It was a rock show that started too late and ended so soon. It was almost 10 PM when we arrived at the already crowded Capitol Grounds. A showband from Davao is still doing its usual showband repertoire when the power went off at the stage. Good for them because, personally, I hate copycats (really!) fronting big-named acts during local concerts. The technical adjustments lasted for an hour or so, the night is getting late, the crowd growing impatient and the anemic spiels of the emcee are as cold as the chilly, foggy air. Way past 11, the Kamikazee boys are finally on stage and the zombies in the crowd suddenly jolted back to life. After vocalist Jay Contreras greeted the audience it was rock-n-roll all night (not really all night though) as the band opened up with Chiksilog. Some teenage girls standing near us happily sang along to the Ragnarok theme. Seksi!Seksi! followed next and Jay, long curly locks, tattoo and all, showcased his gypsy grind sway. The reggae-tinged Petix had the crowd swaying along while the APO cover Doobidoo made everyone screamed doobiiii!!!! The band is teeming with so much energy all throughout, jumping up and down, banging their heads and playing and pounding their instruments like there’s no more tomorrow. But just like any other band, the front man will always be the star of the show. Jay entertained the crowd not just with his singing but with his funny antics and acrobats (he did his famous headstand at least thrice). At one point, he pulled out a girl from the backstage and obliged her to kiss her sweaty cheek! The band, with their heavy dose of humor, also did parodies of Hale’s The Day You Said Good Night and Bamboo’s Much Has Been Said. Then its back to business again as the band performed their radio hits Ambisyoso and Martyr Nyebera (minus the Kaye Abad part). Jay took time to introduced his band mates (a tight bunch of guys composed of Jomal Linao and Led “Zeppelin” Tuyay on guitars, Jayson Astete on bass and Allan Burdeos on drums) then the familiar intro of Narda drew loud cheers from the crowd. What followed next was a merry sing-along to the country’s official rock anthem for the past two years now. It was the highlight of the night as everybody busted their lungs out screaming along to every word of the song. Kamikazee ended the show with the metal sounding Chinelas, culled from their first album.
I guess not a few people were unsatisfied with the short show. I wish the band performed more songs just like what Slapshock, Pinikpikan, Brownman Revival and Rivermaya did in past Kaamulan concerts. Missing from Kamikazee’s playlist that night are songs like First Day High, Mmm Sarap, Girlfriend, Komiks and their punk covers of Britney Spears’ Lucky and Ariel Rivera’s Sana Kahit Minsan. Still it was a good and impressive show. Kamikazee flaunted one solid performance and showcased their tight musicianship that made them one of the top rock acts in the country today.
