High Noon on the Road to Zion

Cebu. Reggae capital of the Philippines. Reggae enthusiasts here have continued to enliven that spirit of an "uneducated ghetto poet" - Robert "Tuff Gong" Nesta Marley who eventually was heralded "poet laureate of reggae music."

Bob Marley's words represented the lyric poetry of rebellion, this was annotated. Despite being known for his revolutionary ideas and often-stoic demeanor, Marley had a gentler side in him as he believed in the "spirit of community as the greatest feeling of humanity."

As a tribute to Marley and his being an institution in the meteoric rise of reggae and reggaenism from a small country called Jamaica, actually only a dot on the map, to the international scene, and being a significant contributor to world culture, "High Noon on the Road to Zion" takes a blast.

In a press conference the other day at Handuraw Events Café it was learned that Sigbin Haus, Inc. shall sustain efforts to uphold the annual Bob Marley Day Festival.

Marley's 62nd birth anniversary will be on February 6 and as a fitting tribute, a series of activities has already popped out of the drawing board to realize the 12th year of said festivity. "High Noon on the Road to Zion", the big event, will take place on March 24 at the Paseo Mall in Mabolo, Cebu City.

"High Noon will celebrate the life and sounds of Bob Marley as portrayed in the musical styles of 19 reggae bands mostly from Cebu like Urbal, Junior Kilat, Island Joe, Bambu Spliff, Skunky Muggles and two guest bands from Manila and one from Dumaguete City," says Paulo Varela, radio ads and promo in-charge of Sigbin Haus.

As it would be impossible to pool in the rest of Cebuano reggae bands in just one setting, Sigbin Haus has already lined up three little events before the main event in March.

On February 6, Junior Kilat will play some of Marley's unreleased tunes (wonder how he got hold of 'em?) and on February 7, a pre-Bob Day concert dubbed "Peek Through the Eyes of a Dreadlock" featuring seven to nine bands led by the pack of Junior Kilat, Urbal, Island Joe, Peace 4:20, Pitch Melba and DJ Black Chiny will take place at Club Vudu - Crossroads Arcade in Banilad. On the 24th, a Pre-Bob Marley Day teaser concert is scheduled at The Outpost Restaurant and Bar at the Cebu Veterans Drive, Lahug featuring three to four bands.

"We are bent on continuing the movement that was started here 11 years ago, but for this year we have chosen another beneficiary. The proceeds of this concert will be donated to the Albert Schweitzer Foundation," this according to Bernadine Vallejos, marketing and promotions officer.

Further, she explained that they have chosen the foundation for its mission of providing a package of social work interventions and other services to children, women, families, the elderly, and differently abled persons needing special attention, care and rehabilitation; an endeavor which could best represent the ideals and hopes, and reflect the mind and soul of Bob Marley.

The foundation also moves on to help indigents in depressed communities by rebuilding their capability to uphold their rights to become self-propelling, self-sustaining and self-reliant.

Doogie Pagaduan of marketing and promotions also underlined that the concert is not only an event. It is also a movement that she hopes would create ripples for more people to appreciate reggae music which is noticed to have a solid base of following here and in fact largely accepted here as with the success of Coolie Dread and the Microphone Commanders when they romped away with top plum in the Motorola School of Rock MoTo band challenge recently.

The Bob Marley legacy has been breaking grounds in general in here because of the man's etiquette of peace, love and unity. Cebuanos love to uphold these virtues as seen by their cooperation in whatever undertakings of international magnitude carried out in here, that's why Cebu has gracefully transpired into a breeding ground for reggaenistas.

And it's comforting to know that aside from the usual merrymaking that most concerts are designed for, Sigbin Haus aims to give the event a "deeper meaning" this time. Sked Besa who handles creative werkz for the Haus and who serves as band coordinator announced that during the event which will start on a high noon (he said this is "analogical to the path Bob Marley would want to travel - that is "udtong tutok" to Mt. Zion"), multimedia clips will also be part of the input to raise awareness of what reggae music and adherence to it is all about. And that invited bands are also encouraged to present their original compositions, on the event for a theme, on the very day of the festivity.

As for Philippine society's big red flag over gandja, Beverly Tañedo who is in-charge of documentation and promotions vows that every band would be required to sign a waiver to never impose upon others their belief on the weed. Also Paulo Varela made assurance that stringent security measures shall be observed as to prevent anybody or any entity from brushing with the law. "There was never any untoward incident in the past concerts, and that we would want maintained the way we have sustained on its 12th year this endeavor," he said.

Meanwhile, Errol "Budoy" Mirabiles, front man of Junior Kilat and also in-charge of band coordination for the Haus, said, "it is also one of the objectives of this pursuit to one day correct some of our laws (obviously referring to this country's control on certain drugs and substances) so that one mindset that is widely accepted today may one day be unlearned. If ma-raise na nga awareness nga sometimes we have to reconsider certain practices ba for its medicinal value, then siguro ang kani nga mga activities maoy makatabang nga someday some laws will be revised and some concerns pushed and lobbied."

Tickets will be available at the gates of Paseo Mall at P100. There will also be a bazaar featuring locally made products in the event of the "High Noon". Based on a suggestion, Sigbin Haus staff vow to look into the possibility of a band camp where fans could interact with band members and purchase CDs and other merchandise from them.