03.29.07 kulturnatib

A report from the front

I was walking through the Wineshop the other day, on my way further on to a shop where, among other things, they have a photocopier. I had some documents that needed to be photocopied.

Just then, Errol Marabiles, better known as Budoy cut across the traffic on his motorcycle – as singularly distinctive as he is with its impossibly wide arching handle bars -- to park it at the Wineshop's parking lot. I had not thought about stopping at the Wineshop but Budoys appearance then made it imperative that I do; to speak with him.

I went inside and saw Jason 'King' Lavides. I knew immediately that Budoy was meeting with King. I had known that King was going to be in town, particularly to be at the Bob Marley Fest that happened over the weekend. King, together with Budoy and a few others, is the reason why there is even a Bob Marley Fest here and why here Reggae is so rooted now, more than anywhere in the country, among the young and no longer so young.

I knew that King was there for the same reason that I was, though I was a bit surprised that this was the case. I imagined that they would have meet sooner. But, we both were there to get Budoy's report on their gig in Manila, fronting for Ziggy Marley's concert there; the kickoff concert for the Asian Tour to promote his latest album.

This was the reason why, for the first time in the 12 year history of the celebration of Bob Marley Fest here, Budoy could not be present. I don't know if this was explained at the Festival, but I had known this in advance and understood very well why Budoy would forgo being at this festival he has diligently nutured and continues to do so. In fact, before leaving for Manila, Budoy was very much involved with the organizing of the festival.

For those who do not know, Ziggy Marley is one of legendary Bob Marley's sons who are now following their father's footsteps, though Budoy and King agree that this really more like laboring under the father's staggering shadow.

For any reggae musician worth their dreadlocks, to play in the same stage as Ziggy Marley is an honor of earth shaking proportions. For any reggae enthusiast, being in the same room with Ziggy Marley would be like being in reggae heaven, which would, in that concert, take 1,600 pesos to enjoy.

So, Budoy and Jr Kilat got invited by MTV Asia, the producer of this Ziggy Marley concert. Then, not only to play, among the cream of Manila's musicians – Spy, Jun Lupito, Pepe Smith, etc. -- but to play right before Ziggy Marley. This is like being invited to a dinner with the President and asked to sit right next to her.

But, even in heaven, there is always a bit of hell. First, the front man of one of Manila's top reggae bands, who is not in speaking terms with Budoy, the history of which I am not familiar with, maneuvered to have their band play one more song with some Singaporean visiting singer.

In itself, this shouldn't be a problem, except that, this would eat into Jr Kilat's playing time. So instead of playing the allotted 20 minutes, Budoy only had 15 minutes left. Worse, though, was that the Singaporean turned out to be a total disaster, which, Budoy says is the just oats that this Manila singer had to swallow for trying to bite off more than he could chew.

Then, Budoy's home made gadget – one that is really or the guitar but he had refashioned so that the guitar effects can be applied to his voice – that he wears on his arm jammed. Budoy thought that his prancing about must have loosened the jack from off the amplifier.

Still, their performance went off very well, with the crowd singing along, especially with Budoy's signature single, 'Sigbin,' with its classic call and response routine.

Ziggy's performance also suffered technical glitches. At one point, while singing his signature song, 'Shalom/Salaam,' the microphone choked. Yet, like all professional troupers, he kept on while the drummer and the bassist stepped up with some emergency licks while the techies frantically tried to figure out what was happening and remedy the situation.

The disappointment of all disappointments though for Budoy was that he wasn't able to speak with Ziggy Marley or even shake his hand. Security was super tight, he said. Not one of the local musicians were able to breach this cordon. Pepe Smith was bodily carried away, though they didn't need to as they could just have puffed him away as he is light as a feather and equally as thin.

Still, King was visibly proud of Budoy and Jr. Kilat's success. Though U.S. based now, King still has Cebuano reggae in his heart. He has written to Ziggy Marley and other reggae singers promoting local reggae and is always on the look out for opportunities to introduce international reggae acts to the local scene. And, now with Budoy's achievement, vice-versa.