More Than The Sum Of Its Parts: +/- Return To Manila
New York City-based indie rock band +/- (Plus/Minus) came back to Manila for a return engagement last Dec. 18 at Encore (formerly Embassy).
The band, two of whose members are Filipino-American, played their first-ever Philippine gigs last November at Mag:net Bonifacio High Street and the now-defunct Warehouse 135, both excellent shows.They were brought in by the group of Kate Torralba, Quark Henares and Joffy Cruz—known as Intercept!—and Splintr.com, which had brought in Nine Inch Nails earlier this year.
Unfortunately, guitarist/vocalist Patrick Ramos couldn’t make this last leg of their Asian tour, which saw them playing several gigs in Japan and Singapore. The tour was in support of their latest album, Xs On Your Eyes, as well as a new tour EP, Thrown Into The Fire.To make up for their missing member, the band enlisted the help of friends in the local music scene, from bands Ciudad and Ang Bandang Shirley.
Ciudad vocalist Mikey Amistoso joined them for a number of songs, my favorite of which was Unsung, where he played a melodica/melodihorn.
It was especially satisfying to me because I mentioned to Mikey upon first hearing the song on +/-‘s album that it actually reminded me of Ciudad songs.
Ciudad had come from a New York tour the month before, where they played a few gigs, some with +/-.
For Marina, Ciudad drummer Mitch Singson subbed for +/- drummer Chris Deaner, who got to play the keyboards as vocalist/guitarist James Baluyut focused on his guitar.
Ciudad guitarist Justin Sunico lent his able guitar chops to Steal The Blueprints and the cathartic Snowblind, trying with effort to conceal the smile that would occasionally break through.
Ang Bandang Shirley guitarist Ean Aguila joined the band for One Day You’ll Be There’s stop-start guitarplay (Aguila is also Baluyut’s nephew), while Shirley vocalist Selena Salang did back-up vocal duties for the lovely Ignoring All The Detours and Thrown Into The Fire, which also featured tour bassist Dylan Jones recreating the track’s “broken record” segment manually.
On Halos, a coterie of clapping musicians joined the band onstage, comprised of members of the aforementioned bands as well as opener Sandwich.The band was in top form; their reputation as excellent performers well earned.The show ended with an encore performance of audience favorite The Queen of Detroit, where the band invited the audience to come onstage and dance with wild abandon.It is hoped that amazing gigs from +/— would become a regular thing here.
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Catch the international group exhibit “Happily Unhappy,” curated by Jordin Isip & Louie Cordero, which opens on Jan. 9 at Blanc Compound.
Check out Juan Caguicla & Christina Dy’s duo show “Stereo I” opening at Silverlens on Jan. 13, 6 p.m.
And on the 16th, it’s Spike TV’s Video Game Awards on Animax (9 p.m.)! Woohoo!
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Ramon De Veyra blogs at www.thesecuriousdays.com.
