Ultraelectromagneticreunion!

I was in high school then.

When the noon breaks came, and again after classes ended, I remember Bagem or somebody else pick up a guitar and just strum an Eraserheads song and we'd all get worked up and sing along from the mellow "With A Smile" to the anthemic "Minsan."

I love music and I went through my 4 years of high school listening to Ely, Raimund, Buddy and Marcus. Those guys were OUR Beatles. I don't know if they set out to be the icons they eventually turned out to be, but their music spoke to almost the entire Philippines, especially the growing youth movement then. Which is why I've always seen them as UP's 3rd gift to us, along with dynamic minds and Ligaya Solera.

I had all the albums that mattered. Ultraelectromagneticpop! with "Pare Ko", "Toyang", "Ligaya", "Maling Akala", "Tindahan ni Aling Nena," was already a masterpiece. I wore out my tape as I played it over and over and over and then some.

Next came Circus with masterful and witty songs like "Sembreak", "Hey Jay", "Wishing Wells", "Magasin", "With A Smile", which I even brought along to the States so that I could play it over my cousins stereo while zipping through the freeways of California.

One of the biggest albums in Philippine music industry, Cutterpillow came next. It probably was the last Eheads album that mattered with the institution that is "Ang Huling El Bimbo", "Overdrive" and "Huwag Mo Nang Itanong".

So that is the reason why people were so hyped to hear that they were coming back together for a reunion concert. I, for one, was. When I think of them, I think how they usually have a song that I can hear as part of the soundtrack of my life. Yes, there were other bands that came along like RiverMaya (who only mattered when they had Bamboo as their front man), Yano (not so bad themselves) among others, but the Eraserheads were untouchable.

I couldn't go to Manila. I just looked at a couple of videos of "Alapaap", "Sembreak", and "Ligaya" and it was enough to wax nostalgic of all the Eheads songs. It was sad to know that their reunion concert was cut short because of Ely's health problems, which thankfully was stabilized.

How big were the Eraserheads in our lives? Well, our high school batch had "Minsan" as our unofficial graduation song. Tonett was not here during those years but still she knows them by their music.

This reunion will no doubt spark a search for Eraserheads stuff -- songs, torrents, album covers -- and I'll join them. I've long lost my tapes, but the songs, no way. Somehow their still playing "Wishing Wells" on that life soundtrack...