10/03/2025
GIG REVIEW: BRAAPP 2 (Tuguegarao Leg)
March 8, 2025, Saturday
Dside Bar, Robinsons Tuguegarao Rotonda, Diversion Road, Tuguegarao City
Production: Middle Class Productions
Support Crew/Sponsors: Equipment Backline from Weapons of Mass Instruction: A Music Studio, Logistical Support by Sa Lilim Restobar Cauayan City, Strained Echoes and Silakbo
Powered by: Cagayan Vintage and Revolution per Minute
What went down this weekend was a gathering of people who want to make a good scene greater. It was an awesome gig despite the weather and some glitches mostly brought about by logistical concerns for the transport of our backline equipment.
You see, Weapons of Mass Instruction: A Music Studio (or WMI for short) is based in Cauayan, Isabela at the grounds of the ever awesome Sa Lilim Restobar in Barangay Cabaruan, Cauayan, Isabela. (The other location is in Santa Ana, Cagayan )
As a brief background, the studio is part of an advocacy project to fund free music studios in several municipalities within the region to encourage people to take up music as a hobby or as a means to earn their income by providing them with access to better music equipment. The equipment for these studios are also geared towards supporting local music scenes and prods for their backline requirements.
Anyway, to make the long story short, while we have professional backline equipment, we do not have the means to transport it, lol.
To mitigate this problem, I asked help from a backline provider I am transacting with to deliver the guitar and bass amps plus the items I will be buying from him on the designated date. As for the drums, I asked a good friend from Santa Ana to have it hitched (pasabay) to another member of the Camp Engano crew going to Tuguegarao. This was days before the event.
The event was already a rescheduled event. It was supposed to be held in Tumauini in time for the municipal fiesta. However, as luck would have it, we had to cancel as the rains wont stop due to the shear line still affecting these parts. Our crew figured it best to hold the event in Tuguegarao. Thus, I contacted Jaimar Ventura to hold the event at Dside to which he agreed.
The event was a simple celebration of our local kustom culture and music scene. No expectations, we just want to hang out with our bikes and watch awesome bands perform. As such, apart from posting it on our personal fb accounts and pages, we did nothing to advertise the event. It’s a monthly gathering of bikes and bands, from all over. Open to everyone without discrimination.
On the day of the event at about 10 am, despite having discussed the transport date with the persons I transacted with in Isabela, I was told that they cannot make it as the vehicle they will be using had issues. The transport from Santa will be pushing through, but it would be very late. It was a major f_Ck up.
Knowing that it would be impossible to push through considering logistics coupled with the bad weather, I messaged some of the bands, Dside and my crew that we will have to cancel the event. They all agreed.
My only problem would be informing the bands from Nueva Vizcaya.
I asked Geo Gabatin from Strained Echoes where they are. He replied that they are in Santiago, Isabela having just finished their band practice.
Sh_it sandwich.
I told him that the event might be postponed due to logistical concerns. It took a long while for him to reply and when he did he stated “Wait lang bwelo lang ako sa mga kabanda ko”. I know how hard and frustrating it is to tell his bandmates about the cancellation as they came all the way from Vizcaya. They also brought with them Silakbo.
I profusedly said my apologies considering the circumstances.
After a few minutes, he messaged back “Bro kung tutulong na lang kami kung ano mabubuhat naming sa Lilim? Tuloy na natin andyan na!”. I asked “Okay lang ba? Malalaki at mabibigat mga gamit natin”. He replied, “Okay lang pre, andito na eh. Basta kung ano mabubuhat ng sasakyan game kami”. I consulted with Chrysler, and we agreed to push through. I immediately messaged the other bands and Jaimar from Dside that we will be pushing through. All the bands said yes except for Gustmask whose members cannot attend because of the weather. My band Raspa cannot play because our bassist and guitarist are not available. The rest, White Space, Divine Departure, Silakbo, Yugto, Kamada and Strained Echoes are all good to go. 6 out of 8 bands, not bad.
Alright, good enough, lets go!
The plan would would be 4 cars, 3 from Vizcaya and 1 from Cauayan will transport the powered speakers, guitar amps, bass amp, cabinets, wires, microphones and what nots from Cauayan. The drumset, additional powered speakers and one spare amp would come all the way from Santa Ana. As luck would have it, the equipment from Santa Ana arrived at 1130pm, too late.
Geo and the Nueva Vizcaya crew pushed from Santiago to Sa Lilim Restobar to fetch the backline equipment. At about 3pm, Chrysler told me that they are already on their way. I told Geo Gabatin to message me once they are at Buntun so I could time my ingress to the venue. I had already gone to Dside to bring the mixer and the spare guitar amp.
