The PLAX Band Part 1

Last May 23, 2009 I got myself into a compromise which turned out to be one exciting experience for keeps. Joanne Gonzales, who is a good friend of mine, was the one who got me into this. I did not realize that it was actually a real Battle of the Bands until I saw the flyers. When I first heard the invitation I thought of it as some jamming sessions like one of those hosted by their church. Ok, I said yes already. So, why not? The contest was sponsored by Christ the Living Stone Fellowship (CLSF) as one of their fund raising activites for church planting.

CLSF Battle of the Bands 2009

Anyway, we formed our banda-bandahan of 4 members. Originally, I got in as the bass guitarist; Melvin Louie Canilao as the lead guitarist, Jun Esguerra as the percussionist, and Joanne on keyboards and vocals. When Jo submitted our requirements, the coordinator was a bit shocked (as Jo related hehe) to know that we were only 4 plus the absence of a drummer boy. We've got someone to play the cajon for the beat. Ok. So, we thought of getting a drummer boy instead of having cajon for percussion. Jo contacted a friend called Jordan but sadly his schedules are tight and he cant stay out late. Ok. I actually decided to pursue an acoustic band until I checked once more my mobile's inbox and found Edward Doniego's name. That's it! Ed is a youth leader who I met in one of the generous camps in Iba, Zambales. At that time, their church was lead by Ptr Jhun Singson who was our previous resident pastor. In short, we got Ed as our drummer boy. As a result, we did a little role-switching in the band. And thanks due to the bad weather Ate Tin's (Christine Manzala) mission trip was postponed so she also joined us as keyboardist. Jun played the bass guitar while I got my hands on the acoustic guitar which I borrowed from Paulo Barrameda. And thanks to Clem Roxas' friend who charitably lent his bass guitar during rehearsals and on the day of the battle. We were nearly 10 days away from the competition and I was really apprehensive about it because we only got short time to rehearse and our schedules hardly coordinated. All songs were compositions. All songs were composed for solo performance so we had a hard time rehearsing them on a full-band basis. We had to rearrange some parts of the melody, lyrics, etc.

THAT's us! The PLAX Band. (c/o Calbayog-Samat Band)

In Mathematics, the most popular and most sought after variable is the X variable. For some it is unknown but I believe it is the Answer. PLAY for CHRIST = PLAX, we are the PLAX band; and we PLAY for CHRIST.