90s OVERLOAD

Story by Stiff Lu – Travelling musician, gatekeeper of The Rizal Underground  proprietor at Loudhouse Music Enterprise, lead vocalist of the Rockoustic Blues Experiment and a musical voyager to some of the most beautiful destinations of the World)

Last November 17, 2018, WENCY CORNEJO (AFTER IMAGE) & company put together 90's OVERLOAD, an encore presentation to 2017’s ultra successful concert featuring the movers of the resurgent 90's OPM/Rock scene. Similarly, this one is staged at this majestic venue THE THEATER AT SOLAIRE at the Entertainment City Manila. As a spectator at last year’s concert, I was so happy to see so much talent in one room from my generation. Pana-panahon lang pala talaga!

I was very lucky to get a call to join this year’s party and am truly grateful for the opportunity. Wasn’t sure what to expect as this mixed bunch, featuring the beauties COOKY CHUA (Color It Red), LEI BAUTISTA (PrettierThan Pink), SKARLET BROWN (Put3ska) joined by DODONG CRUZ (The Youth), PACO ARESPACOCHAGA (Introvoys), PERF DE CASTRO (River Maya), NALDY PADILLA (Orient Pearl), JEK MANUEL (Iaxe), NOEL PALOMO (Siakol), GLENN JACINTO (The Teeth), WENCY CORNEJO (After Image) were not exactly my drinking buddies back in the day. We would have different encounters, be it at airports, concerts, TV studios, recording studios or club gigs in Manila or elsewhere, but never really in the same room.

Then 25 years on, we share the same stage, a very nice one at that. Some I’ve not seen in 20 years, others living abroad, some in hiding & like me, some are making a comeback. It didn’t really sink in until I saw the poster and the story developed thereafter. The festivities kicked it off with buffet lunch treat before a press conference at SOLAIRE RESORT while PERF and PACO were LIVE online. A few days later I joined LEI & JEK at the WISH bus for an interview and live performance. That weekend, LEI, WENCY & COOKY appeared on ASAP Live and before you know it was time for rehearsals.

It was so much fun doing the rounds of promotions and chatter for the show was getting louder online, with friends, relatives and strangers inquiring about tickets. The producers, staff & crew were all pumped up and before you know it, it was time to sound check for the show. The time we were all together was so short, but we had so much fun we had even during the rehearsals that spilled over to the pre production meet to dinner.

And as we all got ready for the show, the adrenalin shoots up the veins; the lights went out and the video introduction went on cue, it was magnificent. One by one, all these OPM stars of the 90’s took to the stage with a command performance. Each one, showcasing their wares, singing their respective hits and with the superb lighting & awesome sonic quality, the crowd was simply blown away.

As each segment passed, so was this magic carpet ride back in time and before you know it, it was time to do a group rendition of the DAWN’S hit single “SALAMAT”, a fitting tribute and finale to such a momentous occasion. After this event, a few more 90’s events in Dubai and Cebu sprouted, and perhaps a few more to come.

At press time, several of my contemporaries have announced more shows in 2019, and after a successful US Tour last June, I will be taking another adventure to unfamiliar places, to Europe and beyond come May, 2019. I hope to see ya’ll so please follow me on my Facebook page STIFF LU, for more information about this upcoming journey. 

Special thanks to the PHILIPPINE STAR, who took photos and wrote about it in THIS ARTICLE, SUMMER IS LIVE & DANIELE BELLINI for the photos. Here's an ALBUM OF PHOTOS from that evening, borrowed from everybody. Thank you, see you soon!

SABADO NIGHTS EUROPE Tune Up Series

Helmet + Bike by Loose Keys

(A story by Stiff – Solo Artist, proprietor at Loudhouse Music Enterprise, lead vocalist of the Rockoustic Blues Experiment, gatekeeper of The Rizal Underground, musical voyager to some of the most beautiful destinations of the World)

As my upcoming 10 show #sabadonightseuropetour approaches, I embark on another tune up series just as I did last year in preparation for the 2018 US Tour.

Cebu's best. PANDORA

This time, I chose to do more shows but racking up just as many miles; kicking off as usual at MAC ROCK N ROLL & BLUES RESTOBAR in Cebu, with the PANDORA, the rockinest cats of Cebu, who have mastered my repertoire, including music of THE RIZAL UNDERGROUND & ROCKOUSTIC BLUES EXPERIMENT. These guys have showed tremendous support over the years and I am truly indebted. Glad to also see Cebu friends who likewise joined us for a few drinks and a quick jam.