At about 7pm, I was messaged by Geo that they are already at Buntun. I thus hurried to Dside bar to welcome them and to facilitate the set up of the equipment. Chrysler is already within Tuguegarao at this point. I met Geo and the Strained Echoes and Silakbo crew and started helping with lifting of the heavy ass amps. I told them to settle at the artist section of the bar to wait.
At about 730pm, Chrysler and his wife arrived and we hauled the rest of the equipment for set up. Of course at this point I have no idea where the drumset coming from Santa Ana were. No updates no nothing from that end. Good thing there was a drumset at the bar owned by Aris/ Harris from Ragasa (as told by Carlo, thanks Aris/Harris). We hurriedly set up the equipment to start the event. Thank you to the two volunteers who hung our tarpaulins at the background, sorry forgot to ask your names.
A few people have come in and I was asked by Jaimar my plans for the entrance. Since we did not bring any tickets or marker for the entry, I told him to ask those in the tables whether they are band members or not and if they are, to exempt them from payment. I advised Jaimar to play it on good faith and tell the attending crowd that the entrance fees would be to provide refreshments for the guest bands. So there.
At this point, I still have not decided on the line up. Zulu and members of the online music platform Groove Den (Jigz, Vincent, Didge and Jake) were already at the venue. So were members of Yugto (Gian and crew sans Kristian Louie whose wife and kids were apparently sick, get well bro) , White Space, Kamada and Divine Departure. Carlo from Ragasa was also in attendance. Marco Carag, MMA athlete and now a running enthusiast with his group Tuguegarun was also in attendance, nice meeting you man.
To make sure that the bands are all set up and familiar with the equipment, I asked them if they wanted to soundcheck.
The Line Up
White Space is the first band to take up the stage. The band is composed of members coming from different bands. Kyle Rashleigh fronts the mic and does bass on occasion, Karl Paulo Articulo and the muthaf**king good looking Miggy Villaroman handles the guitars. They are joined by Hanz Earl Cruz on drums, Jie Soriano on vocals and Rhens Banan/Xaint from Bororeds on vocals. Kyle Rashleigh I know from as a skater frontman for Rio del Gramo. They played Paranoid from Black Sabbath. The rest are all original compositions from the different bands in Tugue: 2G Marlboro – Bororeds (fronted by Rhens Banan aka Xaint, drums played by Owen Tamayo both from Bororeds and), E.M.I.L.Y – (sang by Jie Soriano, frontman from Hiraya (out on March 21) and And I Fell - Exroses (single launch ngayon). Their last song was an impromptu jam – consisting of members from various up and coming Tuguegarao bands. Ive seen these kids from the Lilith tour and they always bring the mosh. Ayus mga to eh. Sabagay mga bata pa, kaya di nauubos ang tangke. Damn kids got all the cardio! Hahaha.
When I asked Kyle Rashleigh about White Space, this is what he said: “Kuys, The White Space pala is parang platform/project sya na lahat ng mga artist dito sa Tugue na gusto tumugtog or gustong gumawa ng kanta pwede nila ilatag samin tas kami mag produce, pwede din namin sila tulungan sa pag compo ng mga songs nila hehe”. Which reminds me, I was once a part of a group that has the same concept, Goons and Guns with members from different punk, hc, reggae and hiphop artists. Good concept. And judging from their performances of their original songs as well as their influences, they will go places. Did I mention that their guitarist looks like a moviestar than a rockstar? That’s another story. But don’t let the looks fool you, that kid can play. I was told by Cary that the first time he saw Miggy play the guitar, he was already playing Master of Puppers. Cool kid. The band is planning to give him a mask so that he wont get all the chicks in the crowd next time. Their words not mine. Mahusay White Space!
Second band onstage is Divine Departure. After I introduced the band, I went out to check on the equipment coming from Santa Ana. At this point, Ehren and his crew arrived.
I went outside and saw a few motorcycles are already on display at the front. Geo Fernando from Kamada, with all his aggro energy arrived as well with his Vulcan bagger. At the front were 3 Rusi Classics, a chopper (owned by Kyle), my z200 bobchop now owned by Chrysler, a Fazzio scoot and a YTX scrambler build. Okay na din. Di ko na nakita yung iba. Di bale, mas madami na next time, understandable considering the weather.
Back to the gig.
Divine Departure is next. They played mostly cover songs from Urbandub and Franco: Soul searching Frailty and The Fool. The crowd was very appreciative of the bands song selection judging from the crowd singing the lyrics and bobbing their heads to their music. If its any indication of their original songs, these guys are musically polished players who know their instruments well and can play events with bigger audiences.
