Midnight Meetings sharing a few teases, smiles and laughs before starting their acoustic set at Zili's
When I first came across the Resto Bar Zili's on Facebook posts for event announcements, two things immediately caught my attention. The first was that it was near our place, I have a childhood friend who lives in Vista Verde where the spicy bar and resto is located, so going there seemed like I was visiting a familiar neighborhood. The second thing that caught my attention was the 'SPICY' food that seemed to be what the resto bar was going for and how it was separating itself from other resto bars out there. Paul is a big fan of spicy food so I really wanted to check it out. So when I saw a post from Midnight Meetings that they would be playing a gig there and that December Avenue would be joining in I was SOLD!. I've always been a fan of December Avenue, in fact I included them in my list of OPM bands to watch out for, in a blog post I did last March 2013. You can read on that here. I haven't been able to catch December Avenue in a gig - ever so I pretty much knew it was a no brainer to go to the event. :)
Nice and Spicy at Zili's
Like I mentioned in my recent post - I do take my siblings to gigs, because I want to expose them to awesome OPM bands. For this trip, we also took Paul's nephew Jared, who is also into music. He does acoustic covers also! (You can check out one here) He's not into the whole punk rock scene so we just bring him along for acoustic nights and gigs. So, armed my brother and Paul's nephew, curious tummies and ears wanting to hear good music, we made our way last Saturday night at Zili's.
December Avenue serenading the crowd with their original songs and cover songs as well.
Owned and Managed by Kamikazee Lead Guitarist Jomal Linao and his wife Reyg, Zili's is known for their SPICY Nasi Goreng Kampung. In case your wondering Nasi Goreng Kampung is a Malaysian dish and Zili's has perfected this with spices straight from Malaysia!
Sorry we weren't able to take photos of the food. We gobbled it down right away once it was placed in front of us. :P Maybe next time we'll go there and do a photoshoot with the food and stuff - then eat it afterward of course! :)
Another thing I love about Zili's is the affordable drinks that they have. Beer (San Mig Light) is at P45.00/each and there's Bottomless Iced Tea (YEHEY!) for just P50.00! And for someone who frequents bars on a tight budget we were more than happy to spend P85.00-P95.00 per meal for some awesome SPICY Asian fusion food :3
With the continued influx of foreign acts (both from the west and our neighboring countries from the east -Oppa yeah -I'm looking at you Gangnam style) coming to our country for concerts and shows (some of them old artists on the verge of retirement and some young 'artists' not even in college) there are just so many foreign acts coming to our country you might think that there was no supply of our own music here.
I won't wash my hands, I won't say that I don't listen to foreign artists, because I do. My favorite band is Paramore, I listen to Japanese music and I have my own favorite Japanese artists also. There is absolutely nothing wrong with appreciating music from other countries, all I'm saying is that we should also take a look at our own artists here and support them.
Record labels and companies: Believe, Make a gamble
I don't really know much about the music industry and maybe I don't have any right to be speaking about this matter but I do believe that this is also a call to challenge, record labels and record companies to take a risk and gamble with true artists and musicians. Real ones- not 'singers' who only get a break because they are actors or have a celebrity lineage and do we seriously need another 'artist' who does nothing but cover songs? I mean just think about it- celebrities (from movies and TV) get to have their own concert and they don't even in the very definition of it -sing. If all the money from shows and concerts like that were actually invested in a true artist then maybe the music industry here would have a different story. Just think about that for a minute.
The role that social media plays There is something that today's aspiring bands have that other bands did not have a few years ago and that is social media. We all know the power of Social Media, it is a double edged sword, it can either make you or break you. I would really suggest for bands to take time and invest in using Social Media to reach out to fans who already love you and to potential fans. Get a Facebook page and a Twitter account spread the word, spread the music. Assign a Social Media Manager to manage your accounts or it could be the bands shared responsibility. Take time to answer back, like, favorite and retweet fans who reach out to you. It really helps when fans know that you acknowledge their existence and appreciate them. Buzz worthy OPM bands Here is a list of Buzz worthy OPM bands (for me at least). I would just like to say that I like the music that these bands play and their songs would actually make it in my playlist and I would actually buy their records. There are other buzz worthy OPM musicians and artists from different genres but that would not be my jam, so if you know of OPM artists from other genres who need a little push to gain more followers and get a little more exposure, I encourage you to write about them! Take to the internet and use Social Media to help our OPM artists. Blog about them. Get together with other fans and create Fanbases.
Fanbases can be very loyal, they can be intense, they can be rabid- they can be out of the ball park crazy! (at times) But you have to admit that our bands need them. Okay, if not rabid fanbases then loyal fans would do also. So before I get carried a way, here is my buzz worthy OPM bands.
Circa
Describing their music as experimental rock, Circa is made up of Em Tolentino, SAM Salantes, ARKHO Andalis, DEV Dayang and REYCARL Olarte. I was actually able to watch them perform live during Paramore Night 3 and let me just say that they are amazing! Really talented and a really nice group of musicians. Listening to their original music you can tell that this band has definitely a lot of potential and there are many opportunities for them to really make it big - if given the chance, that's where we the fans come in. Em Tolentino fronting the band is a pretty strong presence. Her vocals remind one of the great Gwen Stefani, they are both haunting and beautiful -just listen to her sing "Ito na bang huling pag-ibig ko?" -it's goosebumps guaranteed. When I watched her perform live she had the crowd at the palm of her hand. They are currently playing gigs in different bars, guesting on radio shows and are endorsers for Elevate Apparelmnl (oh diba?!) Listen to their original song 'Huling Pag-ibig' below.
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