After a night's rest I fly back to this wonderful SIARGAO Island, who has not ceased to amaze me since the first time I laid my eyes on her. I’ve made many friends over the years, meeting the local legends and new friends who've taken the leap to move here. I love the culture and vibe this small island offers, plus the number of venues that welcomed me here for gigs.

Kirby & Peach of VIVO Siargao

Let’s start with a heartwarming welcome given by VIVO INN BISTRO SIARGAO hosts KIRBY LUCERO & PEACH, also by the owners, Mr. & Mrs. Calvo and the rockin’ tandem of KAI & DON. I certainly did not know what to expect on a Friday night but the Bistro, dishing out the best in Filipino and fusion cuisine served good music and didn’t really scrimp on the equipment that led to so much fun; we were joined by KIRBY on drums, PAO on percs & a foreign guest on trumpet. Without much rehearsal we carried on with the support of KAI on his guitar and songs plus DON on the saxophone. A great way to start this series for sure.

Harana Surf

The following night was just as epic as I stepped into the HARANA SURF RESORT stage, which basically owns the Sabado Night scene on the island. This time I’m supported by the old guards, MARLO GALLARDO & GAPS SABUERO on bass, with KIRBY, KAI & DON also in support and then later joined by Siargao legend WILMAR, everybody loves him.. The crowd went berserk as we were finishing the more than an hour long set until the DJ started pumping his tunes

Kitya's House

Next was KITYA’S PLACE, the crowd favorite for Sunday nights and the only place that serves ramen on the island. My lovely host KITYA FERRER treated us to hot bowl of ramen before heading out to the venue. But as the night progressed, an unscheduled brown-out cut our performance short. KAI, DON & were were able to recover fast though as the crowd grew during the moments of silence. Pretty soon it was again time for another DJ to add a huge spark to an already late evening.

Loose Talks

After 4 gigs in 5 nights, including Cebu, Monday was planned to be slow, capping it off by "LOOSE TALKS", a new talk show program hosted by reknowned journalist CAMILLE BANZON for LOOSE KEYS MOTO CULTURE, a relatively new place that serves rock and roll combined with good food. Not bad for a Monday night, my hosts, headed by VITECHA KOCHAON or V for short were really very caring, lent me a motorbike and provided accommodations in the first part of my stay in Siargao. These guys are working overtime to showcase music and culture to the island and I am just so happy to be a part of that. See the "Loose Talks" VIDEO HERE

Loose Keys

The following night I head back to LOOSE KEYS MOTO CULTURE for the proper performance again with MARLO & GAPS. This gathering of a great crowd and the music, combined with the heat generated by the gyrations really pushed the boundaries of rock and roll. After the first 75 minutes I had to beg off but the crowd and the band went on for 3 hours non-stop with some in the audience joining the crew for a jam.

And then finally it was Wednesday and the next gig was slated for Manila that Saturday. Such a grueling but superbly enjoyable schedule is now rewarded with an island hopping trip to CORREGIDOR ISLAND, such a beautiful place and I thank my dear KITYA for such a treat. The food, company and scenery was unbelievable. Gotta take my kids there soon.

Day Off

My last full day on the island was spent on a motorbike mostly, exploring the rest of Siargao was simply spectacular. I will not forgive myself If I hadn’t done that on my third trip here. After a long day on the road I catch up with my two favorite Boracay buddies GENE DELA CRUZ & ANDREW MALARKY for a night cap that ended up in BAILE RESTOBAR, another crowd favorite on Thursday nights. By now, I’ve not stopped drinking for 9 days and so I needed some rest before I culminate this tune up series in ALCHEMY BISTRO BAR. Luckily, nothing scheduled on a Friday except for the flight back to Manila. Ahhh Siargao, I’m so in love with you.

Alchemy with the Boys

But nonetheless, I was very happy to fly back to Manila to perform with a supergroup one last time before I leave for Europe. Joining me for that #sabadonights was BONGLENNON, BRUTUS, PEX & Pinoy rock guitar icon, JUN LOPITO. That must’ve been the most fulfilling gig this 2019 because of the love and support of friends who came to wish me luck for the upcoming tour and to jam on stage. Thank you GUS ALBOR, CHARLIE YSMAEL & tour partner BUNNY LIWANAG!