The band is composed of vocalist Bryan, Marc on lead guitars, Daniel on rhythm guitars, James on bass and Franco on drums. The band started in 2020. Bryan was still into reggae at the time while the others were into nu metal until music brought them together to become a band. They were just playing around until they decided to form a band called Divine Departure, which they got from Roger's attack on One Piece, symbolizing liberation from worldly desires and attachments to embrace a higher spiritual truth. Because they play different genres, they decided to play reggae and alternative rock depending on the event. They will be releasing a song this April titled "OPHELIA" so stay tuned and support the band.
Silakbo took the stage next.
Axelrod says this about his band:
“Nagstart yung band nato nung nag aral ako sa SMU bayombong last sem, hinanapan ako mga kabanda ni Kuya Geo (Gabatin, guitarist for Strained Echoes), which is sila Laurence. Early January siguro yun, pero hiatus palang kame since kulang pa ng members, siguro nakumpleto banda mid February. Tapos first gig namin Feb 21 sa Santiago City, out of town agad. Pero after non kailangan mag leave ng una naming bahista, kaya naghanap ulit kame ng bago hanggang sa eto nabuo na kame. Influences namin iba iba eh, vocalist namin galing deathcore, rhythm namin pop punk / punk rock influences, ako naman modern metal, tapos yung bahista namin ngayon lang siguro maeexpose sa mga ganitong genre kaya kung bubuo kame ng songs d ko lang alam paano kakalabasan, as of now gumagawa kame originals namin. isa sa influence namin yung banda ng kapatid ko, Strained Echoes sila sila rin tumulong para mabuo yung banda na Silakbo. Ayun , that sums up yung story ng banda namin, as of now.”
Now, I don’t know what kind of water they are drinking in Vizcaya and Santiago, but so far from the bands that I have encountered and watched live, these guys have that kind of vibe that makes you want to be friends with them. Bands like Necroantagonist, Jhorella, Neuroprison, Strained Echoes and Silakbo are all cool dudes who you’d love to hang out, play music, mosh and be connected with. Walang ka arte arte, walang rockstar attitudes. Imagine travelling from Vizcaya, carrying all your gear to play for crowds you are not familiar with. No hassle kausap. And they are all putting out new and exciting music.
Anyway back to SIlakbo. Based on their set, considering that this is their second gig, I could say that they can stand their own with more polished acts. Their set consists of songs from the metalcore genre. The crowd is a good barometer to measure how good a band is, and they were able to bring the crowd to their feet with their set. Good job boys!
Kamada needs no introduction. They are one of Tuguegarao’s hardes hitting hardcore band producing their own songs. With Geo Fernando (Quezon City’s Tsunami) on front, Cary (former guitarist of Laguna metal Palmera), Bryan Florido on bass, Marc on guitars and Franco on drums, this band dishes some of the heaviest and groove heavy metal riffs available this part of the North.
The band started in 2021 after the dissolution of Barena. Members are Cary from Laguna metal band Palmera, Geo from Tsunami and 3 members school kids from Divine Departure. Their influences are Deftones, hardcore, reggae, nu metal, psychedelic ambience, Sevendust, West Coast Hip Hop, G funk. They are planning on finishing a 4 song EP which they plan to release this year. They will support the release with a tour in Laguna, Manila, Tuguegarao and Isabela. They have just released their music video " Schizophrenic" on Youtube last year.
On to their set, they played the following songs: Rebolusyon, Pursuing Dreams, Schizophrenic, and Head Up ( Deftones cover). At this point the crowd was hyped up and ready for some two stepping and hardcore moshing. Geo can certainly bring the crowd down. The band is no slouch as well, as they provided aural assault to Geo’s commandeering screams, growls and vocal stylings. With pedigree coming from different awesome bands on their own, these guys are stadium ready. Indeed, these guys represent the best of the places they are from, Geo repping Diliman, QC, the Divine Departure boys reppin Tuguegarao music and Cary bearing the Laguna x Tuguegarao music flag proudly. Another awesome set from these guys.
Now to our guest band. We wont call them our main band as all of our bands can hold their own. But we shall give credence and praise to our performer who came all the way from Vizcaya mountains, hauled our equipment and helped us mix our performance and still be the most humble persons. Thank you brothers. Iba Talaga ang Vizcaya bands. The last time I watch this band play was in Cauayan for the Brapp 1 event. I was not able to write a gig review due to work constraints so I will just do a gig review for both performances. What can I say? Firstly, these guys are awesome. Not just musically but as humans. I cannot heap enough praises for this band. Enough to say that Ill be supporting and promoting this band to every platform and persons I can influence so that they could be heard.
Let me introduce you to Strained Echoes, from Nueva Vizcaya/Santiago.
The band is composed Arbil Mercado – Vocals, Dexter Malap – Vocals, Geo Sebastian Gabatin – Guitars, Master Decat – Guitars, Jr Galang – Guitars, Prince Axelrod Sebastian Reyes – Bass, and Mark Jofel Galang – Drums.
