March 2003
Destination: Manila

Bands Come Together at U.P. fair
by Morris Puhawan

The University of the Philippines is recently celebrated its foundation day last February 10 to 15. This was a week- long event in which all the U.P. schools in our country took part. In line with this, fairs were held at the Sunken Garden at 7 p.m. It was entitled "Sisfire" and was held in cooperation with the U.P. Sigma Beta Sorority and it featured some of the best amateur and professional bands and performers that we have today. Some of the bands that were present were Sugar Free, Imago, Mojofly, Parokya ni Edgar, Moonstar88, Cheese, Kamikazee, and Greyhoundz. Also present to liven up the crowd was Hammilan and the famous Paolo Santos. They also got a glimpse of some of the best amateur bands like Monkeyspank.

Usually a place where couples make out, the Sunken Garden became alive that night. There were booths all over the place selling a variety of things ranging from food, beverages, clothing, accessories, even to cell phones. There were rides like Ferris Wheel and Octopus. And the stage was awesome! It was big and well lit, full of streamers of the major sponsors. And to either side there was a big white screen showing commercials and mtv's.

The first bands to perform were amateur show bands strutting their RnB and pop rock tunes to the delight of the crowd. After that, several DJ's from 89.9 Magic took the stage to initiate some games. At around 9 p.m., the pros took the stage starting from the alternative bands like Imago, Sugar Free, and Moonstar88. They performed their hits to the delight of the whole U.P. community. Then it was time to rock as Greyhounds, Kamikazee, and Cheese did their heavy riffs as the front part of the audience turned into a wild mosh pit, which temporarily stopped the concert due to some violent people throwing bottles of mineral water to the stage. After order was restored, Parokya ni Edgar, Mojofly, and Monkeyspank carried on with their music. They really were crowd pleasers, especially Monkeyspank, whose Incubus-influenced music was an instant hit.

The concert was a real success, as was with the whole U.P. fair. So if I were you, I'd go next year and party on with the "iskolars ng bayan". Congrats U.P.!

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At io, you're a star! Knowing that Filipinos are music lovers and born singers, i.o. Family KTV becomes the perfect gimmick spot for both the family and the barkada.

At the end of the day, people look forward to a little relaxation and release of stress and tension. So what is it that most Filipinos do to achieve this? They gather a circle of friends and look forward to a night out that is full of entertainment and recreation.

Filipino amateur bands converge at the annual Univesity of the Philippines' fair.