Sprouting New Beginnings - Furiosa X Plastic Plants: Seedlings (01.11.2020)

This event was one I was I really looking forward to. It’s not every week you get to go out of town and cover a gig.

The trip to Lucena took a while, 4 hours more or less, and I missed the first 2 performers when we finally got to the venue. A quick sorry to Noa Mal, Spell The Words, and Jett Romano. I hope to see you all perform in the future!

It happened in the basement of a regular apartment/office looking building because why wouldn’t it. A big tarpaulin-size poster outside signaled the occasion and invited everyone who passed by to take a look. The basement was simple - a room for the bands’ equipment, a large space for the audience, a simple food menu (that P60 sisig w/ rice was absolutely worth it), and just Pale Pilsen and Red Horse for drinks.

Simplicity has its perks but here, they went all out with the lights and sounds! Bands sounded massive - really elevating the shoegaze, grunge, and sound of all the bands who played to another level. You can read about the Manila bands on my social media accounts so let me talk about the others. It was my second time watching Turncoats and they never sounded better. They brought their indie rock sound from Baguio and blew people away and I finally got to meet them! Ame is a math rock band with the melodies reminding me of Trippy Oh and Tom’s Story. Their first few songs were easy to listen to - using alternative rock arrangements topped with twinkly math rock. They really hit their stride on the last song though, making the arrangement more complicated but still great to watch and listen. Next was The Chopping Board, who showed some indie pop in their songs. The set got progressively better as the night went on and I regret that I wasn’t able to record other songs. Last was Midwife. The band showed potential with their use of post-rock and I can’t wait for new music from them!

The people were amazing. Everyone was vibing to the bands and people looked like were enjoying the diverse line up. The prod was really accommodating, too, and we all met old friends and met new ones. I just wished we had more time to hang out with the other bands but maybe some other day!

All in all, it was a really fun experience and a great way to start the year. Their old stomping grounds, Espasyo, may be gone but the community we saw serves as a great backbone. The plants may be plastic but the community and their love for music is definitely organic.