This grueling Tune-up Series but was so much fun. I cannot thank everyone enough for the love and support, to all me friends in Cebu, Siargao and Manila, maraming, maraming salamat po. I will take that memory and blast away in Europe!

I hope to see you again very soon and please follow me on my Facebook page STIFF LU, for more information about this upcoming journey.

Here are some PHOTOS grabbed from all over the place. Thank you to the photographers and more power to you.

US TOUR (Part 5 – GONE SOLO in NYC & HOUSTON)

Going Solo!

A story by Stiff Lu – Night watch for Kasbah Boracay, proprietor at Loudhouse Music Enterprise, lead vocalist of the Rockoustic Blues Experiment, gatekeeper of The Rizal Underground and a musical voyager/dad to some of the most beautiful destinations of the World)

After 4 weeks together on this tour, I finally “Gone Solo” in New York City, the day after the U2 concert at Madison Square Garden and for the show in Houston. A complete turnaround with the kids heading back to San Diego after their Sam Smith concert at the TD Garden and with the company of #myfavoritetitamarla.

Aris Tuazon

And so this day begins with a lunch invite from my host, ARIS TUAZON, who was cool enough to spend the day to take me around parts of the city I’ve not been. We first went back in time to 1854 at McSorley’s OldAle House, and then proceeded to an exhibit opening where I was introduced to some fine company. After a few rounds of drinks, we headed back to UGLY KITCHEN to have a few more before calling it the night - had to shuttle back to Queens to stay with buddy WARREN DAYA, who was kind enough to adopt me. Then another day in New York City for some last minute locations I’ve not been to – Strawberry Fields in Central park and Soho for some shopping. Again I had to call this one early and my last night in the Big Apple as my Houston show was lurking in the background.

Strawberry Fields Central Park

Before you know it, It’s Friday and time to fly out for the first time to Houston, Texas. I was quite excited and was met with a heat wave it seemed. It was the early evening and I had to take an Uber to get to the venue for a sound check and rehearsal with the band. I was met with the warmest greetings by my lovely Houston hosts Connie and Joey of PASAYAHAN SA NAYON, followed by my mates CHAD CUEVA & BEEP BOXX for a short jam. It felt good that I was performing with a bunch of talented guys, since Los Angeles, San Francisco & New York. I consider myself very lucky.

The Houston Rockers

By nightfall, I checked in to a really nice hotel and had a comfortable night. Again, by chance I discovered that we’ve some family here in Houston. ROLLY MALIGAD, who wrote the ROCKOUSTIC BLUESEXPERIMENT’S first two singles, was well represented and I was going to meet them the following day – really cool, unfortunately though, my mate RAMON ZIALCITA could not make from Florida.

Ms. Vida Eve at TJs Filipino Cuisine

After a good night sleep I was treated to buffet lunch at TJ’S FILIPINO CUISINE by the gorgeous MS. VIDA EVE, a personal friend of the producers, I really enjoyed the sumptuous Filipino dishes. Soon after, we headed back to the venue for another sound check before the actual show. This time our musical director DERBIN BERDIN came in for a solid run through, and as day turned into night they slowly piled in till the house was packed. 

The Maligads!

There, I met DORIS, GITA & TODO, all in Rolly’s name and met all their friends and soon after made more friends than in all other venues. I also met some gorgeous ladies and being solo meant I had a lot of free time to mingle and I really enjoyed that. As the lights went out and the fog machine went on full blast we kicked off the show with a video introduction from the THE DOCTOR– RAMON ZIALCITA and we were soon rockin’. Although I had one more show to do in LA, this felt like the last and we went all out to the bewilderment of the audience.

My special Houston hosts 

Unfortunately, this will also be the shortest stay in amongst all the venues and as darkness fell that Sunday afternoon, it was time to fly back to San Diego to join the family once again. America was a truly amazing musical experience for me and I look forward in going back there and exploring other Cities in the future.

New York City Rocks!!!

This is the fifth and last part of a series about the recent journey with my two prized possessions and truly very memorable. This story is dedicated to all those who made it possible. SOFIA, STEPHANIE and I are sending y’all a massive THANK YOU and let these PHOTOS be the testimony to how much fun we had during this trip. Stuff dreams are made of – travelling, touring, bonding and parenting all in one!

