Mass Action on Madriñan! (Susan says Thank You to all who came and shared)

“Healing Gig Talaga!”

(all photographs by Gil Nartea)

It reminded you, as the collage of posters on the stage backdrop so unequivocally did, of when James Taylor wasn’t bald. Or Mick Jagger could streak while performing. Or John Denver was singing “Rocky Mountain High” and not crashing into the rock face. Or Jim Croce could be extravagant with his time (he needn't have to save it in a bottle). And Jimi Hendrix was, well, a little sober (he didn't need the bottle).









But who could be sober during such a heady night? Practically everybody who was anybody in Susan’s life was there. From, well, all the musician friends who ever sang a song that mentioned “Filipino” (at the barricades or onstage) to anyone who ever heard her sing “Babae Ka” and that haunting wedding song whose tile I completely forget; and from all sorts of admirers from tongue-tied and over-aged schoolboys to the passionate Kawomenan (did I spell that right?) who organized the event; from the academe to the Comelec.


Just as some friends and I arrived hurrying from a meeting in UP to the event of the night, and chose a parking space almost across Newsdesk, the other watering hole on Sct. Madriñan, because parking space was long gone near My Brother’s Mustache, I overheard the emcee apologizing for not holding the event at Araneta Coliseum.


So how did it go? Here’s from Susan herself writing to e-group Plaridel Papers:

Sa lahat ng dumalo sa Brother's Moustache noong July 
3—maraming, maraming salamat! Sobrang saya
 lahat ng tao sa very rare line-up of performers. 
Grand reunion of sorts ang nangyari with 400 friends from various fields! There were friends from 30 years ago. It was amazing to see them all there
 gathered for an outpouring of support... It was a celebration of friendship, of music, of a solidarity that remains alive! It was a truly magical evening
 that was full of loving concern. Healing gig talaga... the best medicine for me ang lovefest na iyon!!! 


Thanks very much from the bottom of my heart!!!


Lagi,

Susan

And Plaridel member and piano bar comrade Reli German answers:

Alam mo Susan, kung itinanghal yung pakulo para sa iyo 
sa Folk Arts, I have no doubt, mapupuno yung lugar. 
Ganong karami ang fans mo at nagmamahal sa iyo. 
Cheers!

Reli

I had been wondering how I’d do a follow-up blog on the fascinating event when inspiration struck. Don't we have great friends like Susan herself? Who were we with all the time at the entrance of My Bro’s Mustache clicking away at the endless kumustahan among the arrivals? Photographer and friend Gil Nartea, of course, veteran of more frenetic coverages (from Mindanao to Mendiola) who was as “star-struck” as we were at the instantaneous and unfolding “mass action.”

Upon my SMS-ed request, he quickly emailed me these pictures, and after I downloaded them and thanked him, he texted back complaining, “Sayang, dami kong na-miss na mga tao, puro alak kasi inatupag ko. Hehe.”

But that’s all right, Gil, you took these great pictures. I’m the one who should beg the readers’ indulgence. By ignorance or because we had repaired to Newsdesk before the concert was over, I cannot competently caption all these pictures (I keep forgetting names and surnames). So enjoy them as they are, or with my "trying-hard" ad-lib comments.

(Two pictures of the Concert has since been post-added to this blog, from Susan's son, Ino's Multiply site, at the bottom of this page and page 2. Links are provided in the captions for those who want to go to Ino's site.)


PHOTOS from top: Tita de Quiros hasn't seen Bimboy and Jo Peñaranda in ages, as poet-singer Jess Santiago shares in the excitement; the artists' group: Ed Coronel, Jess, Adi Baens Santos, and Neil Doloricon; music stars and Susan-friends Mike Villegas, Cookie Chua and Gary Granada; Joel Saracho & his Bagong Dugo, specialists in political humor; Master guitarist Noli in virtual duet with John Denver; poet, Salinawit artist, and Plaridel Papers moderator Jose (Pete) F. Lacaba; Susan accompanied by composer-arranger brother Dodgie.

(more pictures next page, or click links below & under Our Pages on sidebar at left)

"Full House" by Ino Magno

For still more pictures (like the one above, and 84 of them!) of the fantastic night, go to Susan's son, Ino's site at Multiply.

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PREVIEW Marne L. Kilates' personal website, All Our Nameable Days, at Jimdo.Com, making his poetry and translations available online for those interested. My home page is all about doors and windows, which "when we open always let the fresh air in and everything is new." So send me your beautiful pictures of doors, doorways, & windows, the older & with more character, the better. To be fully credited to the photographer, of course. By email only, at marne.kilates@gmail.com. Thanks for the visit.