WHEN GUITARS RISE – Thebar@1951

 (A story by Stiff – Proprietor at Loudhouse Music Enterprise, lead vocalist of Rizal Underground and a musical voyager to some of the most beautiful destinations of the World)

On a wet September afternoon, as Typhoon “Luis” makes landfall, we arrive at THEBAR@1951 to setup, what will be our first ever “Photo Exhibit” and guitar jam. This place, formerly known as PENGUIN BAR & GALLERY, a famous gallery and gastropub that has stood the test of time – acknowledged by LONELY PLANET Editor’s Choice for Nightspots in Manila, is the home for this fund raising event for the medical fund of guitar icon, JUN LOPITO, who’s conditioned have improved after being diagnosed of HEPATITIS C late last year.

It was one cold January 17 evening, when we came to fetch Jun for a full moon gig at this lovely place of a venue called AMPHIGARDEN in Angeles City, that we learned of his condition. The bassist, BONGLENNON & I were quite surprised to see him looking a bit tired to say the least; it’s been nearly half a year since we last gigged at 2013’s edition of FETE DE LA MUSIQUE at LE CAFÉ CURIEX and it certainly didn't look very good. But the show must go on as we learned - Jun was a bit sluggish from the get go and it was not his best performance for sure, which became quite obvious to the crowd.

Thanks to understanding of our Angeles buddies, we were given a break to compose ourselves and actually conceded for Jun to retire for the evening. Luckily, another legend, RESTY FABUNAN was in the audience and accepted an invitation to jam with the band that included long time idol drummer CHONG TENGASANTOS. After the gig the concerns shifted back to Jun and his lacking of appetite did not help. It was then that I reached out to find out more of his state and learned from the wife, SANDRA that several tests needed to be made to determine the extent of damage to the liver and the expensive cost of maintenance medication.

The word came out and many friends came to support several fund raising events. Months passed and we would see Jun every so often - with encouragement from his close friends and continued medication, his conditioned seems to have improved. In one of those events amongst friends last June, we felt he’s definitely feeling better, but just needs to get those fingers back in action. Just so happened I was planning to stage another birthday party gig to celebrate, a follow-up to the successful staging of last year’s ROLLING STONES NIGHT at 70’s BISTRO last year.

Due to a scheduling conflict the plan was pushed back a couple of weeks which really panned out when I bumped into and proposed to the always lovable EDDIE BOY ESCUDERO to help me organize a PHOTO EXHIBIT of our guitar icons to coincide with this gig. It was then when I contacted school mate and likewise Jun Lopito fan JOEY DE CASTRO & hobbyist ERNIE FRANCISCO JAVIER to contribute to this exhibit. We finished our installation by 8pm and it was time rock out and feel fabulous in this one heck of a venue, which I’ve described in the past, as an underground portal that transports you to any City in the world. 

Photo by RICHIE MACAPINLAC

And as the rains poured the crowd slowly flocked in. First to arrive was another talented photographer RICHIE MACAPINLAC followed by our volunteer host/MC none other than “THE DOCTOR” RAMON ZIALCITA (Thank you) and several other members of the bohemian patrons of THEBAR@1951, including, TOM COLVIN, major supporter of the Philippine blues scene and of course my idol, RESTY FABUNAN who shuttled all the way from Olongapo with the Angeles City contingent led by ANGELO LONG & DINO DOLIENTE. I needed a drink badly by this time.

Opening up the festivities was the Malabon based blues band called LAGKITAN TRIO, fronted by the young KIM BUELLA, a future hall of famer as well. Then it was the last year’s COCO JAM lineup featuring frontman and long time Jun ally, ROLLY MALIGAD with CHONG TENGASANTOS on drums & ERIC STUART HERNANDEZ bass joined by the comeback kid JUN LOPITO. It was a kind of a slow build-up to the tempo and guitar prowess but soon the amps were ablaze. Next up was the acoustic guitar marvel NOLI AURILLO, distracted by a little technical intermission but nevertheless impressive performance as usual, with his pinoy rock and classic rock medleys. JUN LOPITO joined NOLI for a couple of numbers, a guitar duet act I followed back in the early 2000’s. As the crowd roared, Noli pulled a rabbit out of his hat by calling the prolific guitarist/songwriter GARY PEREZ to join them on stage. Three guitar legends of my time while another wait on the wings; we ain’t seen nothin’ yet. Sure enough another FENDER STRATOCASTER was pulled out and up came the FAB one, RESTY FABUNAN. Guitar heaven by my standards and the roof was raised a few meters higher.

(Photo by EDDIE BOY ESCUDERO)

After a short pictorial break, ROLLY MALIGAD and GARY PEREZ went back on, joined by bassist BONGLENNON, drummer/gatekeeper JONAH DE VEYRA and several others joined in including myself, can’t hold a guy in very good spirits too long. Soon thereafter, one musician after another came up until the wee hours of the morning and we slowly wiped our blues away.

From the moment of being tasked to fabricate the picture frames till the last note; from the happy faces in the crowd to these great musicians; that groovy feeling you get WHEN GUITARS RISE!

Special Thanks to Butch Aldana and Ramon Zialcita for hosting, Ernie Francisco Javier, Eddie Boy Escudero & Lally De Castro for sharing. Noli Aurillo,Gary Perez, Coco Jam, Bonglennon Eudela, Irene Eric, Angelo P. Long, Chong Chang, Resty P. Fabunan and Jun Lopito for the music, Jonah De Veyra & Mheng Balgua for keeping the gate, the staff of Thebar@1951 for helping and to all ya rockers who came and shared with us last night. Groooovy!

For more photos check out these albums on Facebook!
WHEN GUITARS RISE 1
WHEN GUITARS RISE 2