Welcome to my first blog of 2019 and this being the last of this series. Please stay tuned to this channel for a major announcement real soon!!! PHOTOS TO THIS BLOG

FAMILY SOJOURN - US TOUR (Part 4 – NEW YORK & BOSTON)

A story by Stiff Lu – Night watch for Kasbah Boracay, proprietor at Loudhouse Music Enterprise, lead vocalist of the Rockoustic Blues Experiment, gatekeeper of The Rizal Underground and a musical voyager/dad to some of the most beautiful destinations of the World)

Part 4 of kicks off with our Hop-on, Hop-off bus tour around New York City. Last time I was in here was 1990 so you can imagine the excitement to finally see these iconic destinations up close - Empire State Building, Rockefeller Center, Chinatown, Central Park, etc.., all for $35, It’s a great deal and a good way to see the City. We stayed on the bus for the view from the top and decided to stop by Chinatown for lunch and had a chance to take a peek at Little Italy along the way. We rode some more and I was quite delighted to see Radio City Music Hall & Colombia University, then a last stop at the Metropolitan Museum right before closing so we got another great deal – pay as you wish for a 45 minute tour.

After which we crossed town for an authentic New York City Pizza treat from WARREN DAYA and the long trip from the museum saved us from having to stand in line which Warren and hubby, Margaret were so nice to accomplish on our behalf. Sofia, who loves pizza, will never forget the experience, & apparently, it’s the water in New York that makes the pizza, at least that’s what we’re told. After dinner we rushed to Times Square to see it at night and it was an amazing spectacle of lights and people but we had to rush back to Port Authority to catch the last bus to Livingston, NJ to head back to Oca’s, remember him from UP Football Varsity?

On the second day of this bus tour, we visited the Statue of Liberty and the girls wanted to see this fountain in Central Park, part of a movie set. We did more walking & trains until we can’t walk no more. We decided to head back to Livingston early to pack up and check in to a hotel in Long Island city for gig day. The hotel stay was for convenience and also in preparation for a quick ride out of town to Boston for a few nights with #myfavoritetitamarla, another UP associate.

After a quick run through with RUBBERBAND on Saturday, we went to the venue, UGLY KITCHEN to sound check and met up with a new found friend ARIS TUASON & TED REYES who helped put this together. The show was opened by KRIZIA DAYA and the guys from RUBBERBAND delivered with an awesome performance for a really, really great night. It was lovely seeing some good friends in New York who came to the show, like legendary Filipino radio personality COUSIN HOAGY & of course the beautiful KAREN KUNAWICZ. You can see the PHOTOS HERE.

At 9am the following day, we drive out to Boston for a couple of nights. Nice scenic drive from New York, Boston is totally different and definitely a quiet and relaxing environment, good for a good night’s rest for the next day will be spent touring the Harvard University campus, never been to an Ivy League school actually. Before you know, it was time to head back to prepare for that New England Clam Chowder & special Lobster dinner prepared by #myfavoritetitamarla herself. Had to call it the night because I had to take the early morning train back to New York for the U2's "INNOCENCE + EXPERIENCE show at Madison Square Garden, another click off the bucket list.

The kids on the other hand were staying another night in Boston to catch the Sam Smith concert at TD Garden, home of the Celtics. This would be the first time we were going our separate ways as they will be flying back to San Diego the day after while I stay on in the Big Apple for a few more days before I head out to Houston for another leg of the tour.

It was a smooth 3 hour ride by Amtrak to New York and time for me to review the U2 catalog in transit. After arriving in NYC, I had a couple of hours to burn so I decided to catch a few at the Ugly Kitchen to have a few bevies with my gracious host ARIS TUAZON, who you'll be reading about more in the coming episode; before meeting up with my varsity mate, Oca, remember him again? Such an amazing show but I’ll have to talk about that in the final episode of this tour – my return to New York City, U2 and Houston. Stay tuned to this channel for more. Here's the link to this episode's PHOTOS HERE. Click on my new page STIFF LU for more photos and information.

This story is dedicated to all those who made it possible. Sofia, Stephanie and I are truly grateful to y’all and these PHOTOS are testimony to how much fun we had during this trip. THANK YOU!!! Stuff dreams are made of – travelling, touring, bonding and parenting all in one!

