A Perfect Day.. Sonnet LVIII's reunion show at 70s Bistro, December 30 2019

Monday Night at 70s Bistro felt somewhat right.  The other evening at Mow's during that wonderful debut of The Shoegaze Collective, well, it wasn't. At least for Sonnet LVIII. Of the four surviving members, bassist Romel Cajayon was unavailable. so Mike Ducusin of populardays capably filled in.

70s Bistro was a bit more like it. When they first performed there, it was Backbeat Night and they played with The Youth, Feet Like Fins, and Tribal Fish. Back then, there were tables literally beside the stage and the front of the club was a bit more al fresco.

However, Sonnet LVIII's history is more Club Dredd as Romel was the sound tech there (it is there where he gave me the band's demo in hopes of being signed up by Universal Records after I inked Datu's Tribe and Parokya ni Edgar to their first professional contracts) and that is where the band usually performed. 

With that legendary club long consigned to the dustbins of yesteryear and sainted memories, 70s Bistro, that venerable club put up in 1992, was just right. Although Skies of Ember did not perform this Monday night, I felt goosebumps seeing their name on that signboard.

And what made the evening even better was that Club Dredd's owner (and my former Ateneo classmate) Patrick Reidenbach was in the audience. Betrayed's Boyet Miguel was there as was Soft Pillow Kisses' Allan Montero and Pedicab and Tarsius' Diego Mapa. Iman Leonardo of Prank Sinatra and a Dredd vet with his Goth band, Dominion, was in the house too. Didn't Skies of Ember perform with Dominion in the same bill as Iconoclast and Prominence of Cathedrals? If memory serves me right, they did.

But Sonnet LVIII and Skies of Ember (and the Goth bands) were ahead of their time; at least locally. That is why I never got to get Universal to sign them. We  had two boardroom discussions about them and the company felt that even if I scored massive hits with Datu's Tribe and Parokya ni Edgar, it was deemed Sonnet LVIII wasn't going to sell. I was crushed. 

Now 23 years later, Sonnet LVIII was independently and officially releasing their old album Owe No Homage Unto the Sun -- on vinyl -- as Crossing Oceans.

I felt so happy for the band; more so, to see people queueing up to buy the record. It is great to see these guys get their due. Like Slowdive did two decades after Souvlaki. Dale has always been one of the most creative guys around with all his musical projects and I have followed them from Apple Orchard to Some Gorgeous Accident. We got reacquainted exactly two years ago to this evening. That was December 30, 2017 at 12 Monkeys when I hosted Sugar Hiccup's supposedly farewell gig and where they released their fourth and final album -- the aptly titled, Closure. He gave me a copy of Some Gorgeous Accident's last release then and I thought that was such a beautiful album. 

When I got a copy of Crossing Oceans (we met up near his parents' condo in Mandaluyong), I got goosebumps. The album artwork had this 4A.D. Records feel.

And when they finally hit the stage. Reidenbach and I huddled and said, "Man, I've got goosebumps all over." And as I write this, it is just a little over 24 hours since Vaughan Oliver, that celebrated graphic artist who designed 4AD Records' album covers from the Cocteau Twins, the Breeders, Pixies, and others and whose work became the style espoused for shoegaze and dream pop, had passed away.

Call it a strange confluence of events... or mayhap, incongruous symmetry that led to the December 30 show of Sonnet LVIII.

Hearing "Hurricane Aurora" and later, "Treasure Heaven".... they were solid this night. If you listened to them back during the Dredd days, they were like a wall of Sound. They are much better musicians now and although Romel was getting cramps because he had not played in a while, I was blown away.  One person even ventured his opinion that it will be quite a trip to listen to Sonnet LVII and shoegaze music while stoned immaculate. oh, he sat on the floor next to the soundbooth stoned all right.

And the band ended with "Perfect Day". If that isn't serendipitous then I don't know what else can be such. 

Outside, I told Sonnet LVIII guitarist Ron Cajayon, "Maybe you guys should record new stuff. With shoegaze more popular today than it ever was -- who knows?"

"We will talk about it," smiled Ron.

I added, "Just don't wait another 23 years before doing so."

And we laughed.

Yes, it was a perfect day.