Monday, May 7, 2012

J.O.E. (The JR Oca Experience) at Checkpoint Louie's



This particular gig was my J.O.E. gig at Checkpoint Louie's last April 13, 2012. The last time I gigged in Checkpoint was years ago when it was still in its old location. The new location is much more accessible now than the previous one. Just drive up Sucat Rd. coming off South Super Highway from Makati and you'll eventually reach the bar once you pass SM Hypermart.

I have to admit, the place is larger and the gear is a whole lot better than my memory of the old Checkpoint bar. The new and improved Checkpoint even had a 2nd floor where the crowd can watch the bands playing from that vantage point. It's one of the few venues for music that I know of down south. The place also carries a healthy community of music enthusiasts.

Another admission I will make is the fact that I can probably be considered a senior citizen amongst the crowd. The people present were probably 10-20 years younger than me. But I didn't mind because I came to gig with my bandmates whose company I enjoy. As always, gigging/hanging out with bandmates was a good departure from dealing with office people.

I saw a Facebook friend of mine Pao David, who is a part of a band called Hallway Five. His band was slated to play right after us. When I spoke to him on Facebook, he somehow assumed I wouldn't even remember his name. He was presently surprised when I waved at him as he passed by me and called him by his name.

Berns was back on bass for that gig, and former J.O.E. member, Kim, agreed to fill in for Coby on saxophone for the night. So I was surrounded by awesome, very veteran musicians.

Below are videos of our set that night. JR's wife, Jojie, was nice enough to take video of us using my Zoom Q3HD. She has some trouble making sure that people didn't get in the way of the camera view. So do pardon the sudden camera movements and shakes every so often in these videos.

The Chicken (Cover)


Banal Na Aso, Santong Kabayo (Cover)


Rapsadoodle


Englishman in New York (Cover)


Our drummer, Paulo, was also part of another band called Bakeshop who played later that night. I took videos of their entire set. But so far I've only managed to edit and upload one of their songs. It's my favorite song of their album. So I chose to upload that one first.

Abutan


Bakeshop seemed to have a good following that night because they practically took over the second floor of the venue. I went upstairs for a bit before their set to buy their CD. I didn't bother having my CD autographed by the band. I'm after listening to their music and supporting the band anyway. The songs will make their way to my iPod. So for me, it didn't really matter whether they signed my copy of their album anyway.

We surprisingly ended the night earlier than usual. But we obviously had an adequate fill of San Mig Light and Jack Daniel's. Jack Daniel's seems to be a staple alcoholic beverage for myself and JR at gigs these days. Especially since JR and I have had quite a number of Jack Daniel's JD Set gigs with Jack Versus the Crab. It was funny that JR even thanked Jack Daniel's while we were onstage. I found that amusingly funny. The ride home was slow (due to JR ensuring we would get home safely), but absolutely hilarious. We just kept on spouting nonsense from our mouths and laughing our heads off. I forgot half of the jokes we pulled on the way home. But Jojie made sure to remind us of the highlights when she posted on Facebook the next day. LOL!

Friday the 13th and nothing unlucky happened to us fortunately. Another fun night of music with good friends. More to come, I'm sure.


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