According to Geo Gabatin: “Strained Echoes is a seven-piece modern metalcore band from Nueva Vizcaya/Santiago City, formed in late 2023. Comprised of musicians who were previously part of different bands, the group united through their shared musical influences and strong chemistry. As a collective, they decided to create Strained Echoes, blending heavy riffs, melodic vocals, and powerful breakdowns to craft their distinct sound within the modern metalcore genre. The band's mission is to connect with listeners from all walks of life, offering a perspective on life’s struggles, triumphs, and everything in between. Strained Echoes aims to build an inclusive community through their music, welcoming all people, regardless of their musical backgrounds or personal differences. The band's vision is to create a space where everyone can find meaning and strength in their songs. Strained Echoes is currently working on their original material for an upcoming EP, with plans for more live shows and music releases in the near future.
For their set they tore through the following songs: Bowdown, Bend, Heneral (cover), and Circle the Drain. Now let me tell you, following the performance of Kamada would be hard as most people would have had their air taken out of them due to Kamada’s cardio depleting set. However, Strained Echoes held their ground and provided the crowd with technical musical proficiency with heart pounding beats alternated by the twin vocal assault by the two frontmen. Needless to say, the crowd was pumped for another crowd moshing. You can see how serious the band with their sound as they brought their own amps and In ear monitors. Geo was telling me about a gig they recently attended where the organizers and some of the attendees seemed to notice and downplay their gears during their set within earshot. Lol. How petty was that? If bands can afford to bring in their own gear to sound good, how would that be a bad thing? Just goes to show that people will talk smack about anything just to make them feel good about themselves. Some people like sour graping, methinks.
Anyway, after the set of Strained Echoes, I was asked by Jigs Tiaong if they can invite the band over for an interview. Geo, however decline and stated that will gladly do it another day as the band members have work the next morning.
Anyway, check this band out. And please invite them to your future gigs, productions! They have my full thumbs up and support.
Before the last band, I was asked by Carlo from Ragasa if they could jam. I asked Yugto and they said, they could. Since I consider Carlo as a friend, I agreed to have them jam. He was with Ehren as frontman. Anyway, their one song was just a long ass introduction while saying they are from “Laguna”. Although I did not see the humor during that time, I guess anyone can express themselves right? Cool set still.
I only know one other person who legitimately came from the Laguna metal scene. And he represents Laguna and Tuguegarao well. Be that as it may, represent where you come from proudly. If I allow you to play in my event/production, know that it is coming from a place of love and camaraderie. I will consider you as an ally and will bend a few rules for you to express, as friends do. I am the kind who will take your friendship but not your BS. That’s my opinion on the matter. Case closed.
Yugto is composed of scene veterans Gian Wapo, Hudas, Kristian Louie et al. They are well acclaimed musicians having placed at the recent Robinsons Battle of the bands. The band is sans Louie whose kid and wife was sick at the time. The band sang Pinoy Rock and Alternative songs for the crowd who stayed to watch them perform. They can command an audience like a well oiled music machine, which is replete with all the crowd pleasing ask and response banter. After their set, Cary came up to me to praise Hudas and crew with their performance. Nice set mga papis!
After Yugto, we let one person take the stage for an acoustic set while me, Cary, Chrysler and the Yugto crew sat finally to relax over some beer and future gigs.
All in all, this was one fun gig. We never expected a good turnout. Me and the Middle Class/ Weapons crew only want to hold a monthly tambike tour. Just that, the attendance was awesome. We thank you for supporting our small music community. Much love to all who attended. There is only one way to make our scene better, that is by supporting each other. Watch live music shows, pay the entrance, listen to the bands, watch the bands til the end, dance and mosh safely, buy the band merch, support your local music productions. Productions such as Nayon Tenor, Banda Isabela, SND,BRAD, Musika Si Guiran, Aparri Music Scene, Angkulaw, Yavu, the prods from Isabela, Vizcaya and all others I cant remember. They are doing you favors by organizing shows for you.
Anyway, who shall I thank?
Thanks to the following:
Chrysler- Sa Lilim Restobar, Weapons of Mass Instruction: A Music Studio
Geo Gabatin/Strained Echoes- for helping with logistics, being awesome human beings
Zulu, Jigz, Vincent, Jake, Didge and Groove Den, ipagpatuloy nyo pag document sa local music scene.
Carlo Ragasa, Ehren, Cary, Henry, Hudas, Gian.
Classic bikers with or without MCs.
Marco Carag from Tuguegarun. Celso Ventura my dude!
Jaimar from Dside.
White Space, Divine Departure, Silakbo, Yugto, Kamada, Strained Echoes again
The two boys who hung our WMI tarp.
See you at the next gig!
https://jongcastillocom.wordpress.com/2025/03/10/gig-review-braapp-2-tuguegarao-leg/
