, since I don't go to the gym, that's my dose of work-out! ;)

An excerpt on the Brownman Revival site reads:

Drawing heavily on contemporary reggae acts such as Big Mountain, Inner Circle and UB40, BROWNMAN REVIVAL creatively mixes the traditional roots sound of venerated reggae icon Bob Marley, with a Hispano-tropical pop sensibility as only sun-loving Filipinos can, producing a festive but sensuous strain of Lover's Rock reggae with such vibrant energy that never fails to leave the crowds winding and grinding their sweaty bodies to the band's euphoric reggae party.

Yup. "Euphoric reggae party" encapsulates the entire experience. By around 2:30AM, the band had like 3 encore songs already. Everybody kept shouting "more, more!" just when Dino is about to walk off the stage. Left the place around 3am. Got home around 4am. My hair totally stinked with yosi smell. Grrness. Had to shampoo my hair three times again today. :P

Looking in your eyes
Looking in your big brown eyes...
...Girl I want to make you sweat
Sweat till you can't sweat no more
And if you cry out
I'm gonna push it some mo-o-ore
Girl I want to make you sweat
Sweat till you can't sweat no more
And if you cry out
I'm gonna push it
Push it, push it some more
~ Sweat, Inner Circle

Funny... so my mom woke me up this morning coz she went online (the PC's in my room) and she goes: "Oh anak, anong ginawa nyo sa gay bar?" I was like, "Hellerrr?! What gay bar?" Haha! Apparently, she misheard me last night when I made paalam to her. I said I was going with my sis to the REGGAE bar. Not GAY bar! Haha! So all the while, she thought I had been hanging out in a gay bar til 3 in the morning?! Funny talaga oh. :P