trigger happy

saguijo managment is right. igan d' bayan has thrown brutal, choleric words (which i wonder why) against saguijo. actually everything about that night -- from the security guy in barong to the punk kids and most esp to the other bands that played aside from dharma.

yes, i am noone and maybe im in no place to comment on this. but to you igan d' bayan, please don't think that your music preference is always the way to go, that everybody should be apostles of your taste, that it is cool to spit dirty adjectives against other musikeros.

ironic. you write about music, yet you do not know the most important thing about it. it's respect.

cha

---------------------------------------------------------

FROM SAGUIJO.COM

They say that there is no such thing as bad publicity. SaGuijo is aMusic venue that is open to the public. As such, we are susceptible topublic scrutiny and commentary. For nearly two years, a staggeringmajority of reviewers have had nothing but kind words to say about ourlittle community. Whether they be fans who channel their thoughts intoan internet blog or well-respected journalists doing what they dobest, we have always gotten a kick out of reading their respectiveopinions. When someone has a suggestion about a legitimate shortcomingon OUR part, we always strive to find a reasonable remedy. This iswhat is called "constructive criticism." On multiple occasions, wehave actually taken these comments and modified the venue. And whynot? You people, who support us on a nightly basis, deserve this. Aswe have constantly reiterated, this venue is as much YOURS as it isOURS. That being said, we will quite literally go the extra mile if itmeans helping the Pinoy Music scene.Sadly, the feedback isn't always so constructive. On the rareoccasions when someone "attacks" saGuijo without any justification, wetry our best to simply turn the other cheek. As much as it pains us todo so, we even keep the printed ones on file. Why? We don't know…otherthan it seems cowardly to throw away the "hate mail." Baselesscriticism is, after all, the breakfast of champions. HOWEVER, someattacks are just so uncalled for that our credo of "live and let live"simply will not suffice. In the March 31, 2006 edition of ThePhilippine Star, you, Igan D'Bayan, decided to use your"Audiosyncrasy" column for a malicious personal rant. Whereas the bulkof the piece was a glowing assessment of the band Up Dharma Down(something they have ALWAYS been worthy of), we took exception to yourcomments regarding our patrons, our bands and our staff. In yourdefense, we know that journalists have the God-given right to scribblewhatever might strike their fancy. Freedom of the Press is somethingthat was once denied our people. Who are we to impose limitations onwhat someone has to say about us? The problem with your line ofreasoning (and it IS a PROBLEM) is that it hits below the belt. Werealize you were just trying to do your job. But this doesn't give youunrestricted license to belittle people who were trying to do THEIRS.You are entitled to your opinions but WE have the right to defendourselves:"At cramped Saguijo, Armi's voice jets, pirouettes and thrashes about."Much as we think our patrons and performers deserve more breathingspace, we do not have a bottomless pit of cash to dip into. Sellingout to some corporate entity was never an option. It would be abetrayal of the ideals with which we began this undertaking. We are ahole in the wall…that just happens to feature the BEST Filipino bandsplaying the BEST Filipino Music. Nothing more. Nothing less."Before The band played, my girlfriend and I had to endure a crappyMurakami-namedropping and I Melt With You-stealing band with aturntablist (as passé as Incubus), as well as an equally crappy bandfeaturing a singer with an anorexic voice box and a guitarist whosedelay stomp box is switched to 11. (He thought he could wow the crowdwith clichéd major scale solos.) The people quadrupled when it was Updharma Down's turn. Ah, music as magnet."Isn't it lazy to bash THREE bands just to make ONE look good? Wouldn'tyou concede that your assessment of the "crappy" bands is a matter ofpersonal taste? There are two major problems with how you built yourargument. Number one, you insulted these groups IN PRINT. Number two,you didn't respect them enough to at least NAME them. Granted, thismay have led to further humiliation. But at least