Enjoy this video of U2 performing at Madison Square Garden

FAMILY SOJOURN - US TOUR (PART 3 - SAN FRANCISCO / NEW YORK)

Napa Valley

A story by Stiff Lu – Night watch for Kasbah Boracay, proprietor at Loudhouse Music Enterprise, lead vocalist of the Rockoustic Blues Experiment, gatekeeper of The Rizal Underground and a musical voyager/dad to some of the most beautiful destinations of the World)

The third part of this series brings us to an unfamiliar territory and thus making it more exciting. I have personally been to San Francisco & New York a few times as a tourist but with the little ones in tow, make it foreign altogether. Luckily, thanks to family, friends, rental cars, trains & taxis, mobility is manageable. We head out for the 6 hour drive to San Francisco from LA right before lunch so we can have a relaxed trip. It was really nice as the weather was warming up in LA but slowly going down as we reached farther north. Something we really like, comparable to Baguio weather, only colder.

Twin Peaks Summit w/Dennis & mom

We met up with comrade DENNIS CHAN, along with mommy DOLORES CHAN, treated us to Thai dinner, followed by the compulsory tourist drive up to TWIN PEAKS SUMMIT, that afforded us only a quick peep as the cold Bay Area wind took us by storm. Soon after we headed out to meet family, who lent us a really cool place to stay in the city proper, with a community dimsum place flanked by a Chinese & Vietnamese restaurant.

The SF Crew Beyond Daydream

The next day we crossed the Golden Gate Bridge bound for rehearsals with the SF Crew, the coolest cats of Concord, CA – BEYOND DAYDREAM - they got us a place to stay in Napa Valley. After rehearsals, we enjoyed a night at the Marriot and did some wine tasting the following day. After another day of rehearsals we head back home to our city pad to wind up for show day. This setup in a proper venue called NECK OF THE WOODS, care of cool cat SHIKES BARBERO of JUNGLEBOLO ENTERTAINMENT.

US Tour main man Shikes Barbero

As the cool summer wind blowing in our faces, we managed a good sound check and soon enough people started flocking in. With the support of local Bay Area bands like MONUMENTAL BY FAR, SUNSET REPUBLIC, HYPHENS & FLEERBOX, it turned out to be an awesome evening with a lively crowd and hangin' with a few familiar faces in the audience; twas a truly magnificent second show! You can see Dennis Chan’s PHOTOS HERE and my selfie files HERE.

Family

The succeeding bright and sunny day, we were treated to lunch with family in beautiful Pacifica; We then drove around the city through the famous zigzag Lombard Street then stopping off at Fisherman’s Wharf to commemorate Father’s Day with ice cream. Later that night, we hooked up with Dennis Chan to check out his plants and took a short detour to Castro District to expose the kids. As darkness fell, we called it the night to prepare for our New York flight the next day. We did some packing, followed by a dinner meet with my long lost high school mates in town, always nice to catch up, but soon after we had to head out to the airport for our red eye flight to NYC.

Not quite New York City with Oca 

And we arrive at Newark Airport at 10am ET the next day, booked a hotel room for our first day to catch our breath; have a whole week ahead of us. Our gracious host is my UP football & former room mate OCA BRIONES took a day off to give us a bite out of the Big Apple! 

VIP United Nations Tour 

At 9am the next day, he picked us up from the hotel, took our stuff to Livingston, New Jersey before heading out to NYC. We parked at his conveniently located workplace, in the heart of the City and were nice enough to give us a special access tour around his prestigious office overlooking Brooklyn, he also took us to some of the most iconic tourist spots in the City and taught us how to get around as we had plenty of alone time the next couple of days. Luckily, with a little bit of research, Stephanie booked us to the Hop-on, Hop-off bus tours, highly recommend to all you travelers to the Big Apple, especially if time is tight. In just a couple of days, you can actually see most attractions in New York City

The rockinest cats of NYC - Rubberband

Those will be featured in the next chapter, along with the other stuff we did in New York & Boston. By late afternoon, I had to take off for Queens, to jam with New York’s finest Pinoy rockers – RUBBERBAND. I had luckily had a chance meet up with lead guitarist WARREN DAYA, before leaving the Philippines when he came for a visit. We caught up and rehearsed with the rest of the boys, that was really goood! Unfortunately though, I missed the bus to New Jersey but Warren was nice enough to provide me with a place to crash for the night.

