Photos courtesy of my friend, Jorem Catilo.
Eraserheads band members meet discreetly to rehearse upcoming concert
Irene Curtis
One of the biggest musical events of the year remains shrouded in intrigue and uncertainty.
When, where, and how tickets and passes to the Eraserheads reunion concert can be obtained remains unknown at press time. Except for the show date, which is slated on August 30 and venue, the CCP Open Grounds, and an official confirmation of the reunion from former Eraserheads vocalist Ely Buendia and drummer Raimund Marasigan, no other information on the subject has been announced.
It was initially reported that international tobacco conglomerate Phillip Morris would sponsor the show, before another rumor circulated that the promoter was really a telecommunications company.
While these claims remain dubious, Eraserheads fanatics continue to register on Marlboro.ph to join its “Red List,” which purportedly doles out tickets and passes to exclusive Marlboro-sponsored events, and this supposedly includes the highly-anticipated reunion concert.
Phillip Morris has yet to issue an official confirmation or denial. In the meantime, debates on the legality of its alleged sponsorship of the concert persist due to the newly-passed law banning liquor and tobacco companies from sponsoring “arts, music, and cultural shows.”
Promoters and concert-goers already expect a monstrous audience turnout, adding crowd control to the organizers’ current list of concerns. This and the alleged Marlboro sponsorship have sparked another rumor: No minors will be allowed at the concert venue.
In a phone interview with an unofficial spokesperson for the Eraserheads reunion, PEP tried to clarify three major issues. First, are concert tickets really free and downloadable from sponsors’ sites, as Buendia announced in a TV interview?
“We are not sure,” the spokesperson said. “We are going to announce ticket details as soon as everything is concretized.”
In the mailing list of Sandwich, Marasigan’s present band, the former drummer of E-Heads has already warned zealous buyers of fake tickets currently being sold online and on the streets, and advised everyone to sit tight for further official announcements before shelling out cash.
Next, is a tobacco or telecommunications company really sponsoring this concert? While he stressed he’s not in the position to answer the question, the spokesperson tried to explain that the concert organizers have yet to announce the final sponsors.
Finally, is the concert really pushing through?
“We all want it to happen, na matuloy siya. That is why we’re all working on the legality and logistics problems now. Let’s all just wait for more information hanggang ma-concretize talaga lahat-lahat,” the spokesperson ended.
Amid these vague statements and growing issues, Heads fans’ interest intensifies as the concert date looms nearer. While uncertain on whether they’d even get tickets or not, Heads supporters working and living abroad have booked flights back to the Philippines just to attend the historic Pinoy rock reunion. As for those still in doubt that the reunion concert would push through, here’s a hopeful announcement.
For the first time since their headline-making breakup in 2001, the Eraserheads (Buendia, Marasigan, Buddy Zabala, and Marcus Adoro) rocked anew as a cohesive unit last Monday, August 4. But there were no raucous crowds or media cameras to witness the momentous meeting. This get-together was actually a private band rehearsal in preparation for their much-anticipated reunion concert.
The good news came from Marasigan, who wrote in his band’s mailing list that “the Eraserheads met and rehearsed for the first time” on August 4. In his e-mail, he described the vibe as “a little uncomfortable since [the Heads] haven’t communicated for a long time.”
It’s open knowledge that there was bad blood between Buendia and Marasigan, the main reason why, initially, an Eraserheads reunion had been out of the question.
But Marasigan said, “[I'm] pleased to announce that the band was playing better than [I] ever remembered.”
He added, “I guess we all did our homework. Hahaha! There was a lot of drums and no drama.”
It’s been touted that due to the acrimony between Marasigan and Buendia, the band would practice for only one day. But Marasigan told PEP sans rancor, “There will be a few more practices.”
While he had stated before that there’s no talk of further shows or a new album, this one statement is enough to make fans and friends hope for Head-y days to come.
Original article here.
Philip Morris Philippines is organizing the Eraserheads reunion concert, not sponsoring it, a spokesman of the tobacco company said Friday, reiterating that it will not be violating the law if the event pushes through.
“We’re not sponsoring the event. We organized it ourselves,” said Dave Gomez, Philip Morris public affairs and communications manager.
He added: “The event is free for our valued customers. This is a little something we do for them to show them our appreciation for their continued patronage of our products.”
He said the reunion concert will push through as he assured Eraserheads fans that the event is not a violation of the law. “We have no intention of violating the law. In fact, we supported the passage of the Tobacco Act.”
Gomez explained that the reunion concert is a promotional event, which, he said, is not prohibited by the Republic Act 9211, the law that regulates the packaging, use, sale distribution and advertisements of tobacco products.
He said Section 4 (Definition of Terms) of RA 9211 promotion means, “an event or activity organized by or on behalf of a tobacco manufacturer, distributor or retailer…” Sponsorship, meanwhile, is defined as a public or private contribution to a third party in relation to an event.
Section 23 of the law defines the restrictions on tobacco promotions. The provision said no person under 18 years old will be allowed to participate in the promotional event.
Gomez said the tobacco company is strictly filtering Eraserheads fans who would be given free tickets for the reunion concert, which will be held on August 30.
‘Red List’ restricts minors
The company has since put up “The Red List” online registration site (www.marlboro.ph) for smokers who want to avail of free tickets for the concert. One of the processes that an Eraserheads fan to go through is to send Philip Morris a document that would prove he is not a minor.
Gomez said the company is curious why the Department of Health (DOH) and the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Alliance Philippines (FCAP) is suddenly being hostile toward the concert.
He said the company has been organizing the same kind of events for the past years. He said major concerts featuring big Philippine bands, including Parokya ni Edgar, Sandwich and Bamboo, were organized by the company for the past years.
“This is the first time they had a complaint like this against us,” he said.
FCAP executive director Dr. Maricar Limpin had said at a press conference with DOH Undersecretary Alex Padilla that the reunion concert would be the first since a Section 25 of RA 9211 took effect July 1, 2008.
The provision defines restrictions on sponsorships of tobacco manufacturers.
Padilla had warned the tobacco company from pushing through with the concert.
“I have a warning to the tobacco company. If we are able to prove that this concert is actually sponsored by you, Philip Morris, definitely we will train our guns on you for violating the law,” Padilla said.
The DOH undersecretary, however, admitted that the “organizer” of the concert may not be liable. He said the organizer may only be sanctioned if certain restrictions on promotions are violated.
“That is why we only appeal to the organizers of the event to hopefully disassociate themselves from the [tobacco] company. Carry on with the event without the need of a tobacco company’s sponsorship,” Padilla said. The DOH official was not aware what group was the event’s organizer when he made the statement.
The ‘Red List’ site violates law
Limpin said that by putting the online registration site, the tobacco company is violating RA 9211. “It is a promotion of the tobacco product because you cannot get into the Red List without going through the website. Definitely, it is a promotion of their product.”
The registration site has the usual tobacco company health warning, “Cigarette Smoking is Dangerous To Your Health.” To register, you need to give the company some personal information, including name, address, home phone, cellular phone numbers, and e-mail address.
Limpin warned Eraserheads fans that by being included on the tobacco company’s mailing list, they are making themselves easy targets for tobacco advertisement and promotional materials.
“The lives of people, especially the youth who will sign up on the Red List will definitely be in the red, meaning stepping into the danger zone,” Limpin said. With Michelle Orosa, ABS-CBN News
Original article here.