give your readersthe opportunity to come to their own conclusions! As it stands, youdenied everyone that option. If you think Totti is such a visionary,then how can you account for your negative comments regarding HIShand-picked bands? While the gig in question wasn't a Terno event, thelineup was primarily comprised of Terno loyalists. Mouthing off toyour friends is one thing. Publishing your opinion in a NATIONALNEWSPAPER is an ENTIRELY different matter. If you want to passjudgment, then at least have the decency to PROVE your dismissivegeneralizations."A digression: We had to stand on chairs since we couldn't see athing, what with the mass of bodies in front of the stage. That irkeda fascistic security guy in a barong who berated the `culprits.'Friedrich Nietzsche called this sort of behavior "Will to Power." Givea guy some semblance of authority and he acts like the master of theuniverse. Imagine being asked to behave like sheep in a rock n' rollclub."That self-righteous, smug air of "I'm better than you so you shouldknow your place" bullshit is PRECISELY why Metro Manila's workingclasses HATE those of us with a little bit of money in our pockets.Maybe you were too drunk at the time but what the "fascistic securityguy in a barong" was TRYING to do was protect the people around you.What if you fell off that chair and broke your silly neck? What aboutthe kids who knew well enough NOT to stand on those chairs? Will YOUtake responsibility for THEIR injuries? Or would you be sitting infront of your computer, complaining about saGuijo's "crappy" chairs?If you found the guard to be rude, then you should have taken it upwith a manager. That's what they're there for. Instead, you let yourpride get the best of you. If you didn't want to get the guy fired ordrive down saGuijo's attendance (and thus implicitly direct the kidsto a Rock club that YOU favor), then WHY would you single the man out?You printed YOUR side of the story. But what about "the fascisticsecurity guy?" Does HE have a newspaper in which he can publish hisaccount? Does HE get to defend himself? He told you to get down…andwhat did you do? YOU FLASHED YOUR PRESS CREDENTIALS IN HIS FACE ANDASKED HIM WHETHER HE KNEW WHO YOU WERE. Wouldn't you acquiesce thatyou are being just a LITTLE hypocritical? How can you accuse others ofabusing their powers while you, in turn, are guilty of the same crime?"Although Saguijo is more like a rocked-up apartment frequented byreal rockers and kids who think The Libertines is a punk band."Attacking US is one thing. But don't you ever…EVER…mock the kids whofrequent Rock clubs. Where do you get off biting the hand that feedsyou? Who do you think are reading your articles? You should APPLAUDthese kids for finding a life outside of cell phones and shoppingmalls. If you find THEIR taste in Music to be inferior to your own,then perhaps you should try and "guide" them instead of writing themoff (literally AND figuratively). Isn't that what a Music journalistis SUPPOSED to do?Oh, and by the way, Up Dharma Down have been playing at saGuijo sinceour very first months of operation…NEARLY TWO YEARS AGO. If you didyour research, you'd know that Totti's "Terno Au Go Go" night was heldregularly at this venue. When the crowd they drew got to be too big,we mutually decided that they deserved a larger performance spaceelsewhere. And as for the kids who think "The Libertines is a punkband," well, they knew about these two entities LONG before yourfeature article. Give them a little bit more credit. They aren't justPART of the "scene." They ARE the scene.This whole thing could have been avoided. What you seem to haveforgotten is that being a published writer gives you a publicplatform. But your journalistic power comes at a cost. You areexpected to exercise a certain amount of RESPONSIBILITY. At the veryleast, please try to acknowledge that YOUR opinion is not the ONLYopinion. The things you write down can hurt people. One of them MAYchoose to retaliate. Let us assure you, it WON'T be us. We're not outto threaten you. But we also feel a certain protectiveness over thiswhole "band" scene. We're in it for the Music and we'd like to thinkthat your motivations are very similar. If we, within thealready-marginalized scene, cannot work together, then how do we standa chance? We have never tried to make an adversary out of you. Whywould YOU make an enemy of US?
-saGuijo Management-