The Eraserheads Are Back
July 21, 2008It’s been all over the pinoynet for the past couple of weeks now: The Eraserheads are back.
No, they haven’t exactly reunited. They’re back apparently for one night only. One concert.
Rumor is that Marlboro is sponsoring the concert, which is going to take place on August 30, 2008.
Rumor is that 10,000,000 pesos is involved in the deal - whether that is the amount to be paid to each member of that band or kung yan ang paghahatian nila is not clear.
My teenage life has greatly been shaped by the music of the Eraserheads. To say that they are a major influence in my current state of being is a huge understatement. The first record I ever bought was Circus. I eventually owned their entire discography and all of those albums absorbed so much wear and tear that I’m amazed they’re still playable up to this day.
I sensed the animosity between the band members long before they broke up. When I was in grade school, the Eraserheads were there to play a set in our auditorium during our annual fair. As I was roaming around the campus amidst all the stalls and rides and kiosks put up, I found myself at one point standing beside Buddy and Raimund. We were all there looking at some computer setup that was amazing at that point in time. My disillusion then was that being in the most popular band in the land, the four members of the Eraserheads were probably bestfriends with each other. I started to wonder where Ely and Marcus were. I figured they were doing their own roaming, but I found it weird that the band wasn’t together.
Anyway, fast forward a few years and the Eraserheads are still playing live shows, guesting on variety shows and daytime talk shows. I remember them guesting on A.S.A.P. and Kris Aquino’s show then. And I remember telling myself that they really don’t look like they like each other very much. I don’t know… I’m just like that… I get a lot of “gut feels” a lot of times, and everytime I saw the Eraserheads before, I just had this feeling that there was a lot of animosity between them.
So eventually, when the rumors started to brew that there was trouble within the band, I wasn’t really shocked or surprised. When they broke up, I was more relieved that disappointed. It was just a feeling that it was time and they had to move on. We all had to move on.
But apparently, the animosity ran a lot deeper than I thought. Even after the breakup, stories of the bad blood between Ely and Raimund kept on popping up like wild mushrooms every now and then. Of course, everyone wanted a reunion, but it seemed more and more unlikely as time passed. As for me, I never really stopped hoping. As people say… time heals all wounds. And I thought that with enough time, these guys would give their defunct band another chance.
And now we find ourselves here. A month or so before the biggest concert of the decade. But do we really want it? Do we really want it like this?
I don’t know the whole story yet. I don’t know how the guys are with each other. But if it’s just the money that’s bringing them together, sana hindi nalang sila nag-reunion. Really. I’d want the Eraserheads to reunite - even for one night only - because they missed playing their music together. Because they want to play the old Eraserheads songs as The Eraserheads, and that the money was just a big bonus. But hey, on the flipside, The E-Heads were supposedly shortchanged for all the music they created that are now pillars of pinoy rock… so if this servers as their big payday, I guess I’m all for it…
Maybe I’m still a disillusioned little kid after all, but I still want to believe that once upon a time… Raimund, Buddy, Marcus and Ely were really good friends who made really good music…
Hopefully that can still happen.