Grand Central Station

This episode ends here at Queens in the meantime. The next episode will open from the day after when we take you through our Hop-on, Hop-off experience, which came cheap and convenient. We will take you through New York City and our continuing adventures to Boston & that happy show at UGLY KITCHEN to cap off the wek. Please LIKE my facebook page STIFF LU for more info and check out this episode's PHOTOS HERE

Our gracious hosts

This story is dedicated to all those who made it possible. Sofia, Stephanie and I are truly grateful to y’all and these PHOTOS are testimony to how much fun we had during this trip. THANK YOU!!! Stuff dreams are made of – travelling, touring, bonding and parenting all in one!

MORE PHOTOS HERE, ENJOY!!!

FAMILY SOJOURN - US TOUR (PART 2 - LOS ANGELES)

Mann's Chinese Theater

(A story by Stiff Lu – Night watch for Kasbah Boracay, proprietor at Loudhouse Music Enterprise, lead vocalist of the Rockoustic Blues Experiment, gatekeeper of The Rizal Underground and a musical voyager/dad to some of the most beautiful destinations of the World)



Part Two of the series about this recent journey with my two prized possessions; we drove to Los Angeles from San Diego at the end of Part One and landed at the iconic Griffith Park Observatory for some HOLLYWOOD sign photos before heading out to Long Beach for our residence in transit – with an old high school mate. As it turns out, we’ll be here twice, for LA is such a huge place with tons of attractions and so allow me to roll this into one story.

Hollywood sign at Griffith Park Observatory

I lived in this city back in the eighties, plenty has changed since then but it’s was such a treat to take the girls, with the ultra pleasant weather upon arrival from the long drive. We of course met family first. Since it was their first time, we sought out the very Hollywood things to do – we sat through Steve Harvey taping a couple of shows for Family Feud, a visit to Mann’s Chinese Theater and driving around Hollywood afterwards. Later on we did some window shopping on Melrose Avenue before heading back for the night, in preparation for my stint at BAMBOO BISTRO, my first scheduled show.

BAMBOO BISTRO with the LA Crew

On gig day, we met up with the LA Crew at the venue for a sound check and did the magnificent show supported by a number of local Filipino bands based in Los Angeles - CAVE UNDER WATER, PILLOWCASE 203 & CALRATZ. It was great to see family and friends in the audience - you can check out the PHOTOS HERE courtesy of MERYL M PHOTOGRAPHY or my selfie PHOTOS HERE

We rounded out the first part of our stay in Los Angeles with a visit to our dream destination – Six Flags Magic Mountain and Venice Beach before making an even longer drive to San Francisco. It would take another month before we come back for another show at AZTIG GRILL located at the Filipino bastion of West Covina, joined by acclaimed Filipino blues man BINKY LAMPANO of LAMPANO ALLEY, this after we return from San Francisco, New York, Boston, and Houston.

The return to Los Angeles was way easier as we’ve had five weeks in the US by then and had a chance to get familiarized about town - good enough for a visit to the dispensary. We also gave Universal Studios and other iconic LA destinations a visit and the show in West Covina was definitely more relaxed, not to mention feeling so at home with all that Jollibee & Red Ribbon outlets in the vicinity of the venue. You can see the Aztig Grill VIDEO HERE feat. BINKY LAMPANO, 

The LA Crew

In West Covina we got the support of local Filipino artists and this is when we thank our collaborators TIMOTI BATAC of RED ELF EVENTS, NESTOR LORESCA of TABO PRODUCTIONS and most specially the LA CREW - FREI MUNOZ, MICHAEL SALVADOR & ROBRICH SIM for the undying support that they showed this man.

The next episode brings us to San Francisco so please tune in to this station for Part Three of this series. New York City & Houston are all on deck!

Our gracious hosts

Check out Binky Lampano's PHOTOS HERE and please LIKE my facebook page STIFF LU for more updates from my personal musical journey and to see this part's PHOTOS HERE

Of course the visit to LA will not be complete without visiting long lost friends and family. This story is dedicated to all those who made it possible. Sofia, Stephanie and I are truly grateful to y’all and these PHOTOS are testimony to how much fun we had during this trip. THANK YOU!!! Stuff dreams are made of – travelling, touring, bonding and parenting all in one!

FAMILY SOJOURN - US TOUR (Part 1 - SAN DIEGO)

Ready for take off!

