Eheads on GMA7: The Final Disappointment

"Isa kang Batang Nineties kung nangarap kang sana ay magkaroon ng reunion concert ang Eheads matapos silang ma-disband."

Smart and GMA 7 made history by bringing back The Eraserheads to do their “Final Set” concert on March 7, 2009 at the Mall of Asia Open Grounds. Now, they made another history by airing the said concert on GMA's Sunday Night Box Office last April 5, 2009.

I was one of the thousands of people who went to see the Pinoy Fab Four. Though we were just at the general patronage area, the feeling that night was very special for devoted fans like me. We were grateful that Smart together with other companies made an event to see them play for the last time.

Here is their playlist during the concert. The band played a total of 29 songs that night:

1st Set

1.Magasin
2.Walang Nagbago
3.Maling Akala
4.Maskara
5.Poor Man's Grave
6.Waiting for the Bus
7.Huwag Mo Nang Itanong
8.Slo Mo
9.Alkohol
10.Insomya
11.Torpedo



2nd Set

12.Julie Tearjerky
13.Tikman
14.Wishing Wells
15.Fine Time
16.Pare Ko
17.Kailan Lounge
18.Back2Me
19.Trip to Jerusalem
20.Spoliarium
21.Overdrive
22.Superproxy
23.Minsan
24.Alapaap
25.Kaleidoscope World
26.Ang Huling El Bimbo

Bonus Set

27.Ligaya
28.Sembreak
29.Toyang

Truly, while an approximate 100,000 people were able to attend the concert of the year, most people will just wait for the original, or at least the pirated dvd copy of the event to see them play. I was a bit surprised when I saw the teevee ad from GMA7 informing the televiewers about "The Final Set" to be aired on their SNBO.

Thanks but no thanks to GMA. What are these companies trying to do, change the history of the history that they made?

First thing I noticed was the missing mini-documentary from the concert. The nostalgia of the legacy these geniuses left were not reminisced. It looked liked they were not introduced before playing their first song for the night. Also, the countdown using the alphabet backwards and ending at an inverted “e” was not also shown.

The dialogues from the band members like “Thank you, ang babait niyo!” from Ely after playing "Poorman's Grave"; Markus' “Isang kanta from Ely” before playing "Huwag Mo Nang Itanong", and Lemon urging the crowd to jump before playing a song were not aired. If I were to watch it on TV for the first time, I would definitely think that they just played continuously without even talking to the crowd.

The most disappointing thing GMA did was to cut the concert short by not showing "Poorman's Grave", "Waiting for the Bus", "Wishing Wells", "Fine Time", "Pare Ko", "Back2Me", "Trip to Jerusalem", and "Spoliarium". Fuck those people from that network! Ely conditioned himself six months before the concert so that the thing that happened during the first reunion would not happen again. Ely and the rest of the guys wanted to finish the Reunion in a not “bitin” way because they know that for an eheads fan, all the songs in the playlist are priceless. It would have been better if they have shown the complete concert in two parts / episodes.

When I went to work the next morning, some of my co-employees were asking me why The Eraserheads did not play "Pare Ko". The people who were not at the concert and just watched SNBO will think that The Eraserheads were not grateful to the phenomenal song that made them icons. A reunion is supposed to be a memorable one. Why will you not air the first song in Philippine history that used “'Tang Ina” in their chorus? A “bleep” to censor that part would have been more acceptable.

The people behind that SNBO Special are like the creepy bald aliens from “Dark City”, one of my all-time favorite movies. They experiment on the pathetic human race by injecting false memories into their minds. I am just glad that I am one of the Mr. Murdocks who did become victims of corporate assholes.

I hope networks will be more responsible in airing historical events like "The Final Set".