(A story by Stiff Lu – Night watchman of Kasbah Boracay, proprietor at Loudhouse MusicEnterprise, lead vocalist of the Rockoustic Blues Experiment, gatekeeper of The Rizal Underground and a musical voyager/dad to some of the most beautiful destinations of the World)

This is the first part of a series about the recent journey with my two prized possessions, who have long been exposed to the music, specifically performances of mine, as far back as they can remember – the RUNAWAY BOYS, RIZAL UNDERGROUND & most recently ROCKOUSTIC BLUES EXPERIMENT. I can still recall them singing with childhood friends, the songs they’d hear but little would prepare them for the barrage of 2018 - a coast to coast tour across the United States, my first time to perform outside of the Philippines.

Welcome dinner with the fam

Here's a brief introduction and let me reassure you it gets meatier in the succeeding chapters. It starts in the summer of 2016, when we planned for a trip to the United States, slated for the summer of this year, in time for their High School graduation and moving up ceremonies. So we laid down the groundwork and saved the cash for this trip, we’re blessed to have the support of family and friends which made it all feasible. By October of 2017, upon securing our airline tickets we proceeded to map out a course for this journey of discovery, to meet up with friends and family throughout the USA, a pretty daunting and expensive prospect but kept our spirits high.

As many of you already know, I formed the ROCKOUSTICBLUES EXPERIMENT early in 2017 with my 90’s mates & released an album + music videos and subsequently went on tour around the country to promote the CD. The success of this endeavor prompted me to explore the possibility of doing shows in the US while on holiday and thus sought out the rock and roll Gods for guidance. Luckily, through their kindness, I was lucky enough to land a booking in San Francisco that led to successive bookings elsewhere. And thus set this journey in motion.

At the iconic Hotel Del Coronado

Thanks to social media, we were able to stay connected with school mates, teammates, friends and family, from elementary all the way to 2018. Something of a marvel if you ask a wise man like me and made everything possible without having to send a postcard. And through this medium we plotted a course for a musical journey to coincide with the family vacation and musical tour, with kids in tow. Marvelous.

First stop was San Diego, down south in California bordering Tijuana, Mexico, that served as home base, this is after all a family affair so we used the occasion to catch up with everybody, including me mum who’s here on holiday. It was a good time to get acquainted with the weather and overcome jet lag. We visited some iconic destinations while enjoying the relatively slow pace of this City.

Meeting the LA crew for the first time

Before you know it though, we kicked off the musical journey with an unannounced show at MY HAUS in Murrieta, a stone’s throw away from San Diego. It was a perfect way to save time and meet the Los Angeles crew - make new friends along the way and give my family a chance to finally watch me perform - including mom, the sisters, brother-in-law & kids.

I didn’t realize it was going to be an hour long drive but nevertheless cozy one. We hit the town early in the afternoon for a jam at the house of one of the locals. The drinks were ice cold and the room was just as, and as the LA crew emerges, we break out into a song to run through the lineup. It was real pleasure to have met the guys who put this Murrieta & LA leg altogether – JP CARIAGA of MY HAUS, Timoti of Red Elf Events, Nestor of Tabo Productions and the gang Robrich on drums, Frei on guitar and Michael on bass. It took very little time for us to jive. Soon, it was time to head out to the venue to setup for the evening’s festivities.

Maraming salamat po My Haus Murrieta

It was a surprise to see a packed house considering the short time to promote this event, but just as well, we all had fun and the night ended as beautifully as it started. And soon, we had to bid adieu and look forward to Los Angeles the following weekend.

First jam with the LA Crew

In the succeeding days we prepare for this short drive to LA, in a rental car. It was a bit nostalgic having lived in the area during the mid-eighties and taking my kids through this re-discovery who's first time it was. Made a quick stop to the old house and then to the Hollywood sign and drove along Melrose Avenue before heading out to Long Beach for our residence in transit – with an old high school mate but that’s the next part of this series which should be out next week. Also coming up are our visits to San Francisco, New York, Boston & Houston, so many photos and so many stories to tell. Stay tuned and I will take you through beautiful Los Angeles!

This story is dedicated to all those who made it possible. Sofia, Stephanie and I are truly grateful to y’all and this memoir is testimony to how much fun we had during this trip. THANK YOU!!! Stuff dreams are made of – travelling, touring, bonding and parenting all in one!

Check out the rest of the San Diego PHOTOS HERE.